Construction Lead Principal

American Electric Power•Niles, SC

10d•Onsite

About The Position

The role of a Construction Lead Principal within one or more primary disciplines including Constructability, Construction Planning, Transmission Lines, Substations, Distribution, Fiber Communications, or Tower Communications is to provide leadership and field oversight to ensure safe, efficient, and high-quality construction execution, with a strong emphasis on identifying and addressing safety risks. This position serves as the subject matter expert and primary liaison between Construction Management and cross functional partners, supporting project planning, coordination, and execution while ensuring alignment across stakeholders, schedules, and field activities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, or a related field with eight (8) years of experience in the applicable discipline; OR Bachelor’s degree in Construction Technology or ABET accredited Engineering Technology with ten (10) years of relevant experience; OR Associate degree in Construction Management Technology or ABET-accredited Electrical or Civil Engineering Technology with twelve (12) years of relevant experience; OR high school diploma (or equivalent) with fourteen (14) years of experience in construction, project execution, or field operations within electric utility or infrastructure environments.
Thorough knowledge of the Bulk Electric System, from a design and/or operations perspective.
Experience within Construction Management, Transmission Engineering, Transmission Operations, or Distribution Operations.
Demonstrated ability to lead, coach, mentor, and train junior personnel.
Must be a team player, inquisitive, analytical, and be able to interact with and maintain working relationships with diverse teams.
Ability to read and interpret one-line station diagrams and transmission line switching diagrams.
Aptitude to understand switching and tagging and clearance points, with knowledge of P&C zones of protection.
Capacity to lead in understanding, developing, and transmitting complex outage reservation communications to capital project stakeholders.
Strong computer skills.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook.
Experience using Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive for collaboration, document management, and team coordination.
Ability to quickly learn and apply enterprise systems such as project scheduling tools, work management systems, and GIS platforms.
Strong organizational and documentation skills.
An understanding of Bulk Electric System operations, construction management practices, or engineering disciplines supporting transmission, distribution, or communication infrastructure is required.
Candidates must demonstrate strong analytical and technical capabilities, including the ability to interpret project documentation, plans, and schedules.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with Power BI for data visualization and reporting, and Power Automate for workflow optimization.

Responsibilities

Provide leadership and field oversight to ensure safe, efficient, and high-quality construction execution.
Identify and address safety risks.
Serve as the subject matter expert and primary liaison between Construction Management and cross-functional partners.
Support project planning, coordination, and execution.
Ensure alignment across stakeholders, schedules, and field activities.
Interpret discipline-specific technical documentation such as transmission plan and profile drawings, structure loading trees, sag and tension charts, substation one-line diagrams, protection and control schematics, and distribution staking sheets and feeder layouts.
Coordinate work in energized or near-energized environments with consideration for construction, outage sequencing, planning, switching requirements, and system reliability impacts.
Lead, coach, mentor, and train junior personnel.
Read and interpret one-line station diagrams and transmission line switching diagrams.
Understand switching and tagging and clearance points, with knowledge of P&C zones of protection.
Lead in understanding, developing, and transmitting complex outage reservation communications to capital project stakeholders.
Apply computer skills to provide business-specific reports.
Promote a healthy culture within the Construction Management Team through effective collaboration.
Develop professional presentations, dashboards, and reports to communicate project status, risks, and performance metrics.
Work in a digital, collaboration-driven environment with structured file management and version control practices.
Quickly learn and apply enterprise systems such as project scheduling tools, work management systems, and GIS platforms.
Support standardized processes, reporting, and knowledge sharing across teams.