Camera Engineer

Camera Engineer

Helsing

Berlin, London or Munich

The role

Helsing builds AI that works in the field, under real conditions, against real constraints. The Camera Engineer owns the imaging stack that makes that possible. From photon to bit, you define the hardware architecture that feeds our AI with the highest-quality, precisely timed sensor data.

You will translate mission requirements into concrete specifications for lenses, sensors, and data pipelines. You will work inside a multidisciplinary team spanning optical physics, electrical engineering, and computer vision, and you will see your designs move from prototype to operational deployment.

This is not a research role. The systems you build have real-world consequence.

The day-to-day

• Define imaging architecture. Select lens and sensor combinations, align specifications with the AI team, and own the technical trade-offs between optical performance and algorithm requirements.
• Implement low-level logic. Write FPGA firmware to handle high-speed sensor interfaces and hardware-based synchronisation.
• Drive the manufacturing lifecycle. Work directly with external partners to take designs from prototype to production. Define validation tests and resolve integration challenges across complex opto-electronic assemblies.
• Lead hardware bring-up and debug. Spend hands-on time in the lab, test performance under varying conditions, and support integration into the software stack.
• Tune image quality. Analyse camera performance against application requirements and optimise designs and low-level algorithms to maximise sensor value for AI downstream.

You should apply if you

• A Ph.D. or M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Applied Physics, Optical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• A track record of taking complex opto-electronic systems from prototype to production.
• Practical knowledge of opto-mechanical design challenges, including thermal management for high-power sensors and mechanical mounting for optical alignment.
• A strong understanding of imaging physics: lens selection, MTF characteristics, CMOS sensor architecture, quantum efficiency, and noise sources.
• System-level synchronisation experience, including PTP, PPS, and hardware triggers such as Hsync and Vsync, to align image capture with other sensors and compute modules.
• Proficiency in C/C++ or Rust for low-level firmware development or hardware-software interface debugging.

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

• FPGA development experience using Verilog, SystemVerilog, VHDL or equivalent, including high-bandwidth data streams, video processing pipelines, and sensor interfaces.
• Hands-on PCB design and debug experience for high-bandwidth image sensors, with knowledge of signal integrity for MIPI CSI-2, LVDS, SLVS-EC, or similar.
• Familiarity with optical design software such as Zemax or Code V, including ray tracing, lens curvature, or custom glass specification.
• Experience writing Linux kernel drivers or working with V4L2 or similar frameworks to interface with sensors.
• Exposure to computer vision or AI pipelines and an understanding of how captured images are consumed by downstream algorithms.
• Experience designing, calibrating, and programming LWIR cameras.