Your space-enabled career begins here

For those who dream of advancing our space in the Universe and on Earth, we’ll take you there.

Serving the world from our Canadian home and our global offices, MDA is an international space mission partner and robotics & space operations, satellite systems and geo-intelligence pioneer with a 50-year story of firsts on and above the Earth. Today, we're leading the charge towards viable Moon colonies, enhanced Earth observation, communication in a hyper-connected world, and more.

We’re fuelled by a pioneering spirit that carries us beyond. And together we enable highly skilled people to continually push boundaries and tackle big challenges requiring solutions that endure and inspire.

Are you ready to launch the next stage of your career in the new space economy? We would love to hear from you!

We’re on the hunt for a Principle level Mission/Systems Architect at our UK office.

MDA’s international footprint in the UK creates opportunities to work with some of the most exciting space industrial players in the country. Delivering all three business area capabilities in Robotics & Space Operations, Satellite Systems, and Geo intelligence, our UK team provides support to our customers while specializing in the development of advanced space sensors for exploration missions as well as space-based communication technology. As our presence grows overseas, so does our need for new ambitious team players to help us advance our place in the Universe and beyond. As a Mission/Systems Architect in our team, you will be responsible for listening to our growing customer base and ensuring their needs are understood and used to develop and deliver the best solutions and products.

Responsibilities:

• Work with teams across MDA’s UK and Canadian locations to develop technical solutions for customer opportunities
• Develop comprehensive understanding of MDA’s technology and product portfolio
• Conduct system/specification trade-off and negotiation with customers and engineers for diverse missions and applications
• Technical requirements elicitation, scrutiny, and allocation including trade-offs across design for compliance, design for manufacture, and design for cost approaches
• Generate system, sub-system and product and software level specifications and interface definitions based on end-to-end system and customer requirements and constraints for both internal teams and external partners. Technical spacecraft resource and performance budget management including some underlying analyses, including co-ordination of inputs and analysis from discipline specialists
• Analyse system level performance requirements to allocated subsystems/components requirement
• Enable technology maturation and risk reduction plans for critical elements of end-to-end system and satellite subsystems
• Support business development and proposal activities for multiple programs and customers and ensure a smooth transition from proposal and bid activities to the project technical level
• Provide input to, and ensure alignment with technology, product and capability roadmaps, to enable an effective transition between long term strategy and day to day implementation
• Mentor and lead other members of the engineering team

Qualifications, Experience and Competencies

Skillset

• Spacecraft and constellation mission analysis across all orbital regimes
• Spacecraft operations, including the definition of ground segment required
• Systems engineering and requirements definition for spacecraft:
  • Thermal
  • Power and electrical
  • TT&C
  • Propulsion
  • Payload
  • RF (e.g., link budgets, regulatory compliance)
  • Optical intersatellite links
  • On-board processing

Experience and competencies

• Degree in engineering or related technical discipline
• 15 years of relevant experience in developing concepts for space missions
• Solid experience and knowledge of engineering concepts for missions ranging from LEO to GEO and beyond
• Knowledge and understanding of Communications and Earth Observation markets and applications
• Demonstrable experience of strategic thinking
• Experience in interfacing with a wide range of customers in Commercial, Civil and Defence market segments
• Experience in all (desirable) or part (essential) of the end to end mission delivery lifecycle
• Excellent team working, interpersonal and communication skills, ability to influence, persuade and negotiate with people at all levels (internally and externally)
• Experience in capturing and managing Intellectual Property

Requirements

• Degree in relevant engineering or related field. Master’s degree or Doctorate preferred
• Proven ability to develop and analyse technical requirements, perform trade studies, and allocate functions down to subsystems and hardware/software
• Ability to write proposals to RFIs, including developing presentations to describe the technical approach in a manner to suite the audience
• 7+years of experience with satellite technologies, would be beneficial to understand technologies such as; phased array antennas, digital processing, DVB, 5G NR/NTN standards, beam hopping, link budgets, inter-satellite links, radar and optical imaging
• Extensive end-to-end satellite system design experience
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including a demonstrated ability to interact effectively with customers, management, and peers
• Proficient in collaborative working methods both physically and with remote teams, and familiar with industry standard tools
• Experience of working with ESA processes and projects would be highly beneficial

We’re a dream team of purpose-driven, collaborative and passionate people, and we are constantly looking for others to join #TeamMDA to ignite new and innovative approaches to problem-solving that push us forward to improve life on and above Earth. If you’re excited to expand our place in space and driven to inspire the next generation, we’ll take you there.

We have entered a new era of exploration and development, and MDA welcomes all who yearn to suit up and be part of it. An equal opportunity employer prizing diversity, integrity and collaboration, we are committed to growing MDA’s leadership in this next golden age.

Comments/Special Considerations:

We are required to conduct a BPSS (Baseline Personnel Security Standard) screening in which we will check your:

• Right to work: To confirm that you are entitled to take up the position as well as check your nationality and immigration status
• Identity: Full ID check
• Criminal records: Basic Disclosure
• Employment history check: Confirmation of past three years of employment (minimum) history/activity

Benefits statement:

MDA provides competitive compensation and benefits packages for its employees at all locations. As a team member of MDA, you and your qualified dependents are eligible to participate in a benefit plan that ensures a comprehensive level of protection through competitive health care including; private healthcare, disability income protection, life insurance, pension plan; and an employee assistance program. We also have a Hybrid work model in place, for a better work/life balance.

Equal opportunity statement:

MDA is an equal opportunity employer prizing diversity and inclusion. We are committed to treating all employees and applicants for employment with respect and dignity. If you require assistance and/or reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please feel free to notify us.

COVID statement:

COVID-19 Hiring Update: Strengthening our workforce is more important than ever to meet our customers’ mission-critical needs. We are continuing to hire many talented people, and we are closely monitoring COVID-19 to ensure safe hiring practices are used. This includes limiting onsite candidate interviews and prioritizing video interviews.

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