Principal EPS System Engineer

MDA; Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

MDA seeks an Electrical Power System (EPS) Design Engineer to lead architecture, analysis, verification, and integration of EPS for satellites. You will collaborate with Payload and Bus teams to deliver reliable power subsystems including solar arrays, batteries, distribution, and regulation for LEO/MEO missions.

You will draft requirements, ICDs, test procedures, and support ground tests, anomaly investigations, and flight software integration.

Qualifications

• B.Sc. in electrical, aerospace, or physics engineering.
• 15+ years of EPS system design experience on LEO/MEO platforms.
• Experience with bus subsystems and their interactions.
• Excellent written and oral communication in English.
• Hands-on experience with integration, testing, and troubleshooting.

Responsibilities

• Define EPS architecture to meet mission DC budget, mass, volume, and reliability constraints.
• Size solar arrays, power conditioning units, batteries, and distribution units.
• Develop and validate electrical models and FMECA analyses.
• Draft ICDs and design descriptions.
• Lead technical reviews and mentor junior engineers.

Skills

EPS design

Space engineering

Technical leadership

Confluence

JIRA

Autonomous work

English communication

Education

B.Sc. in electrical, aerospace, or physics engineering

Tools

Confluence

JIRA

Job description

Principal EPS System Engineer

MDA is looking for an Electrical Power System (EPS) Design Engineer to support the design, detailed analysis, verification, and integration of electrical power subsystems (solar arrays, power conditioning units, batteries, distribution, and regulation) for our current and next-generation remote sensing and telecommunications satellites. The incumbent works in close collaboration with multidisciplinary Payload and Bus teams.

Summary of duties:

Architecture, Concept & Requirements

• Define the EPS architecture (generation, storage, distribution) that satisfies the mission's DC budget as well as mass, volume, and reliability constraints.
• Carry out comparative studies (photovoltaic cell type, battery chemistry, regulator topology, etc...).
• Produce system requirements and electrical schematics.
• Draft interface control documents (ICDs) and design descriptions.
• Manage requirements and maintain bidirectional traceability throughout the program lifecycle.

Detailed Design & Analysis

• Size solar arrays, power conditioning units, battery assemblies, and power distribution units.
• Develop and validate electrical models for different satellite modes, as well as FMECA analyses, fault detection, etc.
• Develop and maintain DC models, load balancing, thermal-power coupling models, and survivability analyses (eclipse, SHM, fault tolerance).

Cross-Functional Coordination, Stakeholders & Program Interaction

• Present technical status, risk analyses, and comparative study results to program management.
• Develop/maintain power models for mission analyses (station keeping, de-orbiting).
• Support B&P activities (Phase 0 & pre-phase A).

Integration & Verification (IVV)

• Draft verification plans, test matrices, and EPS test procedures.
• Support ground test and integration campaigns (TCT, TVAC, EMI/EMC).
• Analyze test data, close anomalies, and update databases.
• Provide support for flight software (FSW) integration.

Technical Leadership & Mentoring

• Supervise and guide junior, intermediate engineers, and interns.
• Serve as technical liaison with external clients, partners, and suppliers.
• Participate in continuous improvement initiatives.
• Contribute to MDA's knowledge base, process improvements, and standard development.

Configuration Management, Documentation

• Ensure all artifacts, analyses, software, deliverables, and documents are version-controlled.
• Support design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, MRR/TRR, etc).
• Support technology roadmap and innovation.

Launch Site, In-Orbit & Operations Support

• Technical support to SatOps teams for satellite performance monitoring.
• Support anomaly root-cause investigations; update databases and capitalize on lessons learned (REX).
• Analyze telemetry and generate performance reports.
• Support SOOH development and operator training.

Required qualifications:

• Degree: B.Sc. in electrical, aerospace, or physics engineering with 15+ years of experience in EPS system design on LEO/MEO platforms.
• In-depth knowledge of bus subsystems and their interactions.
• Strong writing skills and a solid understanding of space engineering fundamentals.
• "Hands-on" profile: capable of supporting integration, testing, and troubleshooting processes.
• Experience with Confluence and JIRA.
• Ability to work autonomously with little supervision.
• Ability to break down complex problems into basic elements to solve them through analysis, analogy, or creativity.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English (contact with clients outside Quebec and drafting of deliverables in English).