ABOUT 49NORTH 49North is a Canadian defence company delivering secure, multi-domain C4ISR capabilities that provide decision advantage in complex and contested environments. A wholly‑owned subsidiary of MDA Space, building on more than five decades of trusted Canadian defence delivery, 49North operates as a sovereign Canadian provider of mission‑critical C4ISR systems, bringing disciplined prime‑contractor execution to defence and security programs.
Visit 49North | An MDA Space Company.
49North is rooted in the execution of large, complex, and mission‑critical programs developed within 49NORTH. This legacy reflects a record of delivery where engineering rigour, operational reliability, and national trust are non‑negotiable.
49North Defence strengthens Canada’s sovereign defence capability by delivering integrated mission systems and multi‑domain C4ISR integration, enabling trusted Canadian and coalition operations, assured interoperability, and sustained readiness.
Program/Project Description The Aviation Program is comprised of two main projects Global Procedure Designed (GPD) and Automated Charting and Encoding (ACE).
GPD was originally developed in the early 2000’s for the USAF. GPD is an easy‑to‑use Windows based decision support application that enables procedure design specialists to rapidly create an instrument procedure anywhere in the world. The application integrates a GIS module for procedure design visualization and drag‑and‑drop operations fine‑tuning to avoid terrain and obstacles. GPD supports many standard input and output data formats (e.g., AIXM, ARINC, DAFIF and DVOF).
In 2022 GPD was enhanced for NAV CANADA with many features including TP308 criteria and support standard terminal arrival route and enroute procedures.
GPD is currently in use by more than 350 design specialists, building and evaluating procedures for locations all over the world.
ACE is a next generation aeronautical chart management solution that provides fully automated chart production directly from aeronautical data sources. Automatically transforming digital flight procedures into interactive, publication‑quality aeronautical charts. Transforming operations through a dramatic reduction in the time and cost required to generate aeronautical charts and ARINC encodings.
The speed, simplicity and power of ACE were drivers in the National Geospatial Agency’s decision to implement ACE as the standard for automated aeronautical chart generation.
Strategic Impact
Overall authority and responsibility for the Program
Strategic alignment of projects to business objectives and customer contracts
Stakeholder alignment & satisfaction across internal and external partners
Delivery excellence: on‑time, on‑budget, in‑scope
Team performance & accountability: clear priorities, realistic plans, predictable outcomes, empowerment
Risk & opportunity management: identify early, mitigate, and leverage
Responsibilities
Execution : Accountable for integrated cross‑functional project execution, remove barriers, enforce baselines, drive issue resolution
Cross‑functional orchestration with Planning, Finance, Supply Chain/Subcontracts
Establish a continuous improvement culture to improve tools, systems and business processes
Schedule & cost : Own IMS, monitor and control, act early on variances, implement recovery actions with Finance alignment
Own overall delivery within cost, schedule, scope envelope
Maintain quality, on‑time deliveries and within budget
Stakeholders & communications : Own customer interface and internal stakeholders, provide transparent status, maintain shared situational awareness and support
Customer/commercial interface, stakeholder alignment and communications
Collaboration and communication with internal stakeholders; Engineering, Contracts, Quality and Finance departments, in support of portfolio execution
Effective Team Leadership : Guides Project Leads or Team Leads within their scope, fostering accountability and efficient execution through effective leadership skills
Manage Program‑resourcing levels, in collaboration with Engineering and Talent Acquisition.
Grow the technical team, onboard new hires, provide growth opportunities for the existing team, set transparent goals
Planning (baseline WBS & IMS) : define milestones/critical path, integrate risks, resources, and assumptions validated with functions
Forecasting : surface early indicators, address root causes, drive corrective actions and options
Scope & requirements : Formal change control with Contracts/Engineering, ensure traceability and acceptance evidence, protect baselines and prevent scope creep
Risk & opportunity management : escalate beyond authority with options & reco
📌 Senior Program Manager (Richmond)
🏢 MDA
📍 Richmond