Systems Design Authority

System Design Authority (SDA)
Join our 90,000 employee’s strong global technology organisation, a key player in the international defence and security market. Leonardo Canada - Electronics (LCE) continues to grow in Canada; we're seeking motivated, competent and driven professionals with experience in our very specialised business. LCE offers competitive total rewards and a work environment that supports, encourages and challenges all our employees to grow personally.
Leonardo Canada - Electronics (LCE) is seeking a System Design Authority (SDA) to join our Design Integrity Team. Reporting to the Head of Capability, who serves as LCE’s Independent Technical Authority (ITA), this is a senior technical leadership role responsible for defining and assuring the overall technical integrity, quality, and coherence of complex systems or products throughout their lifecycle.
As System Design Authority, you will serve as a technical custodian accountable for the integrity of LCE’s engineering output. You will be responsible for formal sign off on technical baselines, major design changes, and product releases, ensuring all evidence fully justifies deployment.
This is a rare opportunity to hold technical authority over complex systems, balancing security, performance, and compliance to deliver robust solutions that meet demanding regulatory requirements.
**The System Design Authority responsibilities include**:
Design Governance
- Be the final approver for all significant technical design decisions, ensuring adherence to non-functional requirements (e.g., performance, security, reliability, scalability).
- Ensure the technical baseline of the product is established and maintained.
- Lead and chair both internal and external Design Reviews.
- Chair/Lead the Technical Change Control Board (CCB) process, ensuring rigorous impact analysis and risk assessment for all major system changes.

Technical Assurance
- Provide technical guidance and oversight to design, development, testing, and deployment activities.
- Ensure that all detailed designs and implementations are consistent with the agreed-upon system architecture and organizational standards.
- Identify and mitigate technical risks and ensure timely resolution of complex design challenges.
- Scrutinise and ensure clear traceability evidence exists linking requirements, design decisions, and test evidence with the implemented solutions to validate the system's fitness for purpose prior to release.
- Serve as a signatory for all formal engineering products releases, ensuring the deliverables are compliant with all specified requirements and that the complete release package includes all required supporting artifacts (e.g., Release Notes, VDDs, User Manuals, and Verification Evidence).

Strategy & Standards
- Define and enforce technical standards, design patterns, and best practices within the engineering teams.
- Research and recommend the adoption of new technologies and methodologies where appropriate.

Required Qualifications and Experience
- Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering, or a related field.
- Certification: Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) registered with the Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO).
- Experience:

- 10+ years of experience in software, systems or test engineering, solution architecture, or systems integration.
- Demonstrable experience in a senior architectural or design leadership role, ideally as a System Design Authority, Principal Architect, or equivalent.
- Technical Skills:

- Deep understanding of the engineering process, well versed in waterfall, and agile models
- Strong background in Defense or Aerospace engineering particularly in electronics or EW domains.
Key Competencies
- Technical Leadership: Ability to command respect and influence technical direction without direct reporting authority.
- Critical Thinking & Problem Solving: Excellent analytical skills to break down complex problems and drive optimal solutions.
- Communication: Exceptional verbal and written communication, presentation, and negotiation skills.
- Pragmatism: Ability to balance technical excellence with business value, budget, and time constraints.
- Mentorship: Desire and ability to mentor and elevate the technical capabilities of development teams.

Security Clearance
If you are unfamiliar with the process, you can find information about Security Clearance requests process on the Government of Canada website (search for “Security Clearance Request Process”).
**In general, in order to obtain these clearances, you**:

- Must be either a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.
- Must have lived in Canada continuously for the past 10 years.
- Must not have a criminal record.

**Good to know**:

- Group benefits are 100% Company-Paid from first day on the job (including dependents)
- Group RRSP (matched 5% RRSP contribution) programme
- Group Health, Dental, Vision, Employee Assistance Plan (LifeWorks), Out-of-Province travel, E-A-P
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