Substation EPC Project Engineering Lead

HDR is an employee‑owned engineering & consulting firm dedicated to creating a welcoming, inclusive environment where innovation and collaboration drive the future of global power systems.

We are looking for a national Substation EPC Project Engineering Lead to join our Power Delivery Practice and help shape how electricity is generated, transmitted and delivered as global energy demands grow. In this role, you will drive collaboration across our global power delivery staff and construction partners, focusing on technical bid development, estimating, and project transition from pursuit to execution.

• Serve as the Pursuit Champion/Manager on Substation EPC projects, then transition management duties to the Project Manager and execution team, ensuring clear scope, schedule, and budget hand‑off.
• Collaborate with construction partners and HDR technical leads to facilitate technical risk analysis, preliminary layout, design, and bill‑of‑material takeoff, and offer value‑engineering and constructability solutions.
• Lead scope, schedule and budget development, addressing activities and risks unique to AD projects (procurement support, construction support, critical‑path scheduling). Coordinate with land survey, geotechnical, transmission line, environmental, real‑estate and GIS staff.
• Estimate technical investments prior to Go/No‑Go discussions, sharing risk evaluation with commercial, business development and operations leaders to decide whether to pursue opportunities.
• Interface with construction contractors and HDR sub‑consultants during pursuit and project, driving conversations on risk identification and mitigation.
• Assist in Go/No‑Go discussions, project risk assessments, SOQs, proposals, interviews, and negotiations as required.
• Work with power delivery and operations leadership to build out front‑end engineering and design (FEED) teams as the AD program grows.
• Serve in project technical leadership roles—engineering manager, discipline lead, technical advisor—while overseeing proposal development and standing‑up project teams and performing ongoing risk analysis to determine hand‑off timing.
• Develop templates, standards, specifications, drawings, processes and procedures to support substation EPC pursuits and projects, including design, model, basis‑of‑design, bill‑of‑material, foundation, scope, budget and schedule templates, and maintain a database.
• Mentor and lead teams, including Project Managers, Engineering Managers and discipline‑specific practitioners such as substation site/civil, structural/foundation, environmental, real‑estate and GIS individuals.
• Perform any other duties as needed.
• Report to the Alternative Delivery Director.

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical or Civil Engineering.
• Professional Engineering License.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in substation design.
• Minimum 5 years of experience building and leading engineering teams on EPC projects.
• Proficiency with CDEGS, BIM software (Autodesk Revit, Bentley).
• Minimum 3 years of experience developing engineering scope, schedule and budget estimates on EPC projects.
• Experience developing EPC design and construction packages.
• Full experience in all aspects of substation design, procurement and construction—including estimating, engineering design, procurement, construction specifications, detailed design and drawing development for projects up to 500 kV.
• Understanding of single‑line and general arrangement drawings, equipment selection, benefits/drawbacks of various physical arrangements, and experience offering value‑engineering solutions.
• Experience optimizing substation designs (site layouts, foundations, automation, etc.) with discipline‑specific SMEs.
• Strong leadership skills and experience managing multiple remote teams.
• Self‑starter with excellent writing and communication skills.
• Strong conceptual, organizational, problem‑solving and collaborative skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and conferencing platforms (Zoom, Web Ex, Teams).
• Position requires up to 20 % travel.

• Bachelor’s degree in a professional, architecture,…