The role

As Head of Government Affairs and Communications for France you will have the opportunity to shape and direct how Helsing is positioned within France as well as supporting corporate activities across the company. You will work closely with both Helsing's FR President and Directeur général, as well as the wider Communications and Government Affairs team. Your role will work on identifying, developing and managing key government, parliamentary and stakeholder relationships in France as well as coordinating key government affairs activities, meetings and events in France and companywide. You will also focus on managing Communications activities, both external and internal, for France and the Group.

The day to day

• Developing and taking responsibility for Helsing senior stakeholder management in France with government, parliament, defence industry groupings (GICAN, GIFAS, GICAT), academia, trade associations and the media.

• Developing and implementing a government affairs and communications strategy to support both defence and AI/Tech related company objectives, interacting with defence and AI specialists, national and international journalists.

• Working closely with Helsing FR Directeur général and FR Programmes and Partnerships team to initiate and coordinate key stakeholder engagements, dedicated events, defence industry fairs and publications to reinforce our specific business development campaigns in all domains (Land, Air, Sea)

• Identifying FR government international and bi-lateral cooperation's in the defence sector, communicate and establish Helsing FR company positioning with regards to these priorities.

• Monitor political, parliamentary, government and foreign affairs debates related to defence and defence AI, and position Helsing’s point of view in the public debate.

• Organising and coordinating Helsing events, from round table discussions to large scale company events.

• Coordinating internal communications to ensure all staff are kept well informed.

• Contribute to the effective running of Helsing FR as part of the senior leadership team of Helsing FR.

You should apply if you

• You have a sensitivity for target groups and different stakeholders in the defence sector as well as a passion for geopolitical, political and social developments and trends.

• You have significant experience in either politics, minister’s cabinet, communications, industry, associations in the defence sector or other relevant sectors such as technology, digital and AI. The ideal candidate will have experience of working in a relevant ministerial private office as either an official or special advisor and/or as a senior communications professional in government service or a relevant industry sector.

• You understand the importance of excellent stakeholder communications. Ideally you will have experience in highly professional communication both written and verbal with senior officials in the private and public sector.

• French nationality is required, fluent English is essential and German language skills desirable.

• Your own personal values align with our corporate values of ownership, initiative, dedication to mission, speed and inclusiveness.

• You are a high performer who thrives in a fast-paced, demanding environment.

• You are collaborative, humble and a problem-solver.

• You have a University or Grande Ecole degree (or equivalent experience) relevant to the role, including but not limited to communications, economics, political sciences, humanities or social sciences.

Note: The above bullet points describe the ideal candidate. None of us matched all of these at once when we first joined Helsing. We encourage you to apply even if you believe you meet only part of our wish list.

This position requires the successful applicant to apply for and be granted FR security clearance and potentially other NATO security clearances.

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

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

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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

• A focus on outcomes, not time-tracking

• Competitive compensation and stock options

• Relocation support

• Social and education allowances

• Regular company events and all-hands to bring together employees as one team across Europe