(Fastwater Staffing) Satellite Electrical Propulsion (PROP) System Engineer | Montreal, Canada [Full Relocation Package]

Tasks summary:

Architecture Concept & Requirements

• Translate mission‑level ΔV, 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.

Modeling & Simulation

• Support or Develop 1‑D/3‑D plume models and perform reliability prediction.

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
  

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.

Required Qualifications:

· 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