Lead Mil-Ka Senior System Engineering Specialist

Telesat; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Telesat in Ottawa, Canada, is seeking a senior Systems Engineer to lead technical coordination for Lightspeed military Ka-band applications. You will advance designs, analyses, and test plans across Lightspeed teams without people management, focusing on validated evidence for CAF and NATO/NORAD interoperability.

Required: 10+ years in complex comms/satellite programs, MBSE, and ability to obtain Top Secret clearance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in systems, electrical, communications, aerospace, or computer engineering.
• 10+ years of systems engineering on complex communications, aerospace, satellite, or defence programs with technical leadership.
• Experience with end-to-end satellite communications systems and interfaces.
• Experience with requirements management, traceability, interface control, risk management, and V&V. MBSE is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Translate customer and mission requirements into a clear traceability matrix linking requirements to designs and verification.
• Lead engineering trade studies and coordinate inputs from segment specialists.
• Review test and verification approaches and maintain a system-level interface plan and verification plan.
• Coordinate mission-operations and service-management integration with operations and product teams.
• Coordinate security, data-protection, and safety requirements with information security and IT teams.
• Lead system-level performance assessments for military Ka-band user-terminal configurations.
• Lead technical discussions with customers and internal teams; maintain action and decision logs.
• Report technical status to program leaders, summarizing requirement coverage, interfaces, test evidence, and risks.

Skills

Technical leadership

Requirements management

Traceability

System verification & validation

Model-based systems engineering

Customer-facing discussions

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Systems/Electrical/Communications/Aerospace/Computer Engineering

Tools

MBSE tools

Satellite communications knowledge

Job description

Telesat (Nasdaq and TSX: TSAT) is a leading global satellite operator, providing reliable and secure satellite-delivered communications solutions worldwide to broadcast, telecommunications, corporate and government customers for over 55 years. Backed by a legacy of engineering excellence, reliability and industry-leading customer service, Telesat has grown to be one of the largest and most successful global satellite operators.

Telesat Lightspeed, our revolutionary Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network, scheduled to begin service in 2027, will revolutionize global broadband connectivity for enterprise and Government users by delivering a combination of high capacity, security, resiliency and affordability with ultra-low latency and fiber-like speeds. Telesat is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, and has offices and facilities around the world. The company’s state-of-the-art Satellite fleet consists of 12 GEO satellites, the Canadian payload on ViaSat-1 and one LEO 3 demonstration satellite. For more information, follow Telesat on X and LinkedIn or visit www.telesat.com

Within the System Engineering team, lead the technical coordination needed to adapt Lightspeed’s low Earth orbit constellation and associated ground infrastructure for military Ka-band communications supporting the Enhanced Satellite Communications Project - Polar (ESCP-P) and other defence customers. This is a senior individual-contributor role in which you will lead technical work across all Lightspeed teams without managing staff. You will build on established designs, analyses, and test plans, focusing additional analysis where decisions require it.

ESCP-P is intended to meet Government of Canada requirements by providing the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) with secure, resilient, high-speed communications for operations at home and abroad, particularly in Arctic and other high-latitude regions. The project supports Canada’s Arctic sovereignty and continental defence, including interoperability with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

Main Responsibilities

• Translate customer and mission requirements into a clear traceability matrix linking each requirement to the relevant Lightspeed design, responsible team, disposition, status, verification method, and planned evidence. Record gaps, assumptions, conflicts, ambiguities, and decisions; coordinate resolution with the responsible owners and route approved changes through established change control.
• Lead focused engineering trade studies when a requirement gap or technical decision warrants further analysis. Build on existing Lightspeed analyses and coordinate input from segment specialists as required.
• Review the existing Lightspeed test and verification approach and available evidence against applicable customer requirements. Coordinate with responsible owners to maintain a system-level interface plan and verification plan for the highest-risk operating scenarios. Identify evidence gaps and coordinate the tests, analyses, or demonstrations needed to close them.
• Coordinate mission-operations and service-management integration with existing operations and product teams. Assess Lightspeed capabilities against needs for mission planning, configuration, monitoring, reporting, service requests, maintenance information, and customer reporting; identify gaps and coordinate resolution with responsible owners.
• Coordinate security, data-protection, and safety requirements with information security, information technology, ground infrastructure, and safety specialists. Connect applicable controls and evidence for authentication, encryption, key management, Canadian data location and processing, data deletion, cyber resilience, and radio-frequency safety to their responsible owners.
• Lead system-level performance assessments for military Ka-band user-terminal configurations planned or under consideration, including throughput and capacity. Build on existing models and analyses, coordinate inputs from technical owners, and document assumptions, performance margins, and decisions needed.
• Lead technical discussions with customers and internal teams. Maintain an action and decision log for customer feedback, technical assumptions, risks, and proposed changes, with a clear owner and due date for each item. Track items to disposition or escalation. Raise issues that could affect scope, cost, schedule, compliance, or customer acceptance.
• Report technical status within the System Engineering team and to program leaders, summarizing customer-requirement coverage, open decisions, interface readiness, test evidence, and delivery risks.

Education and Experience Required

• A bachelor’s degree in systems, electrical, communications, aerospace, or computer engineering, or equivalent experience.
• At least 10 years of systems engineering experience on complex communications, aerospace, satellite, or defence programs, including technical leadership across multiple teams. This is an individual-contributor role with technical leadership responsibilities, not a people-management position.
• Experience with end-to-end satellite communications systems and their space, gateway, network, mission-operations, and user-terminal interfaces.
• Demonstrated experience in requirements management, traceability, interface control, technical risk management, and system verification and validation. Experience with model-based systems engineering methods or tools is an asset.
• Experience leading customer-facing technical discussions, resolving requirement ambiguity, and producing clear compliance and customer-acceptance evidence.
• Working knowledge of cybersecurity and data-protection engineering in government programs; experience coordinating Canadian defence, communications, radio-frequency safety, or environmental standards is an asset.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance up to Top Secret level.

The successful candidate must be able to work in Canada and obtain clearance under the Canadian Controlled Goods program (CGP), along with Top Secret clearance status.

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At Telesat, we take pride in being an equal opportunity employer that values equality in the workplace. We are committed to providing the best candidate experience possible including any required accommodations at every stage of our interview process. All qualified applicants that have been selected for an interview that require accommodations, are advised to inform the Telesat Talent team accordingly. We will work with you to meet your needs. All accommodation information provided will be treated as confidential.