Substation Design Engineer (Pomona, CA)

Location: Pomona, CA (hybrid, onsite Wednesday and Thursday)

Schedule: Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm

Duration: 18-month W2 contract

Pay Rate: $33.50 to $37.50 per hour

Position Summary

Our client is a Southern California electric utility operating substation infrastructure from 4kV through 500kV, subject to North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) compliance requirements. This role sits within the Substation Projects group and carries substation projects from pre-engineering through design delivery. Day to day, that means leading job walks with Construction, Operations, Maintenance, Telecomm and Field Engineering to build the scope of work, writing and issuing design specification documents, developing and updating AutoCAD drawings, and placing orders for long-lead major equipment against material want dates. The role also provides technical direction to the in-house design team and manages the Prime engineering contractor on design quality, milestone dates and cost, including reviewing design cost proposals and approving purchase orders through Ariba. Alongside planned project work, the engineer supports field personnel on emergent issues, service reliability and NERC reporting, and contributes to mentoring newer engineers in the group. The ideal background blends substation engineering and design with project management experience and a strong technical engineering foundation.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

• Develops preliminary scope of work, schedules and conducts pre-engineering job walk meetings with stakeholders (Construction, Maintenance, Operations, IT, Telecomm, Field Engineering, Test, etc.)
• Creates, approves and publishes pre-engineering job walk meeting minutes and design specification documents
• Visits substations and participates in field job walks, typically once or twice per month, with frequency varying according to project workload and field support needs
• Orders major equipment in a timely manner to meet material want dates
• Manages various in-house design projects by providing technical engineering and design support to the design team, as well as providing training and direction
• Manages the Prime engineering contractor, working with the contractor to ensure consistency and high quality of design, delivery milestone dates, and cost
• Reviews, evaluates and approves engineering contractor design cost proposals on direct award and/or competitive bidding projects
• Participates in the mentoring and training of new engineers as required to help develop the technical expertise of the Substation Projects group
• Reviews and approves Purchase Order Requests, change orders and service sheets through the Ariba system
• Provides technical support to field personnel and other internal/external stakeholders and project related team members as required
• Provides engineering support for ongoing operational needs to support service reliability and meet other related compliance requirements, such as emergent projects and/or stakeholder requests and emergencies, as well as NERC compliance and reporting
• Creates and maintains a safety conscious work environment by leading and influencing others to follow the client's safety protocols and safe work practices

Education/Experience

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, or a Bachelor's degree in a scientific, technical or math field. A BSc in Electrical Engineering with a Power Engineering focus is preferred given the technical nature of the work
• Two (2) or more years of experience in substation engineering and design. Candidates with five (5) or more years of applicable engineering experience are encouraged to apply, and additional experience is viewed positively. This is not an entry-level position
• Project management experience alongside a strong technical engineering background
• Substation engineering and design experience is strongly preferred. Candidates without direct substation exposure will also be considered where they bring strong electrical design experience and can be trained on substation design work, including those from oil and gas, facilities, industrial electrical design and other electrical engineering environments
• Professional Engineer (P.E.) licence in the State of California is preferred but not required
• Candidates must be local to the region they support. Out-of-state candidates will only be considered where relocation is already complete and aligns with onboarding timelines

Knowledge/Skills

• AutoCAD design experience developing and updating AutoCAD drawings
• Electrical design fundamentals including conduit design, grounding design, one-line diagrams, schematic diagrams and general power engineering concepts
• General knowledge and experience with guides, standards, codes, and methods to perform complex assignments
• Working knowledge of AutoCAD, Bluebeam, Design Manager, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Highly organised, with excellent verbal and written communication skills, experience conducting field meetings discussing scope of work, and excellent note taking skills
• Experience with 3D design and modelling tools is a plus but not required, as training can be provided
• General knowledge and experience with regulations, guides, standards, codes, methods, and practices necessary to perform complex assignments for a specific discipline, various installations, or services (desired)
• Power utility substation experience, 4kV through 500kV (desired)

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