Payroll Lead New

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

Payroll at Helsing is not a back-office function. It is a foundation of trust.

As Payroll Lead, you will own Helsing's payroll function across Germany and our growing international footprint. This is a hands-on leadership role: you will remain close to the monthly payroll cycles while designing the operating model, controls and team structure that allow payroll to scale with Helsing.

You will take end-to-end responsibility for how payroll operates across our entities and regions, with particular depth in Germany and the wider DACH region. You will set service standards, controls and escalation paths, and hold our external providers accountable for delivering against them.

You will guide our payroll specialists, sharing work fairly across cycles and building the knowledge and cross-cover that ensures no entity depends on one person.

As we add entities and enter new countries, you will decide how payroll should operate there — from provider and system choices through to controls and the first live payroll. Every colleague at Helsing depends on this being right, on time, every cycle.

The day-to-day

Own payroll delivery across multiple entities, entities and pay frequencies, remaining hands-on in monthly payroll where needed and ensuring each cycle is delivered accurately and on time

Design and continuously improve a scalable payroll operating model for Germany and our international entities, covering workflows, intake channels, escalation paths, service levels, approvals, reconciliations and audit-ready evidence

Guide and develop our payroll specialists, setting clear standards, sharing workload fairly and building cross-cover

Partner closely with Finance on payroll accounting, reconciliations and month-end, quarter-end and year-end close

Own the service and commercial relationship with external payroll providers, setting expectations, running performance reviews and selecting new partners as we enter additional countries

Safeguard statutory compliance across jurisdictions, with particular expertise in German wage tax, social security and relevant labour law, and lead payroll accounting and social security audits

Lead payroll setup when Helsing enters new countries or establishes new entities, from defining the operating approach and selecting providers through testing and the first successful live cycle

Reduce manual work and operational risk through better processes, HRIS/payroll integrations and automation

You should apply if you

Have owned or played a leading role in multi-entity, multi-country payroll in a growing international company, including hands-on responsibility for payroll cycles

Have selected, managed and challenged external payroll providers and know how to establish clear accountability between internal teams and outsourced partners

Have guided payroll specialists or a payroll team, balancing workload, quality and cross-cover through periods of growth and change; formal people management experience is valuable but not essential

Have built or significantly reshaped payroll processes, controls, systems or operating models and can demonstrate what improved as a result

Have deep knowledge of German payroll compliance and keep that knowledge current, including wage tax, social security and relevant labour law

Can operate at both strategic and operational levels — comfortable designing how payroll should work while also getting into the detail of a monthly payroll cycle when required

Communicate fluently in German and English, in writing and in person, with colleagues, providers and local authorities

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

Have connected an HRIS such as HiBob to a payroll system such as DATEV or ADP, or scaled platforms of that kind

Have set up payroll in a new country or entity, from provider selection and operating-model design through to the first live cycle

Have helped build or scale a payroll team or function as an organisation expanded internationally

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

Competitive salary and VSOP options

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

Learning: €500/£450 yearly allowance

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

Social: regularly company events and monthly social allowances

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

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.