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Helsing is a defence AI company focused on protecting democracies through technological leadership. This role sits within the Optics Cluster of the Test Department, serving as a sensing system architect responsible for the full lifecycle of multimodal sensor testing and validation.
You will translate sensing requirements into structured test cases and specify the optical, electrical, and mechanical ground support equipment (OGSE, EGSE, MGSE) needed to execute them. Your scope crosses cluster boundaries, recognizing that sensing subsystems integrate optics, electronics, embedded software, and mechanical components. A perfectly focused EO camera misaligned with LiDAR produces dangerous data; an LWIR sensor passing standalone tests but failing next to a hot avionics bay tells a different story on the airframe.
Key responsibilities include:
• Characterise EO systems (MTF, SNR, dynamic range, distortion, vignetting, spectral response) using collimators, integrating spheres, resolution targets, and calibrated light sources.
• Characterise LWIR systems (NETD, spatial resolution, uniformity, dynamic range) with calibrated blackbodies, including self-heating effects across operational temperature ranges.
• Characterise LiDAR systems (range accuracy/precision, angular resolution, detection probability, false-alarm rate) under representative ambient light, target reflectivity, atmospheric, and vibration conditions.
• Specify, procure, commission, and maintain ground support equipment; own calibration traceability.
• Run temporal synchronisation campaigns across EO, LWIR, and LiDAR; characterise trigger latency, PPS accuracy, and timestamp drift over mission duration.
• Execute intrinsic, extrinsic, and temporal calibration across modalities; design multi-modal fiducial targets visible to all sensors simultaneously.
• Assess calibration stability after thermal cycling, vibration, and simulated ageing; set re-calibration intervals for production.
• Produce first-article characterisation reports for new sensor deliveries; evaluate alternative sensor configurations to support design trade-offs.
• Develop and supervise acceptance test procedures for production units; monitor yield for systematic trends and initiate non-conformance where needed.
• Assess new sensor suppliers; review datasheets and qualification reports, characterise engineering samples, define qualification test campaigns, and act as the test department's technical contact for supplier engineering teams.
• Investigate sensing failures from fielded products; reproduce failures in the lab, isolate root cause, and verify corrective actions.
You serve as the department's technical authority on sensor synchronisation, calibration, and multimodal data quality. Your work covers prototype characterisation, production acceptance, supplier evaluation, and in-service root cause analysis.
