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Chief Substation Engineer
The Client:
Our Client is an international and award-winning, multi-disciplinary Group of companies, operating and driving positive change in the electricity supply sector. With headquarters based in New Zealand, it’s heritage is rooted creatively developing, responsibly owning, and reliably operating electric utility infrastructure to serve local communities. Now, building upon many years of success, developing a reputation for quality services and technical excellence, the client is looking to expand its global presence by offering the same calibre of engineering consultancy and infrastructure design professional services into the UK market.
About the Role
With this exciting opportunity to be one of the early recruits that gets to shape the client's UK business, we are looking for a highly competent and experienced substation engineer to take on technical accountability for this discipline, with the ability to also be a dynamic consulting market leader. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in taking client’s substation engineering service offering into the UK electricity transmission & distribution (T&D) sector, pursuant to establishing and maintaining a reputable and profitable UK business, in line with the company’s values, objectives, and strategic plan.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES & DELIVERABLES:
• Undertake lead, approval and/or verification engineer roles on substation work packages/projects. Where required, this may also include undertaking similar client/third-party defined roles and associated responsibilities (e.g., National Grid Contractor Design Approval Engineer (CDAE) appointment), as required to take on responsibility for signing-oE design documents.
• Undertake role of CDM Principal Designer representative, if required and if appropriate for the nature a given project.
• Be the company technical authority for UK substation engineering procedures best practices, and staE technical development paths. This includes producing technical and procedural authoring, as necessary.
• Responsibility for competency management of staff undertaking substation engineering work on behalf of the company.
• Leadership, in conjunction with the UK Director, of capability development, industry presence, and work winning for the substation market segment.
• Act in the capacity of a Supervising Engineer to provide day-to-day oversight of work allocation/delivery and professional development of allocated understudy (apprentice/graduate/assistant/staff engineer). Where feasible, be involved in the recruitment of the allocated understudy.
• Mentoring and training of junior substation staff, pursuant to developing such staff into worldclass engineers within their discipline.
• Drive the introduction of advanced techniques and technologies for substation engineering and design, pursuant to continuously improving quality and efficiency of deliverables production and/or offering novel technical solutions and service offerings.
• Actively support engraining a culture of safety in design, technical excellent, and moral rigour in all decision making and work undertaken by staff.
QUALIFICATIONS & CERTIFICATIONS
Minimum:
• Bachelor’s degree in electrical or mechanical engineering, or closely related discipline, from a recognised institution. Note: extensive equivalent training and experience may be accepted in lieu.
• Industry recognised substation design training certification or company programme.
• Membership of a relevant professional engineering institution (e.g., The IET).
• Relevant occupational health & safety qualification, such as IOSH Managing Safely.
Desirable:
• Professionally registered as a Chartered Engineer.
• Record of appointments as a National Grid HV Plant CDAE (FULL).
• Formal training in the requirements of CDM Regulations (2015).
• UK substation access and impressed voltage awareness training.
• Project related people, risk, programme, and financial management training.
EXPERIENCE, SKILLS, AND ATTRIBUTES
• 15+ years of experience in electricity industry, with at least 10 of those years being in roles with a significant T&D substation engineering component.
• Advanced knowledge of and skills in substation engineering for a broad range of UK transmission and distribution applications, including how to undertake conceptual and full detailed design, scheme parameter calculations (e.g., for bus bar loading and short-circuit mechanical forces), and equipment specification and selection.
• Strong knowledge of specialist design systems used for substation engineering and associated calculations production.
• Understanding and appreciation of requirements of other interdependent technical disciplines associated with substation projects, such as protection & control, civil/structural.
• Strong understanding the causes, dangers, and requirements associated with impressed voltages.
• General understanding and appreciation of the requirements of Temporary Works on construction projects, as defined by the applicable British Standards.
• Good knowledge of and ability to implement substation engineering and design management best practices, including CAD/BIM procedures compliant to ISO 19650.
• Significant experience operating in a lead/approval engineer capacity for substation engineering packages (e.g., National Grid HV Plant CDAE appointment), producing high-quality deliverables on time and on budget.
• Experience operating in a technical consulting capacity.
• Solid understanding of the requirements of UK safety, health, environmental, and waste management legislation, relevant to client business operations and project work undertaken in the role. In particular, possess a strong grasp of the requirements of current Construction (Design & Management) Regulations and undertaking the Principal Designer representative role.
• Thorough knowledge and experience applying technical standards and related procedures of UK TNOs and DNOs, pertaining to substation engineering activities. In particular, those belonging to National Grid and SSEN network operators.
• Competency in safely accessing electrical substation environments and avoiding the dangers associated with impressed voltages.
• IT literate with a good working knowledge of using Microsoft 365 applications and CAD/technical software packages used in producing substation designs.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to effectively and collaboratively deal with a wide range of project and business stakeholders.
• Strong mentoring and team leadership skills. Passionate about coaching and developing people.
• Ability to build strong relationships with client and industry contacts, to foster future collaboration and work winning opportunities.
• Ability to work well autonomously and as part of a team, and manage own workload to effectively meet necessary deadlines.
• Keenness and ability to proactively engage with the wider engineering community (nationally and internationally) to develop innovative techniques and thought leadership in the electricity transmission & distribution field.
• Empathy and understanding for all levels of the organisations.
• Always operate with a high level of honesty and integrity.
Working at the Client
As a member of our team, you will be part of a supportive work environment that encourages collaboration, innovation, and growth. We are genuinely passionate about creating a truly great place for our people to work.
We focus on pursuing amazing project opportunities, with good clients that share our values and ambition to make a positive impact on society. In addition to pension contributions and a highly competitive salary, we also offer a range of benefits including:
• Flex Program: flexible work arrangements to support balancing life’s commitments.
• 33 days of fully paid annual leave (including the normal 8 UK public holidays).
• Car Allowance of upto £8K Per Annum.
• Reward and recognition programme, professional development opportunities, and clear pathways for progression.
• Loyalty and service recognition benefits (starting at 2 years), including options for additional annual leave, increased pension contributions, and/or salary uplift.
• Contributions to health insurance.
• Two weeks fully paid parental leave.
• Paid professional membership fees, annual training course budget, and time allowance to undertake technical development activities. We are also open to alternative or reduced days/hours work arrangements, to suit your needs.
We believe that our strength lies in our diversity. We are committed to creating a workplace culture that is equitable, inclusive, and supportive of all employees.
Next Steps
Work on diverse projects, be part of the renewable energy transition, and grow your skills as a consultant with our team. Apply now! We will be reviewing applications as they are received, and we are happy to work with you to accommodate your personal circumstances in respect to a start date and transitional working arrangements. For more information or to apply for the role by sending a copy of your CV, please email to take this further.
