Principal Substation Engineering

Electric Power Engineers (EPE) is hiring a Principal Substation Engineer to provide technical leadership and hands-on engineering support for utility substation projects. The role will establish engineering standards and quality processes, lead and review designs, develop engineers, and support project delivery and utility client relationships.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as a senior technical authority for physical substation engineering and design
• Lead the technical development and review of utility substation projects from conceptual engineering through detailed design, IFC packages, and construction support
• Provide technical leadership for greenfield substations, brownfield modifications and expansions, transformer additions and replacements, equipment upgrades, and other utility capital projects
• Lead and review engineering associated with general arrangements, equipment layouts, plans and elevations, bus design, grounding, lightning protection, station service, conduit and cable systems, equipment specifications, and associated calculations
• Provide technical guidance for complex brownfield projects, including existing conditions, constructability, outages, sequencing, equipment interfaces, and operational constraints
• Interpret and apply utility standards, engineering practices, and applicable NESC, IEEE, ANSI, NEC, and other relevant industry codes and standards
• Resolve complex technical issues and provide sound engineering judgment to project teams and clients
• Champion engineering quality across the Substation Engineering practice and establish clear expectations for technical rigor and accountability
• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve engineering standards, design criteria, calculation methodologies, technical procedures, templates, checklists, and other tools supporting consistent project delivery
• Establish and maintain scalable QA/QC processes with appropriate technical reviews throughout the project lifecycle
• Define technical review requirements and approval processes for engineering calculations, drawings, specifications, and design packages
• Perform and oversee senior-level technical reviews of complex and high-risk engineering deliverables
• Identify technical and quality risks early and work with project teams to address issues before they impact project delivery
• Evaluate quality issues and lessons learned to identify root causes and incorporate improvements into engineering processes, tools, standards, and training
• Support development and implementation of utility-specific standards and design requirements for key clients
• Serve as Lead Engineer or Technical Lead for complex utility substation projects
• Support development of project scopes, engineering estimates, schedules, deliverables, staffing requirements, and execution approaches
• Coordinate physical substation engineering with P&C, civil, structural, transmission, distribution, project management, and other supporting disciplines
• Establish clear technical interfaces and design inputs across disciplines
• Work with project managers and technical leads to proactively manage technical, quality, and project delivery risks
• Participate in design reviews, client meetings, site visits, field walkdowns, and construction support activities
• Review vendor drawings, equipment data, and other technical documentation for compliance with project and utility requirements
• Support resolution of RFIs, field changes, and technical issues during construction
• Mentor and develop substation engineers and designers with an emphasis on engineering fundamentals, technical judgment, quality, and increasing technical ownership
• Develop engineers capable of independently leading increasingly complex substation engineering projects
• Support development of technical competencies, training, and career progression within the Substation Engineering team
• Support recruiting and technical evaluation of prospective substation engineers and designers
• Promote a culture of technical excellence, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement
• Identify opportunities to standardize and automate engineering activities and quality checks to improve consistency, efficiency, and scalability
• Stay current with evolving utility standards, technologies, equipment, and engineering practices and incorporate relevant advancements into EPE’s capabilities
• Develop trusted technical relationships with electric utility clients and establish EPE as a high-quality engineering partner
• Participate in client meetings, technical workshops, project scoping, and solution development
• Support proposal development, technical approaches, level-of-effort estimates, and project execution strategies
• Identify opportunities to expand EPE’s support based on client needs and project experience
• Support the Director, Substation Engineering and other EPE leaders in developing new utility substation opportunities
• Represent EPE as a technical expert in client and industry discussions

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related engineering discipline
• Professional Engineer (PE) license with the ability to obtain licensure in additional jurisdictions as required
• 12+ years of progressive experience in electric utility substation engineering and design
• Extensive hands-on experience with physical substation engineering and detailed design
• Demonstrated experience serving as a Lead Engineer, Technical Lead, Engineer of Record, or senior technical reviewer for utility substation projects
• Experience with utility substation projects including greenfield and brownfield projects, expansions, equipment replacements, transformer additions, and capacity upgrades
• Strong technical knowledge of physical substation design including equipment layout, electrical clearances, bus design, grounding, lightning protection, station service, conduit and cable systems, and equipment specifications
• Demonstrated experience developing or applying engineering standards, technical review processes, and QA/QC requirements
• Strong understanding of the interfaces between physical substation engineering, P&C, civil/structural engineering, construction, and utility operations
• Experience developing and reviewing engineering calculations, drawings, specifications, and complete design packages
• Working knowledge of utility standards and applicable NESC, IEEE, ANSI, NEC, and other relevant industry codes and standards
• Demonstrated ability to identify technical risks, resolve complex engineering issues, and provide sound engineering judgment
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and technically develop engineers and designers
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively with engineering teams and utility clients
• 15+ years of electric utility or utility-focused consulting experience supporting transmission and distribution substation programs
• Experience serving as Engineer of Record or technical authority for utility substation projects
• Experience establishing engineering standards, design criteria, and QA/QC programs for a utility or engineering organization
• Experience supporting both distribution and transmission-class substations
• Experience with AutoCAD, MicroStation, Bentley tools, or other commonly used utility substation engineering and design platforms
• Experience developing or implementing design automation, automated quality checks, or standardized engineering workflows
• Experience supporting utility capital programs involving multiple concurrent substation projects
• Experience supporting project scoping, estimating, proposals, and client development