Digital Payload System Engineer for Fastwater Staffing

HIKINEX • Montreal, QC

114d

About The Position

We are seeking a highly skilled Digital Payload System Engineer to join our team. This role involves the full lifecycle of digital payload systems, from requirements gathering and architecture design to simulation, hardware/firmware support, integration, verification, and on-orbit operations. You will be responsible for defining and implementing high-level digital payload architectures, producing interface control documents, and performing detailed performance simulations and analyses. The position requires strong technical leadership, cross-functional coordination, and the ability to mentor junior engineers. You will also play a key role in managing configurations, documentation, and supporting design reviews and technology road-mapping. On-orbit support includes health monitoring, anomaly investigations, and performance trending.

Requirements

• B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace or Physics with 8 + years of digital regenerative payload system design experience on LEO/MEO missions.
• Comprehensive knowledge of digital communications, SDR, DSP, DVB RCS/SX protocols, Modulation schemes, Class of Service, Networking, MPLS, 2G, 5G NTN.
• Strong technical-writing ability (requirements, ICDs, test procedures, risk reports) and presentation skills; comfortable interfacing with customers, suppliers and senior leadership.
• Strong understanding of aerospace system engineering fundamentals.
• 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 supervision.
• Ability to distill complex problems to fundamentals to solve with analysis, similarity, or creativity.
• Demonstrate excellent written and oral communication skills in English.

Nice To Haves

• Knowledge of French will be considered an asset (Contact with clients outside Quebec and work on deliverables in English).

Responsibilities

• Gather functional, performance, environmental and security requirements from mission stakeholders & CONOPs.
• Map requirements to payload equipment performance with I/F with on-board processor.
• Coordinate with cybersecurity team for payload‑specific assessments.
• Perform requirement management and maintain bidirectional traceability throughout the program life cycle.
• Implement the high‑level digital payload architecture (optical ISLs, Phased array antennas, Feeder links & front‑end), master reference oscillator & clock synchronizations.
• Produce Interface Control Documents (ICDs) with other subsystems and ground segment.
• Implement high‑speed data‑bus I/F (SpaceWire, SpaceFibre, Ethernet, CAN).
• Perform performance simulations (Gain, Spurious, Linearity, SNR, dynamic range, spectral efficiency, G/T, EIRP…etc.) and Monte‑Carlo analyses for tolerance budgeting.
• Define and maintain Payload DC power budget with traffic & utilization models.
• Perform FMECA, Fault tree and FDIR, reliability modeling and availability to meet mission objectives.
• Provide system‑level specifications to hardware designers, review schematics, layouts, thermal interfaces, and mechanical constraints.
• Support SW development for MODCODs and on‑board processing pipelines; ensure BIST, timing, latency and deterministic behavior.
• Communicate technical status, risk assessments and trade‑study results to senior management and/or customers or partners.
• Support payload design authority in System design reviews, Power/Structure/Thermal interfaces and Mission Operations assessments.
• Liaise with Electrical, Power, Structures, Thermal, Software, Ground‑Segment and Mission‑Operations teams to resolve integration issues early.
• Support B&P (Phase 0 & pre-phase A).
• Develop Payload Verification Master Plan covering unit‑test, subsystem‑test, payload‑level test, environmental and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) test campaigns.
• Lead test‑automation framework set‑up, test‑case definition, results analysis and test‑report certification.
• Mentor, guide junior engineers and interns.
• Act as technical liaison with customers, partners and external vendors.
• Act as Continuous Improvement stakeholder.
• Contribute to our client's knowledge‑base, process enhancements, and standards development.
• Ensure all artefacts, analysis, software, deliverables and documentation are version controlled in PLM environment.
• Lead and Support design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, MRR/TRR…etc.).
• Support Technology Road‑Mapping & Innovation.
• Provide technical support to Mission Operations for routine payload health monitoring, contingency handling and performance trending.
• Lead root‑cause investigations for on‑orbit anomalies; update design baselines and lessons‑learned.
• Analyze on‑orbit telemetry, update filter parameters, and generate performance reports.
• Support SOOH development and associated operator training.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior