Substation Primary Principal Designer

About the role

Arcadis is seeking an experienced Substation Primary Principal Designer to lead technical project teams on national energy sector projects. You will provide expertise, mentor junior engineers, and ensure high‑quality outcomes for complex transmission and distribution substation designs.

Key responsibilities

• Prepare and deliver designs, reports and presentations for concept, FEED, detailed design and owner’s engineer services across GIS, AIS and hybrid switchyard configurations.
• Lead substation extensions, refurbishments, replacements and life‑extension projects, including equipment selection, layout optimisation and safety assessments.
• Integrate renewable energy, battery storage and large customer connections, and conduct earthing, lightning protection and cable system studies.
• Support construction, resolve technical queries and manage specialised project components.
• Mentor junior team members and liaise with project managers and clients on progress and decisions.

Required profile

• 12‑15 years of substation engineering experience, with at least 5 years as a recognised technical authority for HV/EHV primary, earthing and bonding design.
• Tertiary qualification in electrical/power engineering; chartered status and RPEQ preferred.
• Strong communication skills and proficiency with MS Office.

Required skills

• HV/EHV substation primary design, protection system design and power system studies.
• Earthing system modelling using CDEGS.
• Power system modelling in ETAP or equivalent.
• Transient studies with ATP/PSCAD/EMTP.
• EMC management planning.
• Thermal modelling and ampacity assessment tools such as CYMCAP and ELTEK.