Synthetic Aperture Radar Payload Engineer (Fastwater Staffing)

The company provides full relocation support, including immigration assistance, and offers a relocation bonus upon arrival in Montreal. Selected candidates may work remotely during the initial months while their immigration process is being completed; however, the long-term expectation is for the individual to transition to onsite work in Montreal once relocation has been finalized.

Tasks summary:

Architecture Concept & Requirements

• Gather functional, performance, pointing, environmental and security requirements from

mission stakeholders & CONOPs.

• Capture, trace and map payload requirements from mission level to subsystem level

• Coordinate with cybersecurity team for payload‑specific assessments

• Perform requirement management and maintain bidirectional traceability throughout the

program life cycle.

Payload Architecture & Design

• Design the SAR system architecture (antenna arrays & RF front-end Tx/Rx components, digital

beamforming, processing chain and digital electronics, power, thermal, and mass).

• Lead the conceptual, preliminary, and detailed design phases, producing trade studies,

performance budgets).

• Produce Interface Control Documents (ICDs) with other subsystems and ground segment.

• Provide system‑level specifications to hardware designers, review schematics, layouts, thermal

interfaces, and mechanical constraints

Simulation & Analysis

• Perform performance simulations for tolerance budgeting and image quality.

• Support algorithm and analytical development to process SAR.

• Define and maintain Payload DC power budget with utilization models.

• Perform FMECA, Fault tree and FDIR, reliability modeling and availability to meet mission

objectives

Cross‑Functional Coordination, Stakeholder & Program Interaction

• 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).

Integration & Verification (IVV)

• 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.

Technical Leadership & Mentorship

• Mentor, guide junior engineers and interns.

• Act as technical liaison with customers, partners and external vendors

• Act as Continuous Improvement stakeholder

• Contribute to the company’s knowledge‑base, process enhancements, and standards development.

Configuration, Documentation & Standards Management

• Ensure all artefacts, analysis, firmware, 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.

On Orbit & Operations Support

• 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.

Required Qualifications:

 B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Computer science or Physics with 10 + years of experience

supporting SAR remote sensing system development, integration and test on LEO/MEO

missions.

 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; knowledge of French

will be considered an asset (Contact with clients outside Quebec and work on deliverables in

English).