Senior Satellite Electric Propulsion Engineer

Macdonald, Dettwiler And Associates Corporation; Quebec; On-site; CAD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

MDA Space in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC is seeking a Satellite Electrical Propulsion System Engineer to define, design, analyse, integrate and verify EP subsystems for current and next‑generation remote sensing and communications satellites. The role bridges electrical power, thermal management, and mission performance requirements.

You will produce system requirements, ICDs, and descriptions, manage traceability, lead design and testing, coordinate with vendors, and support on‑orbit

Qualifications

• Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace, or Physics with 5+ years of electrical propulsion engineering experience on LEO/MEO.
• Strong knowledge of EP thruster families and their performance characteristics.
• Experience with propellant storage & feed-system design (tanks, valves, micro-valves).
• Strong understanding of aerospace system engineering fundamentals, space environment and orbit mechanics.
• Hands-on individual who can support systems integration processes and capability to test systems and resolve problems.
• Experience with Confluence and JIRA.
• Demonstrated capability to efficiently work with little to no supervision
• Ability to distill complex problems to fundamentals to solve with analysis, similarity, or creativity.
• Demonstrate excellent written and oral communication skills in English; knowledge of French will be considered an asset (Contact with clients outside Quebec and work on deliverables in English).
• Support the Spacecraft operations team in critical phases.

Responsibilities

• Translate mission‑level ΔV, thrust, lifetime, and reliability goals into EP system requirements (performance, power, mass, contamination, EMI).
• Produce System Requirements, Interface Control Documents (ICDs), and Description documents for thruster assemblies, Power‑Processing Units (PPU), propellant feed & storage, and control electronics.
• Perform requirement management and maintain bidirectional traceability throughout the project lifecycle.
• Perform system‑level power, thermal, and mass budget analyses; produce trade‑off matrices (thrust vs. power vs. propellant mass, reliability vs. complexity).
• Lead detailed mechanical/electrical design of thruster mounting, heater/thermal control, and PPU (converter, regulator, fault‑protection).
• Define propellant handling hardware (tanks, valves, feed‑lines, interconnects) and develop contamination control procedures.
• Negotiate ICDs and interface agreements with external thruster vendors and component suppliers.
• Modeling & Simulation: Support or Develop 1‑D/3‑D plume models and perform reliability prediction.
• Software & Control: Define command and telemetry interfaces for EP & health‑monitoring telemetry; work with FSW teams to develop thrust profile generation, and FDIR algorithms.
• Cross‑Functional Coordination, Stakeholder & Program Interaction: Communicate technical status, risk assessments and trade‑study results to senior management and/or customers or partners.
• Negotiate and manage ICDs with platform subsystems and supplier teams.
• Support B&P (Phase 0 & pre-phase A).
• Develop verification plans, test matrices, and validation procedures for unit, subsystem, and spacecraft‑level EP tests.
• Oversee hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HIL) and thrust‑stand testing, including thrust‑calibration, specific impulse measurement, pulse‑modulation, and lifetime cycling.
• Technical Leadership & Mentorship: Mentor, guide junior engineers and interns; act as technical liaison with customers, partners and external vendors; contribute to knowledge-base and standards.
• Configuration, Documentation & Standards Management: Author and maintain MDA EP standards; ensure version control in PLM.
• Launch-Site, On-Orbit & Operations Support: Support on‑orbit checkout procedures, thruster test campaigns, and contingency recovery plans.

Skills

EP propulsion systems

Spacecraft integration

System engineering

English comms

Mentorship

Vendor coordination

Test & verification

Education

BSc in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace, or Physics

Tools

Confluence

JIRA

Job description

MDA Space in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC is seeking a Satellite Electrical Propulsion System Engineer to define, design, analyse, integrate and verify EP subsystems for current and next‑generation remote sensing and communications satellites. The role bridges electrical power, thermal management, and mission performance requirements.

You will produce system requirements, ICDs, and descriptions, manage traceability, lead design and testing, coordinate with vendors, and support on‑orbit