Systems Engineer, Ground Segment

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

This role ensures the interface between satellite communications, RF ground stations, and terrestrial infrastructures. It guarantees the end-to-end integration of the Satellite Operations Control Center (SOCC) and the Network Operations Center (NOC) for satellite telecommand, telemetry, mission data delivery, cloud routing, transport RF links, and operations continuity. Ground Station as a Service (GSaaS) solutions may be considered when they present technical or programmatic advantages.

Summary of responsibilities:

Architecture, Requirements and Interfaces

• Contribute to the definition of ground segment architectures, CONOPS, requirements, interfaces, and verification strategies.
• Integrate satellite, SOCC, NOC, ground station, terrestrial network, cloud service, and user systems segments.
• Allocate and ensure traceability of requirements between subsystems, suppliers, and service providers.
• Perform RF-to-cloud trade-off studies covering link performance, coverage, latency, availability, cybersecurity, costs, and risks.
• Maintain requirements, architecture descriptions, ICDs, compliance matrices, and technical analyses.

Ground Station, SOCC, and NOC Integration

• Integrate satellite control, TT&C/RF, network, cloud solution, and client systems.
• Support the definition of end-to-end interfaces and data flows for commands, telemetry, mission data, monitoring, and service management.
• Perform RF link analysis and support the installation, integration, testing, troubleshooting, and commissioning of ground stations.
• Evaluate GSaaS solutions, when relevant, for antenna access, contact scheduling, RF services, data transport, and supervision.
• Resolve interface discrepancies, technical dependencies, and integration risks between 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 between the SOCC, NOC, ground stations, networks, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity controls, and external systems.
• Verify RF performance, commands, telemetry reception, mission data delivery, routing, failover, recovery, and operational continuity.
• Investigate anomalies and non-conformances and coordinate corrective actions.
• Support launch preparation, ground station commissioning, in-orbit testing, operations, upgrades, and obsolescence management.

Technical Coordination and Leadership

• Coordinate multidisciplinary teams, clients, suppliers, and service providers.
• Communicate technical status, risks, decisions, and recommendations to clients and management.
• Contribute to technical estimates, statements of work, proposals, solution choices, and life cycle reviews.
• Act as a technical liaison point between satellite, SOCC, NOC, RF, network, cloud, and operations teams.
• Mentor junior engineers or interns and contribute to the continuous improvement of engineering practices.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, engineering physics, or a related field, with over 5 years of relevant experience.
• Experience in the design, integration, verification, commissioning, or operation of satellite ground systems.
• Good knowledge of RF technologies applied to link analysis, testing, troubleshooting, and ground station commissioning.
• Good mastery of systems engineering, requirements management, architecture, interface control, integration, verification, and validation.
• Experience integrating satellite control systems with RF ground stations, terrestrial networks, cloud infrastructures, cybersecurity, and operations.
• Knowledge of SOCC, NOC, mission control center environments, or network management platforms. Knowledge of GSaaS is an asset.
• Ability to analyze RF-to-cloud communication chains and solve multidisciplinary technical problems.
• Strong technical leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• 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 transport, service monitoring, redundancy, and operations 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 oral communication skills in English; (contact with clients outside Quebec and drafting of deliverables in English).