Principal Engineer – Electrical Plant

Base Location

Flexible Scotland – the role will be based at one of our SSEN offices or depots around Scotland, Perth, Aberdeen or Inverness.

£59,800 – £89,800 + car or car allowance + performance‑related bonus + a range of benefits to support your finances, wellbeing and family.

Permanent | Full time | Flexible First options available.

Our Network Engineering team provides technical governance across Transmission projects, ensuring engineering activities are safe, robust, fully supported and compliant with relevant legislation. We’re looking for a Principal Engineer – Electrical Plant to join our specialist team. This is a key role where you’ll help shape technical policy, influence industry standards, and support the delivery of innovative, future‑ready projects across our high‑voltage transmission network.

• Own and improve technical specifications for substation electrical plant, including GIS, circuit breakers, transformers, HVDC and FACTS equipment.
• Act as Technical Authority for new plant approvals, reviewing designs and type testing against network requirements.
• Support Design Authority reviews to ensure substation and system designs are safe, compliant and fit for purpose.
• Collaborate with engineering, asset, operations, system design teams and manufacturers to resolve technical challenges.
• Provide technical consultancy, mentor colleagues and represent SSEN Transmission in industry forums.
• Represent SSEN Transmission and/or the UK at industry events and working groups (e.g. ENA, IEC, CIGRE), bringing back insights and best practices to strengthen our engineering approach.

• A degree in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline, and Chartered Engineer status (or are actively working towards it).
• Strong experience in the design, specification, testing, and application of electrical plant such as AIS, GIS, instrument transformers or FACTS/HVDC at transmission voltage levels of 145 kV and above.
• The ability to critically assess technical challenges and evaluate a range of solutions, with a solid understanding of the design, planning, operation and development requirements of the transmission network.
• Detailed knowledge and understanding of a range of relevant national and international standards.
• Experience writing technical specifications, guidance notes or work instructions.
• Exposure to the design, manufacturing, testing, installation or maintenance of transmission‑voltage plant and equipment is a plus.

We’re seeking someone with substantial experience in substation electrical plant, particularly design and type testing, ideally within the UK transmission network, who can bring deep technical insight and a collaborative mindset to our team. We understand that expertise comes in many forms and are open to hearing from candidates who meet most of the criteria and are eager to grow into the role.

Enjoy discounts on private healthcare and gym memberships; wellbeing benefits such as a free online GP and 24/7 counselling service; interest‑free loans on tech and transport season tickets, or a new bike with our Cycle to Work scheme; and generous family entitlements including maternity and adoption pay, and paternity leave.

SSE will make any reasonable adjustments you need to ensure that your application and experience with us is positive. Please contact Andy on to discuss how we can support you. We’re dedicated to fostering an open and inclusive workplace where people from all backgrounds can thrive, and we especially welcome applications from those who may not be well represented in our workforce or industry.