External Interface Engineer – ALTO

SYSTRA Canada; Montreal (administrative region); On-site; CAD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

SYSTRA Canada is seeking an External Interface Engineer to lead planning, coordination and documentation of external interfaces for the ALTO high-speed rail program between Quebec City and Toronto. You will engage municipalities, utility providers, and rail authorities to secure approvals and align schedules.

With 7–12 years in large rail projects and bilingual FR/EN capabilities, you will drive interface management, supporting risk mitigation and regulatory compliance across the project

Qualifications

• 7-12 years on large, complex rail or HSR/major corridor infrastructure projects with external interface responsibilities.
• Experience coordinating multi-agency approvals, utility diversions, and rail/highway/municipal interfaces.
• Bilingual in French and English for client engagements and collaboration with diverse teams.

Responsibilities

• Plan, coordinate, and document all external interfaces between the HSR program and external stakeholders.
• Lead recurring coordination meetings and technical reviews; secure inputs and approvals and ensure external requirements are integrated into designs.
• Maintain interface specifications, logs, and correspondence repositories; produce periodic interface status reports.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Team collaboration

Problem solving

Analytical thinking

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Professional licensure/chartership desirable

Tools

MS Office Suite

Job description

SYSTRA Canada is part of the SYSTRA group, an international consulting and engineering group, a world leader in the design of transport infrastructures. SYSTRA Canada is an engineering and consulting firm whose primary focus is to offer transportation solutions, whether for passengers or goods: feasibility studies of building a new railway line, increasing the capacity of the existing infrastructure, privatization of a railway.

Context

Join SYSTRA Canada in shaping the future of Canada with this impressive ALTO high-speed rail project connecting Quebec City to Toronto, the largest infrastructure project in Canada in generations.

The ALTO high-speed rail project aims to improve the quality of life of our citizens, strengthen ties between communities, and stimulate economic growth.

Are you convinced that a more sustainable world is possible and that mobility is an integral part of thinking about the future of our planet? Come aboard with SYSTRA Canada and be part of the project that will revolutionize the railway industry in Canada!

Missions/Main Duties

The External Interface Engineer is responsible for planning, coordinating, and documenting all technical interfaces between the High-speed Rail (HSR) program and external stakeholders - including municipalities, utility providers, transport and rail authorities, highway agencies, regulators, and other third parties. This role ensures the coordination of all actions necessary for the identification and resolution of external interfaces, in accordance with the rules, standards and timelines applicable to the best practices of interface management, including obtaining timely approvals, coordinating design, construction and commissioning windows, and ensuring full compliance with applicable standards and permits, mitigating interface risks from design through testing and commissioning.

Interface Strategy and Planning

• Develop and maintain the project’s External Interface Management Plan for an HSR environment, including interface matrices, RACI assignments, and communication protocols across the linear corridor and nodal assets (stations, facilities).
• Manage, Support, Administrate and Control the Interface Lifecycle process from start to end, through technical identification, definition, resolution and verification / testing lifecycle,
• Establish and control External Interface roadmap in accordance with the required deliverables dates and master, schedule, integrate external dependencies into the master schedule.
• Ensure the interface documents align quality and technical project performance criteria.

Stakeholder Liaison and Coordination

• Act as the primary technical point of contact with external stakeholders such as (not limited to) municipalities, regional and national transport agencies, existing rail infrastructure managers, utility owners/operators, highway authorities, environmental and safety regulators, and adjacent project sponsors.
• Lead recurring coordination meetings and technical reviews; secure inputs and approvals and ensure external requirements are captured, validated, and integrated into HSR designs.

Risk, Change, and Issue Management

• Contribute to the risk register.
• Identify and actively contribute to the changes related to/affecting external interfaces and manage associated agreements. Escalate critical issues with recovery and contingency plans tied to key program milestones.

Documentation and Reporting

• Maintain interface specifications, assumptions/decisions logs, and correspondence repositories.
• Produce periodic reports on interface status, permits, risks, and program impacts for project leadership and governance bodies.
• Ensure auditable traceability for regulatory and contractual obligations, including inputs to safety assurance and RAMS processes.

Profile/Skills

Education:

Bachelor's degree in civil, electrical, mechanical, or systems engineering (advanced degree preferred); professional licensure/chartership desirable.

Years of experience:

7-12 years on large, complex rail or HSR/major corridor infrastructure projects with demonstrable external interface or third-party coordination responsibilities.

Technical Competencies

• Proven experience coordinating utility diversions, multi-agency approvals, and rail/highway/municipal interfaces.
• Familiarity with applicable HSR/rail standards and codes, roadway standards, utility requirements, and environmental regulations; experience contributing to safety assurance or RAMS is an asset.
• Strong stakeholder communication and negotiation skills; ability to lead technical workshops and drive decisions across organizations.
• Proficiency with MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, both in French and in English.*
• Reasons for requiring bilingualism: You will have the opportunity to work with a varied clientele, including both French- and English-speaking companies. Bilingualism is therefore fundamental to building strong relationships with our customers, understanding their specific needs, communicating effectively in their preferred language and facilitating strategic meetings.

Personal & Soft Skills

• Proactive problem-solving and sound judgement in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong organizational skills, ability to meet deadlines.
• Attention to detail; ability to work under pressure.
• Team spirit, positive attitude and sense of initiative
• Analytical mind, curious and able to propose solutions.

SYSTRA Canada is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer that values applications from all and offers employment equity based on the merits and abilities of candidates and personnel.

We use AI-enabled tools in our recruitment platform (iCIMS) for tasks like resume parsing and candidate matching. These tools do not make hiring decisions; all applications are reviewed by a human recruiter, and final decisions are made by our hiring team. For questions about our hiring process or AI tools, please contact [email protected].

Note: In this description, the masculine gender is used for easy reading purposes and includes the feminine.