Job Description

For those who dream of advancing our space in the Universe and on Earth, we'll take you there.

Serving the world from our Canadian home and our global offices, MDA is an international space mission partner and robotics & space operations, satellite systems and geointelligence pioneer with a 50-year story of firsts on and above the Earth. Today, we're leading the charge towards viable Moon colonies, enhanced Earth observation, communication in a hyper-connected world, and more.

We're fueled by a pioneering spirit that carries us beyond. And together we enable highly skilled people to continually push boundaries and tackle big challenges requiring solutions that endure and inspire.

Are you ready to launch the next stage of your career in the new space economy? We would love to hear from you!

The Position

We're on the hunt for a Systems Engineer - Operations Development, at our Richmond office, to be a part of the next generation of Earth Observation space missions.

Our mission is to turn data into insight. From detecting changes in fragile ecosystems to monitoring northern ice floes and shipping routes, our near-real time data of Earth observation and the environment makes our Geointelligence team a leader in geospatial imagery, ground stations, enterprise geospatial systems and defence programs.

As a member of the Engineering team you will work on our programs such as the CHORUS Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Satellite, Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC), Square Kilometer Array (SKA) radio telescope, Aeronautical Navigation products, and Marine Insights products. You will work as part of a technical team to develop new capabilities, enhance existing capabilities and deliver solutions to our customers.

As part of your growth and development we will work with you to establish your development actions alongside regular progress reviews. You are likely to move through various projects to gain the experience and knowledge to progress your career with us.

Role

As part of the missions systems engineering team, you will participate with our cross functional, multi-disciplined team in developing cutting-edge solutions to deliver end-to-end missions for our customers.

Responsibilities

As a Systems Engineer - Operations Development, you may have a wide range of responsibilities that include:

• Leads the development and generation of deliverable documents such as engineering plans, engineering budgets, design reports, and operational concepts;
• Contributes to analyses that support the mission development such as coverage analysis, orbit selection, etc;
• Leads the review of the spacecraft and ground segment requirements and design from an operations perspective;
• Leads the development of operations procedures, scripts, tools and other products for on-orbit commissioning and routine operations of the mission;
• Contributes to the development of spacecraft operations test procedures;
• Contributes to the verification activities of the overall mission;
• Responsible for the development of spacecraft and ground segment training plans and the oversight of their execution;
• Key participant of the core operations execution team through Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) and commissioning Phase activities in support of the transition to routine operations (developing experience to lead future Mission LEOPs);
• Lead work planning and cost estimates for operations development work packages during the project's lifecycle; and
• Developing team members through mentoring and coaching.

Required Experience:

• Must possess an Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Physics, Astronomy or relevant mix of education and experience;
• 5 to 10 years experience in spacecraft operations development or combination of spacecraft design, testing and operations;
• Experience in:
  • AGI's Systems Tool Kit (STK)
  • Matlab or similar analysis tools
• Python or other scripting languages
• Knowledge of satellites and their operations, including:
• Spacecraft attitude control
• Orbit determination and orbit maintenance
• Spacecraft systems (power, thermal, communications, etc)
• Ground Segment Systems (Command and Data Handling, Mission Planning, etc)
• Satellite operations principles and concepts
• An understanding of different types of engineering life cycles as applicable to large complex programs
• Have excellent verbal and superb written communication skills
• Self-starter with the ability to perform in a dynamic working environment
• Possess excellent problem solving skills
• A team-friendly attitude and willingness to learn

Desired Experience:

• Direct experience in satellite operations or other space operations (e.g. human spaceflight operations);
• Direct experience in spacecraft Launch and Early Phase Operations (LEOP) and spacecraft commissioning;
• Experience with spacecraft commanding tools such as Tool Command Language (TCL) and TERMA Spacecraft Control tools, ITOS STOL language or other spacecraft command tools;
• Appreciation of spacecraft systems engineering principles; and
• Appreciation of earth observation mission design principles.

We're a dream team of purpose-driven, collaborative and passionate people, and we are constantly looking for others to join #TeamMDA to ignite new and innovative approaches to problem-solving that push us forward to improve life on and above Earth. If you're excited to expand our place in space and driven to inspire the next generation, we'll take you there.

We have entered a new era of exploration and development, and MDA welcomes all who yearn to suit up and be part of it. An equal opportunity employer prizing diversity, integrity and collaboration, we are committed to growing MDA's and Canada's leadership in this next golden age.

Comments/Special Considerations:

Successful candidates must obtain and hold security clearance at the RELIABILITY status level, and pass security assessment for the Controlled Goods Program (CGP).

MDA provides competitive compensation and benefits packages for its employees at all locations. As a team member of MDA, you and your qualified dependents are eligible to participate in a benefit plan that ensures a comprehensive level of protection through competitive health care including; extended healthcare and flexible drug plans, dental and vision benefits, disability income protection, life insurance, group retirement savings plans; and an employee and family assistance program.

MDA is an equal opportunity employer prizing diversity and inclusion. We are committed to treating all employees and applicants for employment with respect and dignity. If you require assistance and/or reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please feel free to notify us.

COVID-19 Hiring Update: Strengthening our workforce is more important than ever to meet our customers' mission-critical needs. We are continuing to hire many talented people, and we are closely monitoring COVID-19 to ensure safe hiring practices are used. This includes limiting onsite candidate interviews and prioritizing video interviews.