Transformation PMO Lead

Who we are

Helsing is a defence AI company. Our mission is to protect our democracies. We aim to achieve technological leadership, so that open societies can continue to make sovereign decisions and control their ethical standards.

As democracies, we believe we have a special responsibility to be thoughtful about the development and deployment of powerful technologies like AI. We take this responsibility seriously.

We are an ambitious and committed team of engineers, AI specialists and customer-facing programme managers. We are looking for mission-driven people to join our European teams – and apply their skills to solve the most complex and impactful problems. We embrace an open and transparent culture that welcomes healthy debates on the use of technology in defence, its benefits, and its ethical implications.

The role

Finance Transformation at Helsing is not a back-office function: it is one of the forces shaping the company's strategic direction. As Transformation PMO Lead, you will govern the portfolio of all major company-wide programmes, ensuring that Finance serves as the connective tissue holding Helsing's strategic agenda together. You will build and maintain the single source of strategic truth for the CEO and leadership team, design the governance cadence that keeps decisions moving, and surface risks before they become problems. This role requires the ability to operate with equal effectiveness at Board level and within a cross-functional sprint. A strong PMO succeeds through relationships and clarity, not authority. This role can be based anywhere in Europe.

The day-to-day

• Own the Finance Transformation programme plan and the cross-company project portfolio, including milestones, dependencies, resource allocation, critical path, and budget governance

• Design and facilitate Helsing's strategic governance cadence, covering weekly status rhythms, monthly steering committees, and quarterly Board updates, ensuring each session produces a clear decision rather than a status report

• Track the company's top strategic programmes, including HX-2 production, AI software initiatives, M&A activity, and Finance Transformation workstreams, against milestones and budgets, surfacing resource conflicts before they escalate

• Maintain the programme risk register and bring blockers to the appropriate decision-makers with clear, well-structured options rather than open-ended problems, and own the Finance Transformation budget with quarterly return on investment reporting

• Use AI tools such as Notion AI, Microsoft Copilot, or custom LLM agents to auto-synthesise status inputs from cross-functional leads and produce CFO-ready dashboards, and deploy automated dependency-tracking logic that flags critical-path risks before they reach a steering committee

You should apply if you

• Have led complex, multi-workstream transformation programmes in tech, deep-tech, defence, or a fast-scaling environment, with a track record of managing real organisational dependencies across functions

• Hold a programme management qualification such as PMP or PRINCE2, and have applied these frameworks in mixed engineering and finance contexts

• Have built Board-ready governance dashboards and presented strategic tracking directly to C-suite and Board-level audiences

• Are fluent in financial modelling and budget governance, with the literacy to challenge a programme business case, track a transformation budget, and ask the right questions in a project review

• Build trust and influence across Engineering, Legal, HR, and Finance without relying on hierarchy, and communicate fluently in English; German is a strong advantage

Note: We operate in an industry where women, as well as other minority groups, are systematically under-represented. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all the listed qualifications; ability and impact cannot be summarised in a few bullet points.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Agile and Scrum methodologies in a context that spans both engineering and finance teams

• Hands-on experience building AI-powered PMO tooling, including automated status synthesis and LLM-assisted stakeholder communications

Join Helsing and work with world-leading experts in their fields

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Helsing’s work is important. You’ll be directly contributing to the protection of democratic countries while balancing both ethical and geopolitical concerns

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The work is unique. We operate in a domain that has highly unusual technical requirements and constraints, and where robustness, safety, and ethical considerations are vital. You will face unique Engineering and AI challenges that make a meaningful impact in the world

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Our work frequently takes us right up to the state of the art in technical innovation, be it reinforcement learning, distributed systems, generative AI, or deployment infrastructure. The defence industry is entering the most exciting phase of the technological development curve. Advances in our field of world are not incremental: Helsing is part of, and often leading, historic leaps forward

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In our domain, success is a matter of order-of-magnitude improvements and novel capabilities. This means we take bets, aim high, and focus on big opportunities. Despite being a relatively young company, Helsing has already been selected for multiple significant government contracts

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We actively encourage healthy, proactive, and diverse debate internally about what we do and how we choose to do it. Teams and individual engineers are trusted (and encouraged) to practise responsible autonomy and critical thinking, and to focus on outcomes, not conformity. At Helsing you will have a say in how we (and you!) work, the opportunity to engage on what does and doesn’t work, and to take ownership of aspects of our culture that you care deeply about

What we offer

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Competitive salary and VSOP options

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Relocation support: up to €2,500 and 4 weeks temporary accommodation

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Learning: €500/£450 yearly allowance

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Health & wellness: gym membership and mental health support (Nilo.health)

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Social: regularly company events and monthly social allowances

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Enhanced parental leave: 22 weeks fully paid for primary caregivers & 6 weeks for secondary caregivers.

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Family support: 5 days of paid family emergency leave, 100% remote work option during pregnancy and phased return to work

These are the core benefits across all locations, there may be additional benefits in certain locations.

Helsing is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability or gender identity. Please do not submit personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, data concerning your health, or data concerning your sexual orientation.

Helsing's Candidate Privacy and Confidentiality Regime can be found here.