Director Platform Products

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 MDA Space team of more than 3,800 space experts in Canada, the US and the UK 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.

The Position

The Director Platform Products leads the design, development, and sustainment of the suite products and projects that are executed under the Geointeligence (GEO) BA Platform Products group. This includes

• Earth and space situational awareness platforms,
• Earth observation ground station components and platforms, and
• Space observation components and platforms,

along with the associated systems security framework.

While proven technical excellence is essential, as the GEO organizational structure is projectized, a key element of this role is effective management of technical teams and individual contributors. You will be responsible for building high‑performing, diverse teams of engineers, analysts, program managers, and support staff; championing a culture of collaboration, continuous learning, and mission‑focused execution; and aligning talent strategy with the company’s growth trajectory

Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership

• Support the GEO Chief Architect Office with definition of the 3‑5‑year vision for the suite of GEO Platform Products, aligned with business goals and roadmaps.
• Support the GEO Chief Architect Office with technology and product roadmaps, investment priorities, and risk‑mitigation strategies.
• Own GEO Platform Products AOP and SGP revenue, GC, and cash forecasts

People Management & Culture

• Directly manage a team of ~10 PMs, who manage ~200 professionals (systems engineers, software developers, hardware engineers, test & integration staff, etc.).
• Recruit, develop, and retain top talent; build a succession pipeline for senior technical and leadership roles.
• Implement performance‑management processes (monthly/quarterly reviews, career‑development plans).
• Foster a strong cost-conscious culture within the GEO projectized organizational structure.
• Foster a culture for strong technical project engineering and team leadership
• Foster an inclusive, psychologically‑safe environment that encourages innovation, cross‑disciplinary collaboration, and knowledge sharing.
• In collaboration with the Director of Operations, champion professional development – training, certifications, conferences, mentorship programs.

Program & Project Delivery

• Oversee multiple concurrent GEO Platform Product projects (ground station componentization, platform product upgrades, software releases, hardware updates, etc).
• Ensure projects are delivered on schedule, within budget, and meet required user, performance, and security standards.

Operations & Reliability

• Oversee GEO Platform Product 24/7 support services.
• Drive reliability, availability, and maintainability initiatives; own metrics such as MTBF, MTTR, and system uptime.
• Oversee incident response, root‑cause analysis, and corrective‑action processes.

Financial & Vendor Management

• Own the GEO Platform Products revenue, GC, and cash forecasts (versus AOP)
• Own the GEO Platform Products budget (CAPEX & OPEX); track expenditures, forecast spending, and, with support from CA, justify investments.
• Support Director of Operations management of vendors (eg ASL maintenance).

Continuous Improvement

• Champion OneMDA Business Transformation initiatives.
• Institutionalize lessons‑learned and best‑practice repositories.

Risk & Compliance

• Conduct regular risk assessments (technical, schedule, security, regulatory).
• Ensure compliance with ISO‑9001, CMMC, ITAR/EAR and other applicable standards.
• Comply with MDA Space governance policies.

Stakeholder Communication

• Produce clear, concise status reports and executive briefings.