Senior Engineering Manager

Mesa Associates, Inc•Madison, TN

17h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Engineering Manager – Physical Substation Design provides strategic leadership, technical oversight, and operational management for the Physical Substation Engineering department. The role leads engineering managers, engineers, designers, and technical specialists responsible for planning, designing, and executing transmission and distribution substation projects, from distribution voltage levels through EHV (500 kV+). The Senior Engineering Manager is accountable for engineering excellence, project profitability, client satisfaction, employee development, and compliance with applicable industry standards, while supporting the company’s long-term strategic objectives. The position is a hybrid arrangement based in one of Mesa Associates’ Madison, Alabama; Chattanooga, Tennessee; or Knoxville, Tennessee offices.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline from an accredited university.
Professional Engineer (PE) license, or ability to attain one within 12 months.
At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in electric utility substation engineering.
At least 4 years of engineering leadership or management experience.
Demonstrated experience managing multidisciplinary engineering teams.
Extensive knowledge of physical substation design for transmission and distribution systems.
Strong understanding of utility engineering standards and design practices.
Technical knowledge covering high-voltage substation design (12 kV–500 kV+), AIS and GIS substations, equipment layouts and yard design, bus arrangements, grounding systems, lightning protection, conduit and cable trench design, raceway systems, control building layouts, structural and foundation coordination, physical design standards, material specifications, construction support, engineering quality assurance, and engineering risk management.
Leadership competencies including strategic thinking, executive communication, servant leadership, team development, conflict resolution, decision-making under pressure, financial acumen, customer focus, continuous improvement, organizational leadership, and change management.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Engineering, Engineering Management, or Business Administration (MBA).
Experience supporting investor-owned utilities, municipalities, or cooperatives.
Knowledge of digital design and 3D modeling platforms.
Experience implementing engineering quality management systems.
PMP certification.

Responsibilities

Provide leadership, mentoring, and direction to Engineering Managers, Lead Engineers, and multidisciplinary engineering teams.
Develop department goals, annual business plans, staffing strategies, and performance objectives.
Foster a culture centered on safety, quality, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Recruit, develop, coach, and retain engineering professionals; build leadership succession plans and technical career development programs.
Provide executive oversight for physical substation engineering projects from conceptual design through construction support.
Ensure designs comply with client specifications, utility standards, IEEE, ANSI, NESC, NEC, ASCE, OSHA, and applicable regulatory requirements.
Establish engineering standards, best practices, quality procedures, and design workflows; oversee engineering reviews and technical risk assessments.
Support complex technical problem-solving and provide expert guidance on challenging engineering issues.
Monitor engineering schedules, budgets, staffing utilization, and project profitability; collaborate with Project Managers to deliver projects safely, on schedule, within budget, and to quality standards.
Identify project risks and implement mitigation strategies; support proposal development, project planning, and resource forecasting.
Improve engineering execution and project delivery processes.
Develop and maintain relationships with utility clients, EPC partners, and key stakeholders; represent the company as an executive-level technical representative in client meetings.
Participate in project pursuits, interviews, presentations, business development activities, contract negotiations, and strategic client initiatives.
Develop departmental KPIs and monitor performance metrics; implement improvements to productivity, consistency, and quality.
Drive adoption of engineering technologies, digital workflows, and automation tools; support enterprise quality management and operational efficiency initiatives.
Manage departmental budgets and labor utilization; support revenue forecasting, financial planning, strategic planning, and annual budgeting.
Improve engineering efficiency while maintaining quality and client satisfaction.
Partner with Protection & Control, Civil/Structural, Transmission Line, Construction, Procurement, and Project Management teams.
Coordinate engineering resources across offices and business units and promote collaboration and knowledge sharing across disciplines.