Senior Mission Design Authority
Role
We’re looking for a Senior Mission Design Authority to join our Satellite Systems team in Montreal, Canada.
This is one of the most senior technical leadership roles within our satellite programs. As Mission Design Authority, you will hold the technical authority for a major program within your area of expertise, whether Satellite, Platform or Payload, driving critical technical decisions and providing direction across a multidisciplinary engineering organization.
You will have the opportunity to shape complex space missions from early definition and architecture through design, production, integration, verification, launch and in-orbit acceptance. You will be a key technical voice with our customers and have broad visibility across the system, balancing performance, architecture, requirements, cost, schedule and risk to ensure the mission succeeds.
At MDA Space, that technical leadership is backed by decades of experience building space systems and by major investments in the next generation of satellite technology. Our work spans communications constellations, software-defined digital satellites and Synthetic Aperture Radar missions, giving our technical leaders the opportunity to work across some of the most challenging areas of modern spacecraft design.
Our MDA AURORA™ product line brings together advanced satellite platforms, software-defined digital payload technologies, regenerative onboard processing and electronically steered direct-radiating arrays designed for next-generation constellation applications.
MDA Space also brings a deep heritage in Synthetic Aperture Radar and Earth observation, including work as prime contractor on RADARSAT, RADARSAT-2 and the RADARSAT Constellation Mission, with CHORUS representing the next chapter in that work.
For an experienced space systems leader, this is an opportunity to move beyond responsibility for an individual subsystem or discipline and take technical ownership at the mission and system level, influencing the decisions that ultimately determine how the spacecraft performs.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the technical authority for the program, accountable for technical decisions from program kick-off through in-orbit acceptance.
- Lead the overall technical direction and execution of the satellite, platform or payload, ensuring requirements, performance, cost and schedule objectives are achieved.
- Act as the primary technical interface with the customer, leading technical discussions, decisions and issue resolution.
- Lead system-level architecture, trade studies and resolution of complex technical issues, balancing performance, risk, cost and schedule.
- Provide technical leadership across multidisciplinary engineering teams, including RF, digital, electrical, EMC, mechanical, thermal, assembly, integration, verification and test.
- Own the integrity and flow-down of system requirements and key engineering documentation, including system budgets, specifications, verification and validation requirements, and design documentation.
- Lead major program and design reviews, including EQSR, SRR, PDR and CDR, and provide technical oversight through TRR, TRB, DRB and NCR activities.
- Lead integration, verification and validation, and support testing through launch and In-Orbit Test (IOT).
- Partner with the Program Manager and engineering leads to manage technical risks, priorities, resources, subcontractor performance and program challenges, developing recovery plans and escalating issues when required.
- Support proposals, follow-on opportunities and new business pursuits, bringing technical leadership to solution development, customer discussions and executable program plans.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in Electrical, Mechanical, Aerospace Engineering or a related discipline.
- 15+ years of experience in space systems engineering, including senior technical leadership or systems management on complex satellite programs.
- Strong experience in satellite, payload or platform design and development, with constellation experience considered an asset.
- Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary engineering teams and engage directly with customers on complex technical decisions.
- Experience with technical negotiations, risk and contract management, subcontractors and applicable export controls such as US ITAR.
- Strong French and English communication skills for collaboration with colleagues and customers in Quebec and internationally.
What we offer
- Comprehensive international relocation support to Montreal, including support for eligible employees and their families.
- Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits, including extended health and dental coverage, vision care, retirement savings and employee and family assistance.
- Employee Share Purchase Plan, with MDA Space matching employee contributions
- Technical ownership at mission scale, with the opportunity to shape critical decisions across complex satellite programs from design through integration, verification and in-orbit operations.
- Broad technical influence across multidisciplinary engineering teams, customers and major program decisions.
About the company
About MDA Space
Building the space between proven and possible, MDA Space is a trusted mission partner to the global space industry. A robotics, satellite systems and geointelligence pioneer with a 55-year+ story of world firsts and more than 450 missions, MDA Space is a global leader in communications satellites, Earth and space observation, and space exploration and infrastructure. The global MDA Space team of more than 4000 space experts has the knowledge and know-how to turn an audacious customer vision into an achievable mission – bringing to bear a one-of-a-kind mix of experience, engineering excellence and wide-eyed wonder that’s been in our DNA since day one. For those who dream big and push boundaries on the ground and in the stars to change the world for the better, we’ll take you there. For more information, visit www.mda.space.
Apply Now
About MDA Space
Building the space between proven and possible, MDA Space is a trusted mission partner to the global space industry. A robotics, satellite systems and geointelligence pioneer with a 55-year+ story of world firsts and more than 450 missions, MDA Space is a global leader in communications satellites, Earth and space observation, and space exploration and infrastructure. The global MDA Space team of more than 4000 space experts has the knowledge and know-how to turn an audacious customer vision into an achievable mission – bringing to bear a one-of-a-kind mix of experience, engineering excellence and wide-eyed wonder that’s been in our DNA since day one. For those who dream big and push boundaries on the ground and in the stars to change the world for the better, we’ll take you there. For more information, visit www.mda.space.
MDA Space en bref
MDA Space est un partenaire de mission de confiance de l’industrie spatiale mondiale qui crée l’espace entre ce qui est prouvé et ce qui est possible. À titre de pionnier de la robotique, des systèmes satellitaires et du renseignement géospatial, avec une histoire de 55 ans de premières mondiales et de plus de 450 missions, MDA Space est un chef de file mondial dans les domaines des satellites de communication, de l’observation de la Terre et de l’espace, ainsi que de l’infrastructure et l’exploration spatiale. L’équipe de MDA Space, qui compte plus de 4 000 experts de l’espace au Canada, aux États-Unis et au Royaume-Uni, possède les connaissances et le savoir-faire nécessaires pour transformer la vision audacieuse du client en une mission réalisable, grâce à une combinaison unique d’expérience, d’excellence technique et d’émerveillement qui fait partie de notre ADN depuis le premier jour. Pour ceux qui rêvent grand et repoussent les limites sur terre et dans les étoiles afin de changer le monde pour le meilleur, nous vous y emmènerons. Pour de plus amples renseignements, rendez-vous à www.mda.space.