Digital Payload Architect (Fastwater Staffing)

Location: Montreal, Canada 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 • Establish functional, performance, environmental and security requirements with mission stakeholders & CONOPs. • Translate requirements into clear payload performance parameters and maintain bidirectional traceability throughout the project lifecycle. • Establish with cybersecurity team payload‑specific requirements & embed resilience and security by design. Payload Architecture Definition • Define the overall digital regenerative payload architecture (optical/RF ISLs, antenna arrays, digitizers/ onboard processing, Feeder links, master reference oscillator & clock synchronizations). • Define Interface Control Documents (ICDs) with spacecraft bus, ground segment and payload specific subsystems. • Define high‑speed data‑bus I/F (Serdes, SpaceWire, SpaceFibre, Ethernet, CAN, fiber). Trade‑Study & Technology Road‑Mapping • Lead trade‑offs for technologies, ASIC/FPGAs/SoCs, high‑speed data‑bus, and on‑board processing algorithms, PVT. • Identify emerging technologies and incorporate them into the company’s long‑term roadmap. System Modeling & Performance Simulation • Build end‑to‑end models of the signal chain (optical/RF, analog/digital) using MATLAB/Simulink, SystemView or Python‑based toolkits. • Run Monte‑Carlo and tolerance analyses to verify gain, SNR, dynamic range, spectral efficiency, G/T, EIRP and other key metrics. • Optimize payload design and performance with operation with traffic models/CONOPs. Simulation & Analysis • Oversee performance simulations & analysis (Gain, Spurious, Linearity, SNR, dynamic range, spectral efficiency, pointing, G/T, EIRP…etc.) and tolerance budgeting. • Optimize Payload DC power budget with traffic & utilization models. Hardware & Firmware • Own system‑level specifications to hardware designers, review schematics, layouts, thermal & mechanical interfaces. • Oversee MODCODs selection and on‑board processing pipelines; define BIST, timing, latency and deterministic behavior. Cross‑Functional Coordination, Stakeholder & Program Interaction • Communicate technical status, risk assessments and trade‑study results to senior management and/or customers or partners. • Act as the primary technical liaison with Electrical, Power, Structures, Thermal, Software, Ground Segment and Mission Operations teams to resolve integration issues early. • Support payload design authority in System design reviews and Mission Operations hand‑over. • Support B&P (Phase 0 & pre-phase A). Integration & Verification (IVV) • Author Payload Verification Master Plan covering unit‑test, subsystem‑test, payload‑level test, environmental and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) test campaigns. • Define 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, software, deliverables and documentation are version controlled in PLM environment. • Chair design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, MRR/TRR…etc.). • Support Technology Road‑Mapping & Innovation. On Orbit & Operations Support • 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. • Define SOOH and associated operator training. Required Qualifications:  B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace or Physics (M.Sc. preferred) with 12 + years of digital regenerative payload system design experience on LEO/MEO missions.  Comprehensive knowledge of digital regenerative 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; knowledge of French will be considered an asset (Contact with clients outside Quebec and work on deliverables in English).