Substation Project Manager

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CDM Smith (Industrial Division) is seeking to fill an exciting Substation Project Manager (Substation PM) position in our established and growing business supporting electric utility and substation clients across the United States. The Substation PM will lead multi‑discipline engineering teams delivering critical substation programs and projects across the utility and mission‑critical markets, including consulting, engineering, design‑build, and EPC (engineer, procure, construct) delivery.

Experience should include physical substation design and protection and control for brownfield and greenfield substations up to 345 kV, as well as the ability to execute safely, compliantly, and with a strong focus on constructability and operational readiness.

CDM Smith’s Industrial Division serves Utility, Data Center, Power, Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Food & Beverage, Metals & Mining, Manufacturing, and other industrial clients. In this role, the Substation PM will support portfolio‑style substation capital programs for investor‑owned utilities (IOUs) as well as fast‑paced, schedule‑driven substation and interconnection projects for data center clients—often with accelerated timelines, parallel work streams, and highly coordinated stakeholder expectations.

The ideal candidate will have proven experience managing consulting, engineering, design‑build, and/or EPC (engineer, procure, construct) substation projects and programs for investor‑owned utilities and mission‑critical clients. Experience should span all project phases, from site feasibility and front‑end planning through detailed design, procurement, engineering services during construction, commissioning, and closeout. This individual will help clients plan and deliver multi‑project portfolios and rapid‑turn projects by managing scope, schedule, budget, quality, and risk;

aligning deliverables to client standards and operating requirements; and coordinating internal and external stakeholders to achieve safe, high‑quality outcomes.

As an integral member of our dynamic Industrial Team, the Substation Project Manager (Substation PM) will contribute by:

• Managing small to large complex substation engineering projects from early concept development through detailed design and construction support, including breaker and transformer replacements, new bay additions, and protection relay upgrades.
• Leading proposal development by defining scope, schedule, staffing, and cost, partnering with the Sales Leader and marketing team to produce compliant, competitive submissions.
• Directing multi‑discipline substation engineering teams (e.g., physical, P&C, civil/structural) and coordinating compliance deliverables to meet quality, schedule, and budget objectives.
• Managing quality, risk, schedule, and change management.
• Serving as a mentor and leader of multi‑discipline project teams.
• Performing guidance and review at the project level while assuring discipline and quality standards are adhered to.
• Serving as the main client contact and liaison during project execution to deliver a legendary client experience to grow the account.
• Applying experience and innovation to solve problems of high complexity in area of expertise with support from the…