Substation Engineering: Principal Engineer

Electric Power Engineers • Austin, TX

1d • Onsite

About The Position

We are designing the grid of the future! The Principal Engineer, Substation Engineering will serve as a senior technical leader within EPE’s growing utility Substation Engineering practice. This role will help establish and advance EPE’s physical substation engineering capabilities while providing technical leadership and hands-on engineering support for complex utility substation projects. A primary focus of this role will be establishing and maintaining a high standard of engineering quality. The Principal Engineer will help define EPE’s engineering standards, design practices, technical procedures, and QA/QC processes while providing senior technical review and oversight of project deliverables. As the practice grows, this individual will help make sure technical capabilities, processes, and quality controls scale with the organization. The Principal Engineer will lead and review physical substation engineering from conceptual engineering through detailed design, IFC packages, and construction support. This position requires deep electric utility substation experience and the ability to serve as a technical authority, develop engineers and designers, solve complex engineering challenges, and collaborate across EPE’s Protection & Control (P&C), transmission, distribution, civil/structural, and other technical capabilities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license with the ability to obtain licensure in additional jurisdictions as required.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in electric utility substation engineering and design.
• Extensive hands-on experience with physical substation engineering and detailed design.
• Demonstrated experience serving as a Lead Engineer, Technical Lead, Engineer of Record, or senior technical reviewer for utility substation projects.
• Experience with utility substation projects including greenfield and brownfield projects, expansions, equipment replacements, transformer additions, and capacity upgrades.
• Strong technical knowledge of physical substation design including equipment layout, electrical clearances, bus design, grounding, lightning protection, station service, conduit and cable systems, and equipment specifications.
• Demonstrated experience developing or applying engineering standards, technical review processes, and QA/QC requirements.
• Strong understanding of the interfaces between physical substation engineering, P&C, civil/structural engineering, construction, and utility operations.
• Experience developing and reviewing engineering calculations, drawings, specifications, and complete design packages.
• Working knowledge of utility standards and applicable NESC, IEEE, ANSI, NEC, and other relevant industry codes and standards.
• Demonstrated ability to identify technical risks, resolve complex engineering issues, and provide sound engineering judgment.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and technically develop engineers and designers.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively with engineering teams and utility clients.

Nice To Haves

• 15+ years of electric utility or utility-focused consulting experience supporting transmission and distribution substation programs.
• Experience serving as Engineer of Record or technical authority for utility substation projects.
• Experience establishing engineering standards, design criteria, and QA/QC programs for a utility or engineering organization.
• Experience supporting both distribution and transmission-class substations.
• Experience with AutoCAD, MicroStation, Bentley tools, or other commonly used utility substation engineering and design platforms.
• Experience developing or implementing design automation, automated quality checks, or standardized engineering workflows.
• Experience supporting utility capital programs involving multiple concurrent substation projects.
• Experience supporting project scoping, estimating, proposals, and client development.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior technical authority for physical substation engineering and design.
• Lead the technical development and review of utility substation projects from conceptual engineering through detailed design, IFC packages, and construction support.
• Provide technical leadership for greenfield substations, brownfield modifications and expansions, transformer additions and replacements, equipment upgrades, and other utility capital projects.
• Lead and review engineering associated with general arrangements, equipment layouts, plans and elevations, bus design, grounding, lightning protection, station service, conduit and cable systems, equipment specifications, and associated calculations.
• Provide technical guidance for complex brownfield projects, including existing conditions, constructability, outages, sequencing, equipment interfaces, and operational constraints.
• Interpret and apply utility standards, engineering practices, and applicable NESC, IEEE, ANSI, NEC, and other relevant industry codes and standards.
• Resolve complex technical issues and provide sound engineering judgment to project teams and clients.
• Champion engineering quality across the Substation Engineering practice and establish clear expectations for technical rigor and accountability.
• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve engineering standards, design criteria, calculation methodologies, technical procedures, templates, checklists, and other tools supporting consistent project delivery.
• Establish and maintain scalable QA/QC processes with appropriate technical reviews throughout the project lifecycle.
• Define technical review requirements and approval processes for engineering calculations, drawings, specifications, and design packages.
• Perform and oversee senior-level technical reviews of complex and high-risk engineering deliverables.
• Identify technical and quality risks early and work with project teams to address issues before they impact project delivery.
• Evaluate quality issues and lessons learned to identify root causes and incorporate improvements into engineering processes, tools, standards, and training.
• Support development and implementation of utility-specific standards and design requirements for key clients.
• Serve as Lead Engineer or Technical Lead for complex utility substation projects.
• Support development of project scopes, engineering estimates, schedules, deliverables, staffing requirements, and execution approaches.
• Coordinate physical substation engineering with P&C, civil, structural, transmission, distribution, project management, and other supporting disciplines.
• Establish clear technical interfaces and design inputs across disciplines.
• Work with project managers and technical leads to proactively manage technical, quality, and project delivery risks.
• Participate in design reviews, client meetings, site visits, field walkdowns, and construction support activities.
• Review vendor drawings, equipment data, and other technical documentation for compliance with project and utility requirements.
• Support resolution of RFIs, field changes, and technical issues during construction.
• Mentor and develop substation engineers and designers with an emphasis on engineering fundamentals, technical judgment, quality, and increasing technical ownership.
• Develop engineers capable of independently leading increasingly complex substation engineering projects.
• Support development of technical competencies, training, and career progression within the Substation Engineering team.
• Support recruiting and technical evaluation of prospective substation engineers and designers.
• Promote a culture of technical excellence, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Identify opportunities to standardize and automate engineering activities and quality checks to improve consistency, efficiency, and scalability.
• Stay current with evolving utility standards, technologies, equipment, and engineering practices and incorporate relevant advancements into EPE’s capabilities.
• Develop trusted technical relationships with electric utility clients and establish EPE as a high-quality engineering partner.
• Participate in client meetings, technical workshops, project scoping, and solution development.
• Support proposal development, technical approaches, level-of-effort estimates, and project execution strategies.
• Identify opportunities to expand EPE’s support based on client needs and project experience.
• Support the Director, Substation Engineering and other EPE leaders in developing new utility substation opportunities.
• Represent EPE as a technical expert in client and industry discussions.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health and wellness benefits including medical, dental, and vision with 100% premium coverage for you
• Generous PTO and paid holidays
• MyShare Employee Ownership Program
• Work with industry leaders
• 401K, up to a 4% match (100% vested from day 1)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal