FDIR & Spacecraft Autonomy Engineer

Location: Ottawa, Ontario (Hybrid / Remote-First with periodic work at the Ottawa facility)
Position Type: Full-Time
Compensation: Salary & Stock Options
Benefits: Comprehensive Health & Dental package, starting 3 weeks paid annual leave
Contact: If you have issues with your application, please email View email address on click.appcast.io

About Obruta

Founded in 2019, Obruta Space Solutions is enabling the in-space economy by developing the advanced autonomy systems required for in-orbit satellite servicing, logistics, and active debris removal. Today’s satellites are single-use assets that cannot be refueled, inspected, or repaired. Obruta is eliminating this barrier with our flagship product: the RPOD Kit —a turnkey, vision-guided Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) subsystem that makes autonomous spacecraft docking commonplace.

Backed by leading venture capital and top-tier space innovation programs, Obruta is executing cutting-edge perception and navigation projects with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), National Research Council (NRC), and international commercial partners.

The Role

Obruta is seeking an experienced Senior FDIR & Spacecraft Autonomy Engineer to lead the architecture, design, and implementation of our Fault Detection, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR) and Mission & Vehicle Management (MVM) framework.

Historically, Rendezvous, Proximity Operations, and Docking (RPOD) missions have relied on human operators as the ultimate failsafe—a paradigm that cannot scale to the thousands of spacecraft requiring servicing and logistics. In this role, you will build the "onboard expert" that makes the RPOD Kit safe and fully autonomous. You will architect multi-level safety logic across software, hardware, and mission trajectory layers, deploy predictive diagnostics for subsystem degradation, and design autonomous, collision-free abort maneuvers that guarantee passive safety during high-stakes proximity operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Hierarchical FDIR Architecture: Design, implement, and verify multi-level FDIR state machines spanning software-level (GNC algorithms), hardware-level (sensors, thrusters, flight compute), and mission-level (trajectory deviations, relative velocities) anomalies.
• Predictive Anomaly Detection & Analytical Redundancy: Develop AI-enabled and model-based diagnostic algorithms to detect "Grey Box" subsystem degradation (such as thruster efficiency loss or sensor drift) before catastrophic failure states occur.
• Autonomous Collision Avoidance Maneuvers (CAM): Architect failsafe trajectory generation logic that ensures immediate, autonomous retreat to a passively safe, collision-free orbit upon detecting unrecoverable off-nominal conditions.
• Safety & Reliability Analysis: Lead Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis, fault tree analyses, and safety boundary definitions across nominal and off-nominal RPOD mission phases.
• Verification & Monte Carlo Stress Testing: Design randomized fault-injection campaigns across millions of simulation runs and real-time Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) dual-arm lab tests to achieve and validate a 99.99% autonomous mission success or safe-fail rate.
• Host Spacecraft Integration: Define standardized fault-management interfaces and telemetry flags between the RPOD Kit payload and third-party host spacecraft buses.
• Management: Ensuring team members and co-op students are effectively working towards the common goals of Obruta.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• 4+ years of professional engineering experience developing safety-critical autonomous systems, FDIR architectures, or state-machine logic in aerospace, robotics, or defence.
• Demonstrated experience with Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis , Fault Tree Analysis, and hazard analysis for complex systems.
• Strong programming proficiency in C++ and/or MATLAB/Simulink/Stateflow for real-time autonomous systems.
• Deep understanding of spacecraft dynamics, GNC fundamentals, or autonomous robotic manipulators.
• Applicants must be legally authorized to work in Canada. Successful candidates must able to obtain and maintain a security assessment under the Controlled Goods Program.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• Hands-on experience developing FDIR for satellite missions, orbital proximity operations, or autonomous rendezvous and docking.
• Familiarity with space safety standards (e.g., NASA-STD-8719.13, ECSS-E-ST-70-11C, or ISO 26262 functional safety equivalents).
• Experience with machine learning/predictive time-series analytics for anomaly detection.
• Experience deploying safety-critical state machines to embedded Linux / NVIDIA Jetson environments.

Why Join Obruta?

• High-Stakes Autonomy: You will solve the core safety challenge preventing commercial satellite servicing from scaling globally.
• Architectural Ownership: You will define the fault-management standards that will fly on commercial and government space missions.
• Collaborative Team: Work closely with top experts across GNC, computer vision, embedded software, and dual-arm robotics.

Additional Position and Application Info

This posting is for an existing vacancy. Thank you to all who apply. Candidates who are successfully selected for an interview will be notified by email.

If the posted salary range, work location, or anything else does not exactly align with your expectations, please let us know. We'd hate to miss out on the opportunity of working together without a discussion first.

Equity

We are an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from all qualified individuals, including women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible minorities, and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

Accommodation

If you require accommodation during any stage of the recruitment process, please contact us at View email address on click.appcast.io , and we will work with you to meet your needs.