Senior HV Substation Engineer

Strata Careers•Durham, NC

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior HV Substation Engineer provides technical leadership for the engineering, design, procurement, construction, testing, commissioning, and closeout of high-voltage substations and related interconnection facilities supporting utility-scale solar, battery energy storage, data center, industrial, and traditional utility projects for Power Generation Solutions (PGS), a Strata Clean Energy company. This role serves as a senior technical authority and key interface among PGS, external Engineers of Record, equipment suppliers, utilities, owners, procurement, project management, construction, and commissioning teams. The Senior HV Substation Engineer drives safe, practical, cost-effective, schedule-aligned, and technically compliant solutions throughout the project lifecycle while strengthening PGS engineering standards and execution capabilities.

Requirements

B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from an ABET-accredited university.
Professional Engineer (PE) license in one or more U.S. jurisdictions.
Current North Dakota Professional Engineer license, or the ability to obtain North Dakota licensure through comity within a reasonable timeframe, required.
Experience serving as Engineer of Record, technical lead, or owner's engineer for utility-scale substation projects, including responsibility for sealed engineering deliverables and regulatory compliance.
Minimum of ten (10) years of progressive experience in high-voltage substation engineering, design, consulting, utility engineering, or EPC project delivery.
Demonstrated experience leading, performing, or independently reviewing substation designs at 69 kV and above, including substation physical design and protection and control systems.
Strong understanding of electric utility transmission and distribution systems, generation and load interconnections, grid operations, and utility planning and operational requirements.
Strong working knowledge of substation primary equipment, station service, grounding, lightning protection, batteries and chargers, protection and control, SCADA, communications, and equipment interfaces.
Demonstrated ability to oversee external engineering providers and identify design errors, omissions, scope gaps, constructability concerns, and non-conformances.
Working knowledge of applicable industry standards and requirements, including IEEE, ANSI, NESC, NEC, NFPA, NEMA, OSHA, IEC, NERC, and utility-specific standards.
Experience supporting equipment procurement, vendor drawing review, construction engineering, testing, commissioning, and energization activities.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to coordinate effectively across engineering, project management, procurement, construction, commissioning, clients, consultants, and utilities.
Proficiency with the Microsoft Office suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint.
Detail-oriented, self-motivated, and able to manage multiple priorities and make sound technical decisions in a fast-paced, scaling EPC organization.
Ability to travel occasionally, up to 20%, to project sites, utility facilities, engineering partner offices, and factory acceptance test locations.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting utility-scale solar, battery energy storage, data center, industrial, utility transmission, and utility substation projects.
Experience with 115 kV, 138 kV, 230 kV, 345 kV, or higher-voltage substations.
Experience with power-system and grounding analysis software such as ETAP, SKM, ASPEN OneLiner, CYMCAP, CDEGS, WinIGS, PSCAD, PSS/E, or equivalent tools.
Experience with SEL protection and automation platforms, AutoCAD or MicroStation deliverables, and Bluebeam-based design reviews.
Experience managing or coordinating multidisciplinary, multi-firm, geographically distributed, or offshore engineering teams.

Responsibilities

Provide technical leadership for high-voltage substation and interconnection projects from pursuit and conceptual engineering through detailed design, construction, commissioning, energization, and closeout.
Lead and/or review substation physical design, including general arrangements, equipment layouts, grounding systems, lightning protection, raceways, cable routing, station service systems, rigid and strain bus arrangements, and associated construction details for transmission-level substations.
Lead and/or review protection and control system designs, including relay one-lines and three-lines, protection schemes, metering, SCADA, communications, security and cybersecurity interfaces, and utility integration requirements.
Perform and/or review engineering studies and calculations, including grounding, shielding, bus span, short-circuit, load flow, protection coordination, arc flash, and related power-system analyses.
Lead and perform multidisciplinary reviews of engineering packages, including design criteria, single-line and three-line diagrams, general arrangements, AC and DC systems, cable schedules, structural and civil interfaces, equipment specifications, calculations, and construction details.
Direct and oversee external engineering firms and Engineers of Record, including scope definition, deliverable schedules, design review cycles, comment resolution, quality expectations, and technical performance.
Coordinate and provide technical leadership to domestic and offshore engineering resources, ensuring consistency, quality, schedule compliance, effective communication, and adherence to PGS engineering standards and project requirements.
Establish the technical basis of design and verify compliance with interconnection agreements, Large Generator Interconnection Agreements, power purchase agreements, utility and transmission operator requirements, owner criteria, contract documents, permits, and applicable codes and standards.
Develop, own, maintain, and continuously improve PGS technical specifications, equipment data sheets, procurement requirements, and standard technical exhibits for major substation equipment and systems, including power transformers, circuit breakers, disconnect switches, instrument transformers, surge arresters, control enclosures, relay panels, station service systems, batteries and chargers, capacitor or reactor equipment, and communications systems.
Review vendor drawings, calculations, bills of material, equipment data sheets, factory test procedures, test reports, operation and maintenance manuals, and technical deviations for conformance with project requirements and interface needs.
Support procurement with technical bid evaluations, supplier clarifications, long-lead equipment strategy, commercial and technical risk identification, and resolution of technical exceptions.
Coordinate protection and control, SCADA, telecommunications, metering, utility, generation plant, data center load, and commissioning interfaces to ensure complete and functional designs.
Lead technical design reviews at defined project milestones and document design decisions, open items, risks, and required corrective actions.
Provide engineering support during construction, including timely resolution of RFIs, field changes, non-conformances, constructability issues, and equipment or drawing conflicts.
Develop and review factory acceptance test requirements and procedures, review test reports, and attend or lead factory acceptance tests as needed based on equipment criticality, project requirements, technical risk, and contractual obligations.
Participate in site acceptance testing, commissioning planning, outage coordination, energization readiness reviews, and turnover documentation.
Perform and review technical evaluations, feasibility assessments, value engineering, constructability reviews, and risk assessments for new opportunities and active projects.
Support estimating, proposals, EPC bid reviews, contract and scope development, project handoff, forecasting, and lessons learned with technically grounded input.
Lead the standardization of substation designs, design criteria, typical arrangements, equipment applications, protection philosophies, engineering study requirements, calculation methods, and deliverables across PGS projects.
Develop, own, maintain, and implement engineering templates, standard operating procedures, design guides, technical specifications, calculation templates, review checklists, quality-control processes, and lessons learned to support consistent and repeatable HV EPC execution.
Drive adoption and consistent application of PGS engineering standards and procedures across domestic, offshore, and external engineering teams, and periodically update them based on project experience, code and standard changes, technology developments, and lessons learned.
Mentor project engineers and less-experienced engineering personnel, promote sound engineering judgment, and support technical onboarding and development.
Lead and represent PGS in technical meetings with clients, utilities, transmission operators, owner’s engineers, consultants, suppliers, AHJs, and other project stakeholders.
Promote a culture of safety, quality, accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and proactive communication across engineering and project execution teams.