Principal Engineer

First Recruitment Group; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Car allowance

Bonus

10% matched pension

Job summary

First Recruitment Group seeks a Principal Engineer (HV Substations) in Birmingham to lead multidisciplinary teams across GIS and AIS turnkey projects. You will drive engineering programmes, resource planning, and stakeholder engagement from design through construction, ensuring safety, quality and on-time delivery.

The role requires a degree in Electrical Engineering and extensive HV substation experience within utility environments. Regular site attendance is expected alongside design work.

Qualifications

• Degree qualified in Electrical Engineering or equivalent.
• Significant experience delivering HV substation projects within utility environments.
• Strong knowledge of transmission and distribution networks from 11kV to 400kV.
• Experience working on GIS and AIS substations within an EPC or turnkey project environment.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong leadership and team coordination capabilities.
• Fluent in written and spoken English.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate multidisciplinary engineering and design teams.
• Manage engineering programmes and support delivery against project milestones.
• Work with project leadership to manage engineering budgets and forecasts.
• Coordinate design submissions, design reviews and hazard reviews.
• Support resource planning and engineering delivery forecasts.
• Contribute to project risk and opportunity management activities.
• Manage technical interfaces with subcontractors and suppliers.
• Support commercial and contractual aspects of project delivery.
• Develop and maintain strong customer relationships.
• Drive continuous improvement and innovative engineering solutions.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Communication

Team coordination

Fluent English

Education

Electrical Engineering degree

Tools

GIS

AIS

Job description

Principal Engineer (HV Substations)

Location: Birmingham, UK

Package: Competitive Salary + Car Allowance + Bonus + 10% Matched Pension

A leading organisation delivering major power infrastructure projects across the UK is seeking an experienced Principal Engineer to support the successful delivery of complex HV substation projects.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced engineering professional to take a leading role on major transmission and distribution projects, working within a multidisciplinary environment to deliver turnkey GIS and AIS substations for key utility clients.

The Opportunity

As Principal Engineer, you will provide technical leadership and coordination across all engineering disciplines, ensuring projects are delivered safely, efficiently and to the highest standards of quality.

You will work closely with project, commercial and engineering teams, taking ownership of engineering programmes, resource planning, stakeholder engagement and technical delivery throughout the project lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate multidisciplinary engineering and design teams.
• Manage engineering programmes and support delivery against project milestones.
• Work with project leadership to manage engineering budgets and forecasts.
• Coordinate design submissions, design reviews and hazard reviews.
• Support resource planning and engineering delivery forecasts.
• Contribute to project risk and opportunity management activities.
• Manage technical interfaces with subcontractors and suppliers.
• Support commercial and contractual aspects of project delivery.
• Develop and maintain strong customer relationships.
• Drive continuous improvement and innovative engineering solutions.

About You

• Degree qualified in Electrical Engineering or equivalent.
• Significant experience delivering HV substation projects within utility environments.
• Strong knowledge of transmission and distribution networks from 11kV to 400kV.
• Experience working on GIS and AIS substations within an EPC or turnkey project environment.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong leadership and team coordination capabilities.
• Ability to work effectively in demanding project environments and meet challenging timescales.
• Fluent in written and spoken English.
• Experience working within National Grid frameworks would be advantageous.

Working Arrangements

The role will be predominantly home or office-based during the design phase, with regular site attendance required during construction activities. Candidates should be comfortable spending a significant proportion of their time on site as projects progress.

As part of putting people first, we strive to an equal opportunities employer and we are always looking to increase the diversity of our workforce, working closely with our clients to ensure everyone is included