Lead Systems Engineer, Launch Program

Role Purpose

The Lead Systems Engineer owns cross‑functional planning and execution for the launch program at a systems engineering level, ensuring work meets the company’s technical requirements, risk posture, and overall business objectives. The role focuses on coordination of system requirements, unblocking teams, and coordinating dependencies to keep the cross‑functional engineering program on track from early design through launch operations.

• Coordinate multidisciplinary engineering teams to achieve design, build, test, and launch readiness milestones, with clear entry/exit criteria for each phase/sprint.
• Create and manage system‐ and program‑level requirements into clear work plans, task breakdowns, and deliverables schedule in collaboration with engineering leads.
• Maintain requirements, configuration and interface control documents and track compliance and verification status against the launch program’s technical baseline.
• Run phase‑gate reviews and design reviews, ensuring decisions, changes and action items are documented, communicated and followed through to completion.
• Support and enforce change control processes for requirements, designs, and major scope changes, assessing impacts on schedule, budget and risks.
• Track issues and non‑conformances to closure, coordinating root‑cause analysis and corrective actions where needed.
• Maintain a living risk register covering technical, schedule, cost, supplier and regulatory risks, driving regular risk reviews with engineering and leadership.
• Promote a culture of transparency, accountability and data‑driven decision‑making across the program.
• Facilitate constructive resolution of conflicts between teams when priorities, resources or technical approaches are misaligned.
• Model disciplined execution while remaining flexible to iterate plans as new test data, customer inputs or regulatory constraints emerge.

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Master’s preferred (Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Systems or related field) from an accredited institution.
• 7+ years of hands‑on systems engineering experience, with at least 3+ years of project management experience from preferred industries: commercial space launch, aerospace & defence, oil & gas, chemical manufacturing, automotive or shipbuilding.
• Strong grasp of systems engineering lifecycle processes, including requirements derivation, architecture definition, interface management, integration, verification & validation, and configuration control applied to complex hardware/software systems.
• Proven experience managing system requirements, interfaces and technical baselines across complex, multi‑disciplinary programs.
• Structured, analytical problem‑solving approach using data and traceable rationale to resolve technical and programmatic issues under pressure.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate and influence cross‑functional teams in a fast‑paced environment, managing ambiguity and change while maintaining discipline in requirements, configuration and risk management.
• Excellent facilitation and meeting management skills, including running technical reviews, design meetings and cross‑functional coordination sessions to drive decisions and actions.
• Strong interpersonal and conflict resolution skills, able to mediate technical disagreements and keep teams focused on mission success rather than siloed priorities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with ability to clearly explain technical concepts, trade‑offs and program status to both engineering teams and nontechnical stakeholders.
• Proactive mindset: identifies blockers early and drives them to resolution to keep the program moving.

CAD 120-130k

Eligible for company stock options subject to terms. Illustrative total annualized compensation including value of options after 4 year vesting is $250-270k.