Senior Front-End Design Engineer - Remote Solar & BESS

Qcells EPC; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Hanwha Qcells USA Corp, based in Houston, TX, is seeking a Senior Project Design Engineer to lead FEED activities for utility-scale solar PV and BESS projects. The role supports conceptual and preliminary design, providing the engineering basis for EPC proposals, estimating, procurement, and preconstruction.

The Senior Project Design Engineer will report to the Manager of FEED Engineering and can work remotely with regular coordination from the Houston office.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Renewable Energy Engineering, Energy Engineering, or another related engineering discipline.
• Minimum of five years of professional engineering experience in the solar industry, with demonstrated experience in utility-scale PV project design.
• Experience performing conceptual, preliminary, or front-end engineering design for utility-scale PV projects.
• Strong understanding of PV system sizing, DC/AC ratios, string sizing, inverter loading, and module, inverter, and tracker selection.

Responsibilities

• Lead front-end engineering activities for utility-scale solar PV and BESS projects from project intake through conceptual and preliminary design and engineering handoff.
• Review project data rooms, customer requirements, site information, surveys, technical studies, interconnection requirements, and available project documentation to identify design constraints, assumptions, risks, and missing information.
• Design conceptual and preliminary site layouts, block designs, equipment arrangements, access concepts, setbacks, and overall plant configurations.
• Evaluate and select major equipment including PV modules, inverters, trackers, transformers, and applicable balance-of-system components.
• Perform system sizing and engineering analyses including DC/AC sizing, string sizing, inverter loading, equipment quantities, and other project-specific calculations.
• Evaluate design alternatives to optimize site utilization, energy production, constructability, equipment selection, project cost, and overall EPC value.
• Review energy-generation modeling and comparative design studies using PVSyst and other applicable engineering tools.
• Prepare conceptual and preliminary engineering deliverables, including 10% design packages, Basis of Design inputs, design criteria, technical assumptions, exclusions, equipment quantities, and supporting documentation.
• Provide engineering inputs and technical support to Estimating, Procurement, Sales, Project Engineering, Preconstruction, and other stakeholders during EPC proposal activities.
• Coordinate front-end design activities with Civil, Electrical, Structural, Performance, BESS, SCADA, Substation, Transmission, CAD Designers, and applicable Subject Matter Experts.
• Participate in project kickoff meetings, design reviews, constructability reviews, and technical discussions with internal teams, customers, and vendors as required.
• Clearly communicate design decisions, technical risks, assumptions, constraints, and engineering recommendations to project stakeholders and engineering leadership.
• Support an effective transition from FEED to detailed engineering by maintaining complete and clearly documented design records and handoff information.
• Manage multiple projects and competing priorities while meeting accelerated EPC estimating, proposal, and engineering schedules.
• Standardize and continuously improve FEED engineering processes, design standards, templates, tools, and quality-control practices.
• Provide technical guidance and training to engineers, designers, and new team members.
• Perform other duties and special projects, as assigned.
• Regular attendance, in accordance with the Company's attendance policy and supervisory assignment, is an essential job duty requirement for this position.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Project management

Communication skills

Team collaboration

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Renewable Energy Engineering, Energy Engineering, or related field

Tools

AutoCAD

PVcase

PVSyst

Job description

Hanwha Qcells USA Corp, based in Houston, TX, is seeking a Senior Project Design Engineer to lead FEED activities for utility-scale solar PV and BESS projects. The role supports conceptual and preliminary design, providing the engineering basis for EPC proposals, estimating, procurement, and preconstruction.

The Senior Project Design Engineer will report to the Manager of FEED Engineering and can work remotely with regular coordination from the Houston office.