Satellite Electrical Propulsion Systems Engineer for Fastwater Staffing

Job Description

**Role overview:**

Our client is seeking a **Satellite Electrical Propulsion System Engineer** to define, design, analyse, integrate, and verify electric propulsion (EP) subsystems (thrusters, power-processing units, feed-systems, and control electronics) for current and next-generation remote sensing and communications satellites. The role will bridge spacecraft electrical power architecture, thermal-management, and mission-performance requirements, and may act as the technical authority for EP on multiple programs.

**Tasks summary:**

Architecture Concept \& Requirements

* Translate mission-level ?V, thrust, lifetime, and reliability goals into EP system requirements (performance, power, mass, contamination, EMI).
* Produce System Requirements, Interface Control Documents (ICDs), and Description documents for thruster assemblies, Power-Processing Units (PPU), propellant feed \& storage, and control electronics.
* Perform requirement management and maintain bidirectional traceability throughout the project lifecycle.

Detailed Design

* Perform system-level power, thermal, and mass budget analyses; produce trade-off matrices (thrust vs. power vs. propellant mass, reliability vs. complexity).
* Lead detailed mechanical/electrical design of thruster mounting, heater/thermal control, and PPU (converter, regulator, fault-protection).
* Define propellant handling hardware (tanks, valves, feed-lines, interconnects) and develop contamination control procedures.
* Negotiate ICDs and interface agreements with external thruster vendors and component suppliers.
* Support or Develop 1-D/3-D plume models and perform reliability prediction.

Modeling \& Simulation

Software \& Control

* Define command and telemetry interfaces for EP \& health-monitoring telemetry.
* Work with FSW teams to develop thrust profile generation, and fault detection isolation recovery (FDIR) algorithms.

Cross-Functional Coordination, Stakeholder \& Program Interaction

* Communicate technical status, risk assessments and trade-study results to senior management and/or customers or partners.
* Negotiate and manage ICDs with platform subsystems and supplier teams.
* Support B\&P (Phase 0 \& pre-phase A).

Integration \& Verification (IVV)

* Develop verification plans, test matrices, and validation procedures for unit, subsystem, and spacecraft-level EP tests.
* Oversee hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and thrust-stand testing, including thrust-calibration, specific impulse measurement, pulse-modulation, and lifetime cycling.

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 our client's knowledge-base, process enhancements, and standards development.

Configuration, Documentation \& Standards Management

* Author and maintain client's EP standards (thruster qualification, PPU design, contamination limits).
* • Ensure all artefacts, analysis, software, deliverables and documentations are version controlled in PLM environment.
* Support design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, MRR/TRR...etc.).
* Support Technology Road-Mapping \& Innovation.

Launch-Site, On-Orbit \& Operations Support

* Provide real-time EP support during launch, early-orbit checkout, and routine station-keeping.
* Support on-orbit checkout procedures, thruster test campaigns, and contingency recovery plans.
* Support SOOH development and associated operator training.
* B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace, or Physics with 8 years of electrical propulsion engineering experience on LEO/MEO platforms.
* Strong knowledge of EP thruster families and their performance characteristics.
* Experience with propellant storage \& feed-system design (tanks, valves, micro-valves).
* Strong understanding of aerospace system engineering fundamentals, space environment and orbit mechanics.
* 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 to no 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).
* Support the Spacecraft operations team in critical phases.

**Required Qualifications:**