Skywatch
Principal Defence Systems Engineer
Ottawa ON | Hybrid. Posted a month ago
The role
You will own the architecture of the sovereign product line and lead the Government & Defence engineering team. You will build a team to deliver a version of the platform deployable in private cloud, on-premises, and air-gapped environments for government use.
What you will do
- Own the sovereign architecture for private-cloud, on-premises and air-gapped environments
- Lead accreditation and own technical evidence for security assessment and authorization
- Maintain high user experience standards for analysts and operators
- Deliver interoperability with defence data standards and integration with GIS and TAK environments
- Bring AI agent workflows inside the security boundary
- Run the roadmap and SDLC for Government & Defence
- Build and lead the Ottawa engineering team and a co-op mentorship programme
- Own the government support surface
Required qualifications
- 10+ years building production software
- 3+ years as a principal, architect or technical lead on secure or defence systems
- Hands-on experience with on-premises, private-cloud or air-gapped deployment
- Experience with security assessment and authorization (ITSG-33, NIST 800-53 or equivalent)
- Experience leading an engineering team through milestone-based delivery to a government customer
- Experience shaping software for analysts or operators with high usability
- Experience making build decisions with a business trade-off
- Canadian citizenship
- Eligibility to obtain and maintain a Government of Canada security clearance (Secret or higher)
Nice to have
- Experience with geospatial, imagery or ISR data and defence interoperability standards
- Experience deploying LLM or agent systems in regulated environments
Benefits
- Stock options
- Health benefits
Before you apply
- Canadian citizenship required
- Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Government of Canada security clearance (Secret or higher)
About the company
SkyWatch provides a platform that aggregates data from numerous satellite sources to democratize access to space-based technology. The company offers scalable solutions for industries such as agriculture, infrastructure management, and scientific research.