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Job Title: Principal Design Engineer – Primary

Location: Glasgow (Hamilton)
Reporting to: Section Lead – Primary
Business Unit: Omexom Design

Purpose of the Position

To lead the design of primary plant layouts and associated engineering for high-voltage (HV) substations, ensuring high technical standards, safety, and efficiency across the full design lifecycle. The Principal Design Engineer will act as a technical authority, supporting project delivery, mentoring design engineers, and ensuring that designs meet client, regulatory, and internal requirements.

Key Responsibilities and Duties

Including but not limited to:

• Technical Leadership
  Lead the development of substation primary layouts (typically 132kV to 400kV), including busbar arrangements, equipment spacing, plant orientation, and earthing zones.

• Design Delivery
  Oversee the production of general arrangements, layout plans, sections, cable routing plans, and associated deliverables across FEED, detailed design, and construction stages.

• Client and Stakeholder Interface
  Liaise directly with clients and internal stakeholders to develop and agree substation layouts in line with technical and operational requirements.

• Standards Compliance
  Ensure compliance with client specifications, industry standards, and statutory regulations, including ENA TS, NG TS, IEC, BS EN, and CDM 2015.

• Multi-Disciplinary Coordination
  Collaborate with civil, protection, control, and secondary design teams to ensure coordinated and constructible substation designs.

• Design Assurance
  Review and approve technical documents and drawings produced by design engineers. Participate in design reviews and hazard identification workshops.

• Mentoring and Development
  Provide technical guidance and support to junior engineers and graduate designers. Support skill development and technical leadership across the substation primary team.

• Innovation and Continuous Improvement
  Contribute to the development of internal design tools, processes, and standardisation initiatives. Drive innovation in plant layout optimisation and digital delivery.

• Construction Support
  Provide technical input during construction, including support for TQs, RFIs, site visits, and redlining of as-built documentation.

Person Specification

Essential Qualifications and Experience

• Degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related discipline.

• Experience in HV substation primary design, ideally including projects at 132kV to 400kV.

• Strong knowledge of substation equipment and layout design principles, including operational clearances, phase separation, and maintainability.

• Experience producing and reviewing general arrangement drawings, equipment layout plans, and plant positioning documentation.

• Familiarity with design and assurance requirements from clients such as National Grid, SPEN, or SSEN.

• Understanding of applicable UK and international standards (e.g. IEC 61936, NG TS 2.10, ENA TS 41-series).

• Proficiency in AutoCAD and familiarity with design tools such as Revit, BIM 360, or 3D plant layout software.

• Knowledge of CDM regulations and experience incorporating Safety by Design into layouts and access arrangements.

Desirable Attributes

• Chartered Engineer status (e.g. CEng MIET) or working towards professional registration.

• Experience contributing to multi-disciplinary project bids and tender design stages.

• Experience with Digital Twin concepts or integrated digital plant design.

• Understanding of temporary works and constructability considerations for primary plant.