Director, Substation - Power Delivery

Socket.dev; West Henrietta (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Westwood Professional Services, Inc. seeks a Director of Substations to lead execution performance and operational discipline across the Substation business unit. You will drive portfolio delivery, utilization, backlog conversion, and forecast accuracy with a focus on profitability and risk management.

You will standardize processes across offices, oversee design disciplines, and champion digital design tools and automation within substation workflows. Travel to client sites will be required.

Qualifications

• Experience leading cross-functional teams across multiple offices.
• Proven track record delivering utility substation projects on time and within budget.
• Strong understanding of electrical distribution standards and regional utility requirements.
• Experience implementing project controls, risk management, and change control processes.
• Ability to develop and manage staffing plans to match workload and backlog.
• Demonstrated ability to scale teams while maintaining technical quality.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operational oversight of the Substation project portfolio.
• Ensure projects are delivered on schedule, within budget, and at or above target margins.
• Standardize execution processes and project controls across offices.
• Monitor schedule performance, cost tracking, and scope adherence.
• Implement corrective action plans for underperforming projects.
• Reduce rework and improve overall delivery predictability.
• Ensure alignment between staffing plans and active project workload.
• Drive operational performance KPIs and margin management.
• Oversee delivery risk management and change control across all active projects.
• Lead recovery strategies for distressed projects and manage client expectations.

Skills

Operations management

Project delivery

Budgeting & forecasting

Risk management

Client management

Staffing planning

Multi-office coordination

Quality management

Education

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering

Professional Engineer (PE) license

Job description

Description

The Director, Substations is responsible for the execution performance and operational discipline of the Substation business unit. This role is accountable for portfolio delivery, utilization rates, backlog conversion, and forecast accuracy.

The Director ensures consistent execution standards across offices and teams, drives operational efficiency, and protects profitability through disciplined project oversight and risk management.

Requirements

Operational Execution & Delivery Management

• Lead day-to-day operational oversight of the Substation project portfolio.
• Ensure projects are delivered on schedule, within budget, and at or above target margins.
• Standardize execution processes and project controls across offices.
• Monitor schedule performance, cost tracking, and scope adherence.
• Implement corrective action plans for underperforming projects.
• Reduce rework and improve overall delivery predictability.
• Ensure alignment between staffing plans and active project workload.

Technical Excellence & Quality

• Ensure compliance with client standards, NESC, IEEE, NEC, and regional utility requirements.
• Oversee design disciplines including physical, protection & control, relay settings, and studies.
• Champion innovation, digital design tools, and automation within substation workflows.
• Maintain the Substation Quality Management framework aligned with the Divisional QMS.
• Review and mitigate technical risks on large or complex projects.

Financial Performance & Margin Management

• Drive operational performance KPIs, including Direct Labor Multiplier, gross margin, utilization, and overall profitability for the Substation portfolio.
• Monitor write-offs, write-ups, and margin trends.
• Ensure accurate revenue forecasting and backlog reporting.
• Support annual budget planning and quarterly financial reviews.

Portfolio Risk & Commercial Governance

• Oversee delivery risk management across all active projects.
• Enforce change management and scope control procedures.
• Lead recovery strategies for distressed projects.
• Monitor scope creep and ensure appropriate change order execution.
• Proactively manage decisions to avoid unnecessary high-risk project exposure.

Resource Optimization & Team Performance

• Align staffing with backlog and workload demands.
• Balance resources across offices to maximize efficiency.
• Establish clear performance metrics for Engineering Managers.
• Partner with recruiting to ensure operational staffing needs are met.
• Promote accountability and performance discipline within delivery teams.

Process Improvement & Operational Scalability

• Implement continuous improvement initiatives to increase throughput and consistency.
• Drive adoption of standardized workflows and delivery tools.
• Establish operational performance dashboards tracking schedule, cost, and margin.
• Improve operational systems to support sustainable growth without margin erosion.

Client Relationships & Delivery Oversight

• Ensure consistent client experience through disciplined delivery.
• Support pricing reviews to confirm alignment between scope, resources, and margin expectations.
• Build and maintain relationships with utility, EPC, and developer clients.
• Manage high-level issue resolution and client escalations.
• Support proposal strategy, fee development, and interview presentations.
• Represent the firm at industry conferences and leadership forums.
• Identify long-term partnership opportunities and cross-selling initiatives.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license.
• 10+ years of experience in utility substation engineering and project delivery.
• Experience managing multi-office engineering teams.
• Demonstrated experience developing utility client relationships.
• Experience with multi-discipline coordination.
• Demonstrated ability to scale teams while maintaining technical quality.
• Ability to balance strategic growth initiatives with operational discipline.
• Willingness to travel to support clients and team locations.

About Westwood Professional Services, Inc. (Westwood)

At Westwood, our purpose is to create a better world for people through our work. We transform the energy grid, design resilient infrastructure, and develop communities that will flourish today and for future generations. With over 50 years of experience and a legacy of innovation, we stand at the forefront of our industry, dedicated to understanding the unique needs of the markets we serve.

Our approach revolves around people. We are committed to building a culture that attracts, retains, and develops high performers. Our team values relationships, innovation, dedication, initiative, and growth. We believe fostering a collaborative “One Team” mentality yields superior outcomes in everything we do.

We customize our technical capabilities and geographic reach to meet our clients where they are and help them realize their vision. We are partners in our clients’ success, driving to provide solutions that make a lasting difference. Safety, sustainability, and operational excellence are not just facets of our work; they are intrinsic to our identity, guiding every decision we make.

We are deeply invested in the communities we serve. Through our projects and giving-back initiatives, we enrich the lives of those we serve, engage others within our industry, and create a lasting impact on communities around the world. To us, success transcends the completion of projects; it is reflected in the lives we have positively impacted by our work.

Join us in creating a better world.

In 2025, Westwood was recognized as #77 on the ENR Top 500 Design Firms. Additionally, Westwood was ranked #5 for ENR's Top Design Firm for Solar, #6 for Battery Storage, and #3 for Wind (2025). The firm consistently ranks on the industry's top 25 lists and receives recognition for its involvement in award-winning projects nationwide.

Westwood provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. We believe that diverse backgrounds strengthen our business. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.