Supervisor - Software Development

Building the space between proven and possible, MDA Space is a trusted mission partner to the global space industry. A robotics, satellite systems and geointelligence pioneer with a 55-year+ story of world firsts and more than 450 missions, MDA Space is a global leader in communications satellites, Earth and space observation, and space exploration and infrastructure. The global MDA Space team of more than 5,500 space experts has the knowledge and know-how to turn an audacious customer vision into an achievable mission – bringing to bear a one-of-a-kind mix of experience, engineering excellence and wide-eyed wonder that’s been in our DNA since day one. For those who dream big and push boundaries on the ground and in the stars to change the world for the better, we’ll take you there. For more information, visit www.mda.space.

Professional development and career advancement are two terms that resonate with you. Do you have what it takes to become a software supervisor?

Role:

The Supervisor software development role is part of an initiative to develop MDA’s future leaders.

The Supervisor, Engineering is a member of the leadership team and reports to the Manager, Engineering of a particular discipline. The supervisor manages a section of a large engineering department, through developing and maintaining a workforce with the key technical skills necessary to ensure proper execution and delivery of the company’s products and projects. The Supervisor will manage recruitment, development, engagement and retention, and succession planning within their team.

In addition, the incumbent will support the Software Department Manager in other aspects of departmental activities such as technological roadmap development, continuous improvement, modernization of engineering practices, and customer satisfaction. They will support the adoption of next-generation engineering tools, techniques, and procedures to increase competitiveness in their discipline area.

Specific Tasks

Resource Management:

• Recruits employees, assigns, directs and evaluates their work. Monitors and manages overall employee performance, conducts annual performance appraisals and sets individual objectives.
• Provides staffing expertise to support the demand of Programs, R&D, and Business Development. Ensures that staffing supports the demand of current and future MDA programs.
• Develops staff to ensure necessary skill sets. Establishes and regularly updates succession plans for key skills to avoid single point failures and bottlenecks in resource allocation.
• Ensures group competency remains abreast of state of the art techniques in the respective engineering/manufacturing / support service disciplines.
• Ensures staff works in an environment fostering innovation and evolution to maximize their satisfaction within the constraints of the business, supporting career planning, providing regular feedbacks and celebrating successes.
• Oversees engineering resources, processes, and tools required to support department activities and program needs.
• Identifies and manages resource conflicts between all programs for flight or development activities as appropriate to the department.
• Supports management of departmental overhead budget within allocation and provides forecasts to finance as required.
• Supports coordination of capital planning for the department. Proposes necessary capital investment items with proper financial justification and implements the procurement.
• Ensures the proper application of the company’s collective agreements.

Technical overview:

• Participates in or leads Technical Overview Board (TOB) meetings.
• Coordinates and ensures distribution of lessons learned.
• Supports internal and external audits and ensure corrective actions are implemented as required.
• Participates in or leads technical troubleshooting and problem solving.
• Provides expert support to MRBs and customer enquiries where needed.

Process development, maintenance and application:

• Ensures proper application and adherence to overall company policies and processes by staff in the department.
• Supports development and maintenance of departmental specific policies, processes, work instructions and standards and ensures they are available to, and followed by staff.
• Proposes and leads new initiatives, or participates in initiatives for business process improvement (BPI) to improve departmental or global efficiency.

Front End of The Business:

• Provides support and participate in proposal activities
• Makes recommendations to the product development organisation for new products and R&D initiatives in line with the company’s strategic direction.
• Supports and coordinates patent applications in conjunction with the product devel