Lead Electrical Commissioning Engineer

Overwatch Mission Critical; Texas; On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Paid time off

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Overwatch Mission Critical seeks a Lead Electrical Commissioning Engineer to direct the electrical validation and power reliability program for large-scale data center construction projects. You will oversee FAT through IST, ensuring 100% uptime during grid disruptions and maintenance, while guiding a team of engineers and technicians in a fast-paced environment.

The role requires deep experience with medium/low voltage distribution, emergency power, UPS, ESS, ATS/STS systems, and protection

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Systems Engineering, Construction Management, or equivalent.
• Minimum 3+ years of direct electrical commissioning, engineering, or mission-critical facilities construction experience.
• Minimum 2+ years of dedicated data center project experience, with demonstrated experience leading L1–L5 programs on hyperscale, colocation, or enterprise builds.
• Strong ability to read and interpret complex electrical drawings and diagrams.

Responsibilities

• Direct the electrical commissioning sequence from FAT/L1 to IST/L5 and turnover to Operations.
• Oversee Level 2 documentation verification, installation-readiness checks, and Level 3 startup validation.
• Lead Level 4 functional performance testing including breaker coordination and insulation resistance.
• Coordinate and command L5 pull-the-plug heat-load and electrical fault testing to validate system redundancy and maintainability.
• Own defect tracking and ensure remediation without impacting master schedule.

Skills

Electrical commissioning

Power systems

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering / related field

Job description

About Overwatch Mission Critical

Overwatch is a service-disabled Veteran-owned small business (SDVOB) certified through the National Veterans Business Development Council (NVBDC), offering construction professional services, talent acquisition, and general contractor support for the mission-critical infrastructure industry. Our mission is the construction and management of state-of-the-art data centers with the precision and reliability this industry demands. From high-end engineers to seasoned professionals, we deploy the people you need to get your data center off the ground. At Overwatch, it's more than a job. Its purpose.

Position Overview

The Lead Electrical Commissioning Engineer is a critical leadership role responsible for directing the electrical validation and power reliability program for large-scale, mission-critical data center construction projects. Acting as the ultimate technical authority for the power infrastructure, this role manages the end-to-end commissioning process across Levels 1 through 5 (L1–L5).

The successful candidate will provide technical oversight to Electrical Cx Engineers, field technicians, and electrical contractors. They bridge the gap between complex electrical designs and real-world field conditions, ensuring that medium-voltage power distribution, backup systems, and emergency topologies deliver non-negotiable 100% uptime during grid disruptions and concurrent maintenance scenarios.

Key Responsibilities

Phase Leadership & Execution (L1–L5)

• Full Lifecycle Management: Direct the electrical commissioning sequence from factory acceptance testing (FAT/L1) to final Integrated Systems Testing (IST/L5) and ultimate turnover to Operations.
• L2–L3 Inspection: Oversee Level 2 documentation verification, on-site installation and construction-readiness checks and Level 3 equipment startup and vendor startup validation.
• L4 Functional Testing: Lead Level 4 functional performance testing, executing strict component-level testing including breaker coordination, insulation resistance, and component failovers.
• L5 Integrated Systems Testing (IST): Design, coordinate, and command the execution of L5 pull-the-plug heat-load and electrical fault testing using load banks to validate system redundancy, concurrent maintainability, transient behaviors, and automated throwover schemes (ATS).

Technical Quality & Electrical Safety

• Document Review: Critique complex electrical design packages, single-line diagrams (SLDs), protection settings, breaker coordination studies, arc flash evaluations, and engineering submittals for risk and commissionability.
• Scripts & Procedures: Author and approve site-specific, rigorous test scripts, Method Statements (MOPs), Energization Plans, and pre-functional checklists.
• Complex Troubleshooting: Root-cause analyze complex electrical faults, protection trip events, harmonic distortion issues, and transient power abnormalities discovered during high-stress testing environments.
• Deficiency Tracking: Own the electrical project issue log, ensuring electrical discrepancies and safety gaps are categorized by risk, tracked, and remediated by appropriate vendors without impacting the master schedule.

Team Management & Stakeholder Alignment

• Field Direction: Manage and prioritize work assignments for a team of internal field electrical commissioning engineers and third-party NETA technicians.
• Interface Point: Serve as the unified electrical voice and primary point of contact connecting the client, general contractors, electrical sub-contractors, equipment vendors, and utility representatives.
• Meeting Leadership: Represent the electrical commissioning discipline in high-voltage energization coordination, master schedule reviews, construction coordination meetings, and client-facing performance updates.

Technical Domain Expertise

The Lead Engineer must possess deep hands-on expertise validating the installation, protection tuning, and failure modes of the following critical systems:

• Medium & Low Voltage Distribution: Substations, transformers, medium-voltage switchgear, switchboards, and busway systems.
• Emergency Power Generation: Multi-megawatt diesel generator systems, fuel delivery control panels, master control panels (GCP), and load shedding schemes.
• Power Continuity Systems: Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems (both static and rotary flywheels), central battery systems, and Energy Storage Systems (ESS).
• Switching & Controls: Automatic Transfer Switches (ATS), Static Transfer Switches (STS), Power Management Systems (EPMS), and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems.
• Protection & Grounding: Protective relay programming, ground fault protection systems, lightning protection, and overall facility grounding grids.

Job Qualifications

Required

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Systems Engineering, Construction Management, or equivalent technical field experience.
• Experience: Minimum 3+ years of direct electrical commissioning, engineering, or mission-critical facilities construction experience.
• Data Center Focus: Minimum 2+ years of dedicated data center project experience, with demonstrated experience leading L1–L5 programs on hyperscale, colocation, or enterprise builds.
• Drawings/Diagrams: Advanced capacity to read and interpret complex single-line diagrams (SLDs), three-line diagrams, schematic diagrams, control wiring diagrams, and time-current coordination curves.

Physical & Travel Requirements

• This position is heavily tied to deployment sites. It may require traveling 50% to 65% of the time.
• Ability to navigate construction sites, climb ladders, and lift up to 30 lbs.

Benefits

• competitive salary
• health insurance
• dental insurance
• vision insurance
• life insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan
• paid time off
• relocation assistance available

OVERWATCH is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. OVERWATCH considers candidates regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.