Helio is not a typical technology company. We don't optimize for engagement or retention metrics. We optimize for whether someone feels less alone at the end of the day than they did at the beginning. That's a harder problem than anything we've worked on before, and it requires a different kind of team.

We hire people who are uncomfortable with easy answers. People who understand that building emotionally adaptive systems comes with responsibilities that don't fit neatly into a product roadmap. People who think about second-order effects before they ship.

How we work

Slow is fast

We ship when it's right, not when it's scheduled. Companion technology doesn't get patches. People form attachments. We respect that weight.

Doubt is welcome

If something feels wrong, say it. We'd rather kill a feature at the whiteboard than discover its consequences in someone's living room.

The user is not a metric

We don't celebrate DAUs or session length. We celebrate the email from someone who says they slept through the night for the first time in months.

Open positions

All roles are based in Shenzhen unless noted. Remote arrangements considered for exceptional candidates.

Senior Emotional Modeling Engineer

Engineering Shenzhen Full-time

Design and refine the core emotional recognition and response systems that power Helio's adaptive interaction. Requires deep experience in NLP, affective computing, and a genuine interest in human psychology.

Behavioral Data Scientist

Research Shenzhen / Remote Full-time

Analyze anonymized behavioral patterns across our companion platform to identify opportunities for improving emotional responsiveness and detecting early signs of dependency. Work closely with our ethics board.

Companion Systems Ethicist

Ethics & Governance Shenzhen / Remote Full-time

Embed ethical reasoning into product development from day one. Evaluate feature proposals for second-order societal effects. Interface between engineering teams and the Global Wellbeing Advisory Board. Background in applied ethics, psychology, or social science.

Interaction Designer — Companion Experience

Design Shenzhen Full-time

Shape how Helio feels. Design the pacing, tone transitions, silence handling, and ambient presence behaviors that make companion interaction feel natural without feeling deceptive. This is not traditional UX.

Clinical Psychology Consultant

Research Remote Part-time / Contract

Provide clinical expertise on attachment formation, loneliness intervention, and dependency risk assessment. Review companion interaction protocols and contribute to our usage guidelines framework.

What we offer