Staff Systems Engineer – Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Missions

📍 Location: Richmond, BC, Canada
📄 Employment Type: Full-Time
🏢 Work Arrangement: Hybrid
🚀 Start Date: TBD
💰 Compensation: TBD — depending on skills and experience

Important Screening Requirements

- Graduate degree in Electrical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Mathematics, Physics, or a related field , or an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.

- 15+ years of experience working with radar, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), or similar active imaging systems.

- Experience spanning hardware, processors, and/or data products within radar or SAR systems.

- 10+ years of experience in space systems engineering or a similarly complex systems engineering environment.

- Experience with SAR remote sensing , including system design, operations, applications/exploitation, and/or calibration.

- Experience working across engineering lifecycles for large, complex programs .

- Must be able to obtain and maintain Reliability Status security clearance and meet Controlled Goods Program (CGP) requirements.

- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.

- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

- Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to technical teams, executives, customers, and other stakeholders.

- Ability to work effectively within a large organization and navigate cross-functional dependencies.

About the Role

We are seeking a Staff Systems Engineer – Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Missions to provide end-to-end technical oversight of SAR-related engineering activities throughout the lifecycle of complex space missions.

This role will contribute to the development of advanced SAR missions that generate high-value imagery and actionable intelligence for customers.

You will work across mission concept development, spacecraft and payload trade studies, SAR system design, mission-level integration and verification, commissioning, calibration, and early operations .

This is a highly senior technical role requiring the ability to connect mission-level requirements with spacecraft systems, SAR payloads, processing systems, and end-user applications .

What We're Looking For

We’re looking for a Staff-level SAR systems engineer with extensive experience bridging SAR technology and space mission systems engineering .

The ideal candidate has the technical depth to work across the SAR lifecycle—from mission concept and CONOPS through payload and spacecraft trade studies, image-quality analysis, integration, verification, commissioning, calibration, and early operations .

This role requires someone who can operate comfortably at both the deep technical and mission/program levels , communicate with a broad range of stakeholders, mentor engineers, and provide technical guidance on complex SAR mission challenges.

Key Responsibilities

Mission Concept & Systems Engineering

- Provide end-to-end oversight of SAR-related engineering activities across the full lifecycle of a space SAR mission.

- Lead development of the Mission Concept of Operations (CONOPS) .

- Define high-level mission specifications based on user and customer requirements.

- Develop and assess spacecraft-level budgets supporting SAR payload requirements.

- Translate mission objectives into technical requirements and system-level solutions.

SAR Mission Design & Technical Solutioning

- Lead technical solutioning for enhancements to existing and future SAR missions.

- Support and lead SAR beam-mode design .

- Develop and assess SAR mission concepts.

- Support SAR image-quality modeling and performance analysis.

- Evaluate technical solutions across mission, spacecraft, payload, processor, and application domains .

Mission-Level Trade Studies

- Lead design trade studies across:

Spacecraft systems

- Coverage and access

- SAR payload

- SAR processor

- End-user applications

- Evaluate technical, operational, and mission-level dependencies.

- Balance competing system requirements and performance objectives.

- Provide technical recommendations and guidance to program leadership.

Risk Management, Integration & Verification

- Lead mission-level technical risk management.

- Oversee mission-level integration activities.

- Lead or support verification and validation activities.

- Identify technical dependencies, interfaces, and potential mission-level risks.

- Ensure SAR mission requirements and technical objectives are addressed throughout the engineering lifecycle.

Commissioning, Calibration & Operations

- Provide technical leadership for SAR mission commissioning and calibration.

- Support early operations of space-based SAR missions.

- Contribute to the development and execution of mission commissioning strategies.

- Support resolution of technical issues during early mission operations.

- Apply SAR system knowledge to evaluate mission and image-quality performance.

Technical Leadership

- Provide technical guidance to senior management and new business activities.

- Communicate complex SAR and space systems concepts to diverse audiences.

- Support customer discussions and technical presentations.

- Mentor and coach engineering team members.

- Help develop technical capabilities and domain expertise across the organization.

Required Qualifications

- Graduate degree in Electrical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Mathematics, Physics, or a related discipline , or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.

- 15+ years of experience with radar, SAR, or similar active imaging systems.

- Experience involving one or more of:

Radar/SAR hardware

- SAR processors

- SAR data products

- 10+ years of experience in space systems engineering or a similarly complex systems engineering environment.

- Experience in SAR remote sensing , including system design, operations, applications/exploitation, and/or calibration.

- Experience working across engineering lifecycles for large and complex programs.

- Strong problem-solving and analytical capabilities.

- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

- Ability to communicate effectively with technical teams, executives, customers, sales/business teams, and other stakeholders.

- Ability to work effectively within a large organization and navigate cross-functional dependencies.

- Ability to understand and manage diverse stakeholder needs.

- Ability to obtain and maintain Reliability Status security clearance .

- Ability to meet Controlled Goods Program (CGP) requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

- Experience with MATLAB and/or Python .

- Strong understanding of satellite-based SAR payload design and operations .

- Experience with space mission design, including:

Coverage and access

- Orbital dynamics

- Mission geometry

- Understanding of spacecraft design considerations, including:

Thermal

- Power

- Pointing accuracy

- Spacecraft interfaces

- Strong understanding of geospatial data .

- Experience with SAR image-quality analysis and modeling .

- Experience working across SAR payload, spacecraft, processor, and end-user application interfaces .

- Ability to rapidly learn new technologies and domain-specific concepts.