Senior Electrical Engineer - Critical Facilities

Ikg Talent; City of Melbourne; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

IKG Talent seeks a Senior Electrical Engineer for Melbourne, VIC to own critical electrical systems in a live data centre environment. You will lead field engineering during outages, coordinate protection schemes, and govern switching procedures to ensure reliability and safety.

The role requires hands-on expertise with HV switching, fault-finding, and experience in data centre operations, commissioning, and energisation. On-site permanent position with multi-regional collaboration.

Qualifications

• Trade, diploma, or degree qualification in Electrical Engineering or equivalent
• Extensive experience with mission-critical electrical systems (data centres, utilities, hospitals, industrial facilities, or similar)
• Strong hands-on switching and fault-finding capability
• Experience with protection coordination and discrimination studies
• Proven experience authoring and reviewing switching procedures
• Strong understanding of redundancy philosophies (N, N+1, 2N, etc.)
• Authorised HV switching experience
• Experience in live data centre operations
• Commissioning and energisation exposure
• Familiarity with relay configuration and event analysis software
• Experience contributing to or leading RCAs

Responsibilities

• Own electrical system ownership for critical facilities, covering HV and LV distribution, transformers, switchboards, generators, UPS, and battery infrastructure
• Provide hands-on field engineering support during major electrical events, outages, protection trips, and commissioning activities
• Lead on-site fault isolation, protection reviews, and recovery strategy, including energisation
• Govern switching procedures, EOPs, MOPs, SOPs, isolation and energisation docs, and risk mitigations
• Drive continuous improvement of procedural quality based on incidents and field feedback

Skills

Hands-on switching

Fault-finding capability

Protection coordination

Discrimination studies

Authorised HV switching

Live data centre operations

RCAs investigations

Commissioning and energisation

Education

Electrical Engineering qualification (trade/diploma/degree)

Job description

A hands-on subject matter expert responsible for the reliability, safety, and performance of mission-critical electrical infrastructure within a live data centre environment.

This role operates at the intersection of operations, engineering, and risk — providing deep technical leadership on electrical systems while remaining actively engaged in the field. The position is accountable for engineering ownership, fault investigation, procedural governance, and uplift of operational capability across site teams.

Key Responsibilities

Electrical System Ownership

Act as technical owner for critical electrical systems including HV and LV distribution systems, transformers and switchboards, generators and fuel systems, and UPS and battery infrastructure. Maintain deep system knowledge including design intent, protection philosophies, discrimination studies, and recovery strategies. Ensure systems operate within defined engineering, protection coordination, and reliability thresholds.

Provide hands-on field engineering support during major electrical events and outages, protection trips, complex fault scenarios, and commissioning, recommissioning, and post-incident recovery. Lead on-site fault isolation, protection review, and restoration strategy. Support live operations during elevated risk activities such as switching, load transfers, and energisation.

Engineering Governance & Procedures

Peer-review and approve electrical switching procedures, EOPs, MOPs, SOPs, isolation and energisation documentation, and temporary operating procedures and risk mitigations. Ensure switching documents align with protection settings, arc flash studies, and discrimination design. Own continuous improvement of procedural quality based on operational feedback and incidents.

Must-Have Qualifications

• Trade, diploma, or degree qualification in Electrical Engineering or equivalent
• Extensive experience with mission-critical electrical systems (data centres, utilities, hospitals, industrial facilities, or similar)
• Strong hands‑on switching and fault‑finding capability
• Experience with protection coordination and discrimination studies
• Proven experience authoring and reviewing switching procedures
• Strong understanding of redundancy philosophies (N, N+1, 2N, etc.)

• Authorised HV switching experience
• Experience in live data centre operations
• Commissioning and energisation exposure
• Familiarity with relay configuration and event analysis software
• Experience contributing to or leading RCAs

You’ll Thrive in This Role If You:

• Stay composed under pressure and manage competing priorities without losing focus
• Are culturally aware and enjoy working across diverse, multi-regional teams
• Have a meticulous eye for detail — nothing falls through the cracks on your watch
• Are collaborative by nature and can shift between leading and contributing as the situation demands
• Think ahead, anticipate problems before they occur, and approach challenges from multiple angles

The Organisation

Our client is a globally active digital infrastructure operator with a significant and growing presence across the APAC region, including active projects in Australia. They design, build, own, and operate large-scale data centre facilities serving hyperscale and enterprise clients. This is a permanent, on-site role embedded within a live operational environment.

Senior Electrical Engineer - Critical Facilities Melbourne, VIC, AU