Principal Satellite Bus Systems Engineer

MDA; Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue; On-site; CAD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

MDA invites a Principal Satellite Bus Systems Engineer to design and integrate the architectural framework for satellite platforms, including structures, power, and avionics, across current and next-generation missions. You will lead verification, on-orbit support, and interface management to ensure mission success.

Candidates should have 15+ years of design experience on LEO/MEO/GEO platforms, strong communication, and hands-on skills for integration and testing.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical, aerospace, or physical engineering.
• In-depth knowledge of 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 independently with minimal supervision.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.

Responsibilities

• Architect and lead design of satellite bus subsystems (structures, TCS, EPS, GNC, PROP, C&DH, C&T, FSW).
• Develop platform documentation, ICDs, and design descriptions.
• Manage requirements and ensure bidirectional traceability throughout the program lifecycle.
• Lead comparative studies for structural, thermal, and power options.
• Supervise detailed design and conduct reliability/availability analyses.
• Draft IVV/verification plans and coordinate tests.
• Coach junior engineers and liaise with clients, partners, and suppliers.

Skills

Strong writing skills

Independent work

Problem solving

English communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in electrical, aerospace, or physical engineering

Tools

Confluence

JIRA

Job description

MDA is looking for a Principal Satellite Bus Systems Engineer to design the structural, thermal, DC distribution, attitude control, propulsion, data handling unit (DHU) and flight software (FSW) architecture, and payload interfaces for our current and next-generation remote sensing and telecommunications satellites. The incumbent leads the definition, design, integration, verification, and on-orbit support of platform subsystems, ensuring compliance with mission requirements and MDA best practices.

Summary of duties:

Architecture, Concept & Requirements

• Translate mission requirements (CONOPs, mass, volume, power, envelope, pointing, lifespan, redundancy, reliability, etc.) into system requirements and assign them to bus subsystems (structures, TCS, EPS, GNC, PROP, C&DH, C&T, FSW).
• Develop platform technical documentation, interface control documents (ICDs), and design descriptions.
• Perform requirements management and maintain bidirectional traceability throughout the program lifecycle.

Comparative Studies & Feasibility

• Lead comparative studies for structural approaches, thermal control and dissipation concepts, and power generation options (solar panels, battery technologies, etc.).

Detailed Design

• Supervise the detailed design of all major platform subsystems.
• Perform or support FMECA, FDIR, reliability & availability analyses.
• Ensure compliance with mission and payload requirements.
• Maintain performance budgets at the platform level.
• Support FSW and SRDB development.

Cross-Functional Coordination, Stakeholders & Program Interaction

• Present technical status, risk analyses, and comparative study results to program management.
• Negotiate and maintain ICDs with the payload and all subsystems.
• Provide support for DC & RF harness design and equipment layout.
• Support B&P activities (Phase 0 & pre-phase A).

Integration & Verification (IVV)

• Draft verification plans, test matrices, and test procedures.
• Coordinate, supervise, or support:
  • Structural vibration, acoustic, and shock tests
  • TCT and TVAC tests
  • Closed-loop tests on the avionics test bench
• Support FSW integration.

Technical Leadership & Mentorship

• Coach and guide junior, intermediate engineers, and interns.
• Act as a 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, On-Orbit & Operations Support

• Support launch site testing, pre-launch verification procedures, and verification scripts.
• Provide 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:

• Bachelor's degree in electrical, aerospace, or physical engineering with 15+ years of design experience on LEO/MEO/GEO platforms.
• In-depth knowledge of 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 independently with minimal 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 deliverables in English).