Lead Substation Electrical Owner's Engineer

Ulteig•Houston, TX

6d•$123,200 - $159,650

About The Position

Ulteig is seeking an experienced Lead Substation Electrical Owner’s Engineer to serve as an extension of the owner’s project team for major EPC transmission and substation projects. The role provides independent technical review, procurement support, field assurance, and documented recommendations while preserving the Owner’s decision-making authority and the EPC Contractor’s design and construction responsibilities. The engineer provides owner-side electrical support throughout project development, design, construction, commissioning, and energization. The work includes reviewing design deliverables and studies, supporting material procurement, assessing field quality and construction readiness, and tracking deficiencies and turnover requirements through closure. The position coordinates across multidisciplinary teams and communicates concise, defensible recommendations to the Owner. The role requires a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from an ABET-accredited program or equivalent and an active Professional Engineer license, along with at least seven years of relevant utility substation experience. The position requires permanent U.S. work authorization and the ability to travel to project sites, supplier facilities, and EPC offices as needed. Remote work must be performed within the United States unless otherwise authorized and compliant with security requirements.

Requirements

B.S. in Electrical Engineering from an ABET-accredited program or equivalent.
Active Professional Engineer license.
At least 7 years of electric utility substation engineering, design review, commissioning, or construction support experience.
Demonstrated Owner’s Engineer or EPC oversight experience.
Strong knowledge of substation primary systems, protection and control, SCADA, studies, grounding, and applicable utility and industry standards.
Experience reviewing specifications, material lists, vendor submittals, FAT documentation, field quality records, commissioning plans, and energization readiness evidence.
Ability to communicate concise, defensible recommendations; maintain traceable review records; lead multidisciplinary interfaces; and distinguish review and monitoring responsibilities from Owner approval authority.
Ability to work within the Owner’s operational footprint and travel to project sites, supplier facilities, and EPC offices as needed.
Permanent authorization to work in the U.S.
Openness to innovation by embracing and applying evolving technology and AI tools to enhance workflows, solve problems, and drive continuous improvement.

Nice To Haves

Experience with 138 kV and 345 kV facilities.
Proficiency with Microsoft 365.
Familiarity with utility design and project systems such as GIS, SAP, Primavera P6, Bentley MicroStation, and ProjectWise.

Responsibilities

Provide owner-side electrical engineering support across project development, design, construction, commissioning, and energization; identify technical risks and support stage-gate readiness.
Develop, review, or refine Owner’s Project Specifications and owner-side technical input to the Basis of Design; verify use of current company standards and project requirements.
Review EPC design QA/QC processes and preliminary through final deliverables for completeness, consistency, quality, constructability, and compliance; manage comment logs, deviations, recurring issues, root-cause trends, and closure status.
Review detailed substation electrical designs, including one-lines, three-lines, AC/DC schematics, wiring, control buildings, power transformers, breakers, disconnects, bus, CTs/PTs, batteries/DC systems, protection and control, SCADA/communications, grounding, and lightning protection.
Review short-circuit, coordination, arc-flash, AC/DC, grounding, and related equipment studies and specifications; provide risk-informed and value-engineering recommendations to the Owner.
Coordinate electrical interfaces with civil, structural, transmission line, communications, operations, outage planning, permitting, and construction teams; participate in field layout and constructability reviews.
Review and validate EPC material lists, specification codes, item numbers, quantities, bid descriptions, and technical requirements; document exceptions and recommendations.
Support procurement packaging, technical bid evaluations, vendor proposal reviews, long-lead equipment planning, logistics, expediting, storage, preservation, traceability, and alignment with design maturity and construction sequencing.
Review supplier drawings, certified test documentation, material test reports, inspection records, and procurement submittals; track discrepancies, non-conformances, manufacturing status, release status, and material readiness.
Provide qualified support for factory acceptance testing of major substation equipment; document observations, test results, deficiencies, and follow-up actions for Owner review.
Advise on project-specific spare parts and strategic spare equipment based on standardization, operational needs, lifecycle maintenance, and portfolio considerations.
Provide owner-side field oversight of EPC and subcontractor electrical work; evaluate conformance with approved drawings, specifications, procedures, acceptance criteria, and project requirements without directing the Contractor unless expressly authorized.
Attend construction progress and site coordination meetings; assess work packaging, site readiness, sequencing, access, quality, safety, schedule, and constructability; promptly escalate field issues and potential non-conformances.
Review field QC testing, inspection results, construction quality records, and corrective actions; maintain field reports, issue logs, quality-surveillance records, NCR tracking, and closure documentation.
Review commissioning plans, energization procedures, functional/performance test requirements, completion certificates, and turnover checklists; witness testing and energization activities when requested and document exceptions and readiness concerns.
Track punch-list items, test exceptions, deficiencies, required records, and milestone readiness through closure; support review of as-built, O&M, warranty, and final turnover documentation.