Senior It Design Specialist

Location: Toronto, Canada

Thales people architect solutions that support 85 million mainline and suburban passenger journeys, worldwide, every day. Our Rail Signalling and Communication systems are used on metro lines across major cities, and 72,000 kms of route, 52,000 trains per day in 16 countries are controlled by our Traffic Management Systems. Together We deployed the first-ever nationwide ticketing system which processes over 50 million ticketing transactions in 100 cities daily.

Thales provides world-leading Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) and interlocking for mass rail transit applications globally. The Centre of Competence for Urban Rail Signalling is located right before you at mid-town Toronto. As the largest office in Canada, we house a department for every step of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)! This includes Software, Hardware, Systems Design, Verification & Validation, Operations, etc. The supporting corporate shared services teams in Finance, Human Resources and IT is also located at the office. Our office space was designed to provide a sustainable, healthy workplace that expresses TRSS’s brand while increasing collaboration. Features include Greenguard furniture, EnergyStar appliances, low-emitting adhesives, sealants, and sliding glass doors on internal offices provide daylight and views to the outside. Come join the big Transport family, here in Toronto!

The Senior IT Design Specialist addresses all design aspects of a mission-critical IT solution within a larger communication system that supports the operation of the Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) system. This includes: analysis of Customer’s (internal or external) specifications to define IT architecture, features and solutions, development of system and subsystem requirements, creation of a detailed IT design, development and hands-on implementation of the solution, as well as participation in all deployment, verification and validation activities and support.

The Senior IT Design Specialist is accountable for performing the design work correctly, within cost and schedule limits, as defined in approved work packages. The work is typically defined by the Work Package Manager, then reviewed, modified and agreed with and approved by the Systems Architect and/or Manager. The IT Engineer typically works with a team of other IT and network engineers to define what will be designed, how it will perform and how it will be determined that it is working correctly, as well as participate in the actual design and deployment of the solution.

Key Accountabilities:

TECHNICAL

• Participate technical discussions, technical solution presentation to internal and external stakeholders
• Prepares system, subsystem, and interface requirement specifications by analysing, decomposing modelling and refining customer requirements and typical train control domain requirements.
• Provides highest tier support for complex and high-visibility issues in the field.
• Creates and documents detailed IT designs implementing the requirements.
• Participates in technical reviews of component designs, installation designs, vendor selection and qualification, and other related areas.
• Defines or proposes updates of processes and standards covering the work and its products based on the knowledge of systems engineering and/or his technical speciality.
• Operational design limits are evaluated and defined; performance analyses and simulations are developed & performed to support the above.
• Interfaces and builds strong working relationships with Software, Hardware and IVVQ groups to ensure timely analysis and resolution of in-house and field test issues.
• Deploys the solutions in the lab and in the field, including supporting testing and commissioning activities.
• Converts Customer (internal and/or external) requirements into conceptual designs and prepares associated documentation by performing operational analyses, simulations and technical trade-off studies evaluating alternative design configurations and functional features.
• Performs technical/engineering tasks to define system design, subsystem requirements. Analysis and simulations are performed as necessary to identify design feasibility & driving requirements.
• Presents technical design and reports to customers and/or other engineering/management groups in clear, complete, concise and non-ambiguous terms.
• Prepares and supports bids and proposals, including customer requirements compliance assessment, gap analysis, architecture design, simulation, trade-off of key features, estimation, etc.
• Similarly, creates new concepts or modifies existing concepts to fulfil customer requirements.

MANAGEMENT

• Identify and implement process improvement initiatives
• Proposes work package estimates and descriptions based on the knowledge of the work and project requirements.
• Prepare and deliver regular status reports for internal and external stakeholders

SAFETY AND SECURITY:

• Promote a safety culture where product safety is paramount
• Ensure that safety and security is built into the design by early identification and resolution of safety and security-related defects

Key Requirements:

• Industry IT certifications (Microsoft, VMWare, CompTIA) are an asset
• Knowledge of network principles and technologies:
• Knowledge of IT automation solutions (Bash shell/PowerShell scripting, Ansible)
• Ethernet/IP-based networking (switching/routing protocols);
• University degree in computer sciences, information technology, engineering or a closely related field
• MPLS and VPN technologies;
• Redundancy and high-availability technologies;
• Knowledge of configuration and troubleshoot of Microsoft Active Directory environments
• Network/IT services;
• Knowledge/experience in site deployment and commissioning of IT solutions
• Software Defined Network (SDN) solutions (e.g. VMWare NSX, Cisco);
• SD-WAN solutions;
• Minimum 2 years relevant experience in development of mission critical IT solutions
• Cyber-security principles, technologies and solutions; Knowledge/experience in the following fields is desired:
• Railway-specific designs and standards (e.g. IEC-61375, EN-50159);
• Knowledge of IT relevant support systems (Telemetry collection and system monitoring solutions)
• Knowledge of VMWare software defined data center configuration and administration
• Knowledge of installation design principles and practices
• Knowledge of administration and configuration of software runtime infrastructure (Docker/Kubernetes)
• Knowledge of systems development life cycle
• Knowledge of Microsoft client and server operating system configuration and administration
• RF networking (802.11, LTE, 4G, 5G, FluidMesh);
• Knowledge of Linux operating system administration configuration and administration

Preferred Qualifications:

• Rail Signaling knowledge
• Knowledge in using DOORS, Melody advance, etc.

Thales is required to follow mandatory customer policies as well as Federal and Provincial legislation, now and in the future. This includes, but is not limited to, vaccination mandates and travel requirements. This role requires you to work on a customer site and/or travel. Therefore you must follow all mandatory customer policies and Federal and Provincial legislation as a condition of employment

Thales is an equal opportunity employer which values diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. Thales is committed to providing accommodations in all parts of the interview process. Applicants selected for an interview who require accommodation are asked to advise accordingly upon the invitation for an interview. We will work with you to meet your needs. All accommodation information provided will be treated as confidential and used only for the purpose of providing an accessible candidate experience.