Substation Project Technical Lead

Stantec•Chicago, IL

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Stantec is seeking a senior substation engineering technical leader to provide technical leadership for complex substation projects and pursuits, from project development through design, construction, testing, energization, and commissioning. This is a senior seller-doer role for an experienced physical and electrical substation engineer who leads multidisciplinary teams, works directly with clients, solves technical challenges, and develops project approaches. The role partners with Project Managers to deliver safe, high-quality, constructible solutions that meet client expectations, and helps win work through technical proposal development, scopes, estimates, schedules, staffing plans, and budgets. The position primarily involves office or hybrid work with geographically distributed project teams. Periodic travel is required for client meetings, pursuits, project development, site investigations, design reviews, construction, and commissioning. Field assignments may include visits to substations, construction sites, and other utility facilities. Candidates should have a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related engineering discipline, PE registration or the ability to obtain it as appropriate, and at least 15 years of progressively responsible substation engineering experience, including leadership of complex projects and design teams. Experience with new substations, expansions, retrofits, or brownfield modifications is preferred.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
Professional Engineer (PE) registration is required or must be obtainable as appropriate for the position.
Minimum 15 years of progressively responsible substation engineering experience, including experience leading complex projects and design teams.
Demonstrated experience leading complex substation engineering and design projects.
Strong technical expertise in high-voltage substation engineering and significant experience in substation physical design, including general arrangements, plans, elevations, sections, equipment layouts, bus arrangements, electrical clearances, grounding systems, lightning protection/shielding, cable trench layouts, AC/DC auxiliary systems, control building physical/electrical interfaces, and equipment foundation interfaces.
Demonstrated ability to lead and coordinate multidisciplinary engineering teams.
Experience developing engineering scopes of work, deliverable plans, labor estimates, schedules, staffing plans, and project budgets.
Experience leading or making significant contributions to RFQ, RFP, and other competitive project pursuits.
Strong understanding of substation constructability, brownfield interfaces, outage constraints, construction sequencing, and commissioning considerations.
Knowledge of applicable substation codes, standards, and utility design requirements.
Ability to identify technical and project risks, make sound engineering decisions, and communicate decisions effectively.
Strong client-facing, leadership, presentation, and written communication skills.
Demonstrated commitment to mentoring and developing engineers and designers.
Ability to travel as needed to support clients, projects, site investigations, construction, and commissioning.

Nice To Haves

Experience with new substations, expansions, retrofits, or brownfield modifications.

Responsibilities

Serve as the overall technical leader for assigned substation projects and pursuits.
Lead physical design for AIS and GIS substations, including greenfield installations, expansions, and brownfield modifications.
Lead substation designs for voltage classes from distribution/sub-transmission through 230 kV, 345 kV, 500 kV, and 765 kV, as applicable.
Lead multidisciplinary design teams, including substation physical, protection and control, civil, structural, geotechnical, SCADA/telecommunications, and other disciplines.
Establish the technical approach, design basis, discipline interfaces, deliverable strategy, and project execution plan.
Lead design coordination meetings, technical workshops, interdisciplinary and constructability reviews, and resolution of complex technical issues.
Ensure designs are coordinated, constructible, technically sound, and compliant with client requirements, codes, and industry standards.
Provide technical leadership through planning, detailed design, procurement support, construction, testing, energization, and commissioning.
Partner with Project Managers to align technical execution with scope, schedule, budget, quality, risk, and client expectations.
Lead technical development of proposals and pursuits for new and existing clients.
Translate client requirements into scopes of work, deliverable lists, work plans, schedules, and staffing strategies.
Develop and validate engineering labor estimates and project budgets, including assumptions, exclusions, dependencies, and technical risks.
Coordinate proposal inputs across disciplines to align scope, execution approach, schedule, staffing, and fee.
Identify scope gaps and pursuit risks and develop assumptions and qualifications.
Collaborate with Project Managers, account leaders, and technical teams on proposal strategy, client presentations, and interviews.
Support transition from pursuit to project execution so the delivery team understands commitments, assumptions, budgets, and client expectations.
Represent the technical team in client meetings, design workshops, proposal interviews, and project reviews.
Build client relationships through technical judgment, responsiveness, and understanding of client needs.
Mentor and develop engineers and designers, including emerging discipline and technical leaders.
Support resource planning, recruiting, knowledge sharing, and development of the broader substation team.
Promote a collaborative culture focused on safety, accountability, technical excellence, and client service.
Travel as needed to support clients, projects, site investigations, construction, and commissioning.