Staff MTS - Engineering Governance
MDA
MDA Space Geointelligence is seeking an experienced Engineering Governance & Improvements Lead to strengthen and continuously improve our engineering practices within a mission-critical environment. This role is central to ensuring that our engineering processes, standards, and governance frameworks enable consistent delivery of high-quality outcomes while supporting our customer missions.
The successful candidate will bring deep experience in system and/or software engineering standards, strong stakeholder-influencing skills, and a proven ability to identify gaps, recommend pragmatic improvements, and lead sustainable change across engineering, operations, and quality teams.
This role reports to the Director of Operations and works closely with Project Managers, Engineering Leads, Operations teams, and Quality professionals to ensure alignment, consistency, and excellence across the organization.
Key Responsibilities
- Engineering Governance & Standards
Define, maintain, and evolve engineering governance frameworks, processes, and best practices aligned with industry standards and regulatory requirements applicable to safety-critical and mission-critical systems.
Act as a subject matter expert on system and/or software engineering standards, ensuring consistent interpretation and application across programs and teams.
Support audits, assessments, and reviews related to engineering processes and compliance.
- Continuous Improvement
Proactively identify engineering process deficiencies, risks, or inefficiencies through data analysis, reviews, and stakeholder feedback.
Develop clear, practical recommendations to address gaps, balancing rigor with delivery efficiency.
Lead the implementation of process improvements, ensuring changes are well-communicated, adopted, and sustained.
Measure and track the effectiveness of improvements, adjusting approaches as needed.
- Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement
Partner closely with Project Managers to ensure engineering processes support successful program execution, schedule adherence, and risk management.
Work collaboratively with Operations and Quality teams to align engineering governance with operational realities and quality objectives.
Influence and engage senior leaders, engineering teams, and cross-functional stakeholders to build alignment and drive change without direct authority.
- Capability Building & Training
Develop and deliver training, guidance, and coaching to engineers and project teams on engineering standards, processes, and best practices.
Support onboarding and ongoing capability development to strengthen organizational maturity in engineering governance.
- Performance & Talent Enablement
Contribute to the calibration of engineering performance reviews by providing input on adherence to engineering practices, quality of execution, and continuous improvement behaviors.
Help define clear expectations and success criteria related to engineering discipline and professional excellence.
Support recruitment, onboarding and professional development of team members.
Required Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline (advanced degree is an asset).
- 10+ years of experience in a safety-critical or mission-critical engineering environment (e.g., aerospace, defense, space systems, regulated software or systems engineering).
- Strong knowledge of system and/or software engineering standards, methodologies, and lifecycle practices.
- Demonstrated experience identifying process gaps, designing improvements, and leading organizational change.
- Proven ability to influence and collaborate across functions, levels, and disciplines.
- Experience working closely with Project Management, Operations, and Quality teams.
- Excellent communication, facilitation, and training skills.
The compensation range for this position is $155,000 - $170,000 annually. The specific compensation offered will be based on the qualifications and experience of the successful candidate.
