Principal Systems Engineer, Ground Segment

MDA is looking for a Ground Segment Systems Engineer to define, integrate, verify, commission, and support satellite ground systems.

The role bridges space communications, RF ground stations, and terrestrial infrastructure. It ensures end-to-end integration of the Satellite Operations Control Center (SOCC) and Network Operations Center (NOC) for satellite commanding, telemetry reception, mission data delivery, cloud routing, RF backhauling, and operational continuity. The use of Ground Station as a Service (GSaaS) solutions may be considered when it provides technical or programmatic advantages.

Summary of Responsibilities:

Architecture, Requirements, and Interfaces

• Define ground segment architectures, CONOPS, requirements, interfaces, and verification strategies.
• Integrate satellites, SOCC, NOC, ground stations, terrestrial networks, cloud services, and user systems.
• Allocate and ensure traceability of requirements among subsystems, suppliers, and service providers.
• Lead RF-to-cloud trade studies regarding link performance, coverage, latency, availability, cybersecurity, costs, and risks.
• Maintain requirements, architecture descriptions, interface control documents, compliance matrices, and technical analyses.

Ground Station, SOCC, and NOC Integration

• Integrate satellite control, TT&C/RF, network, cloud, and client systems.
• Define end-to-end interfaces and data flows for commanding, telemetry, mission data, monitoring, and service management.
• Support RF link analysis as well as ground station installation, integration, testing, troubleshooting, and commissioning.
• Evaluate, where relevant, GSaaS solutions for antenna access, contact scheduling, RF services, data transport, and monitoring.
• Resolve interface discrepancies, technical dependencies, and integration risks across RF, network, cloud, supplier, and operations domains.

Integration, Verification, and Operations

• Develop verification matrices, integration plans, test procedures, operational scenarios, and acceptance criteria.
• Coordinate end-to-end integration and testing of the SOCC, NOC, ground stations, networks, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity controls, and external systems.
• Verify RF performance, commanding, telemetry reception, mission data delivery, routing, failover, recovery, and operational continuity.
• Analyze anomalies and non-conformances and coordinate corrective actions.
• Support launch readiness, ground station commissioning, in-orbit testing, operations, upgrades, and obsolescence management.

Technical Coordination and Leadership

• Coordinate multidisciplinary teams, clients, suppliers, and service providers.
• Support technical estimations, statements of work, proposals, solution selection, and lifecycle reviews.
• Act as a technical interface between satellite, SOCC, NOC, RF, network, cloud, and operations teams.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, physics, or a related field, with over 10 years of relevant experience.
• Experience in the design, integration, verification, commissioning, or operation of satellite ground systems.
• Strong RF knowledge applied to link analysis, testing, troubleshooting, and ground station commissioning.
• Strong knowledge in systems engineering, requirements management, architecture, interface control, integration, verification, and validation.
• Experience in integrating satellite control systems with RF ground stations, terrestrial networks, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, and operations.
• Knowledge of SOCC, NOC, mission control, or network management environments. Knowledge of GSaaS solutions is an asset.
• Ability to analyze RF-to-cloud communication chains and resolve multidisciplinary technical issues.
• Experience with TT&C systems, antennas, RF measurements, ground station acceptance testing, mission planning, flight dynamics, or payload data processing.
• Knowledge of IP networks, cloud routing, RF backhauling, service monitoring, redundancy, and operational continuity.
• Experience with GSaaS solutions, cloud infrastructure, DevSecOps, or high-availability systems.
• Experience with MBSE/SysML, Cameo, DOORS, Windchill, Jama, Polarion, Python, MATLAB, STK, Jira, or Confluence.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English (contact with clients outside Quebec and drafting deliverables in English).