Substation Design Engineer (Electrical)

About the role

The employer is looking for an electrical engineer who can design substations end to end, produce the full drawing package and price it. The work covers utility-scale solar PV plants and standalone substation projects, taking each design from concept through construction and energization.

Key responsibilities

• Design HV/MV substations (11 kV to 132 kV and above), AIS and GIS, and prepare SLDs, equipment layouts, sections and general arrangement drawings.
• Develop protection, control and metering schemes, including protection SLDs and relay logic.
• Size and specify primary equipment such as transformers, switchgear, circuit breakers, CTs, VTs, surge arresters, busbars and cables.
• Carry out earthing, lightning protection and direct-stroke shielding studies, and design LVAC, DC systems, batteries, chargers and SCADA/communication interfaces.
• Perform or review electrical studies: load flow, short circuit, cable sizing, voltage drop, insulation and relay coordination.
• Produce and check the full drawing package, prepare design reports, calculations, equipment specifications and bills of quantities, and review vendor drawings and technical submittals.
• Price complete substation packages for tenders and client budgets, and provide site support during construction, testing and commissioning.
• Ensure designs comply with IEC, IEEE standards and local utility and grid code requirements.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering (Power) or equivalent; Chartered or professional engineer status (PE, CEng) or local engineering society registration.
• 5+ years of substation design experience, with at least 2 complete projects delivered from design to energization.
• Experience designing substations for utility-scale solar PV or other renewables, including pooling/collector and grid-connection substations.
• Experience obtaining design approvals from a utility or transmission operator, and familiarity with grid code compliance and interconnection documentation.
• Experience in EPC or consultancy environments working to tight schedules.

Required skills

• Strong command of primary and secondary design: SLDs, layouts, protection and control schematics.
• Able to draw personally in AutoCAD, not just review drawings.
• Ability to estimate and price a full substation from design or tender packages.
• Working knowledge of IEC 61936, IEC 62271, IEC 60076, IEEE 80 and IEC 61850.
• At least one study tool such as ETAP, DIgSILENT PowerFactory or CDEGS.
• Familiarity with MV collection systems, inverter stations and plant-level reactive power and harmonic requirements.