Substation Design Supervisor - Hybrid - Denver, CO

Root Edge; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 120,000 - 143,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Life insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off

Job summary

Root Edge in Denver seeks a Substation Design Supervisor to lead a team of drafters and designers, oversee project drawings for substations and microgrids, and ensure on-time, accurate deliverables from concept through field verification.

This hands-on leadership role requires coordinating with engineering staff, interfacing with clients, and evolving design standards. The position supports growth into new tools and operates under a federal contractor framework with security clearances.

Qualifications

• Associate degree or equivalent in drafting, engineering technology, or related field.
• 10+ years of relevant experience, including 5+ years designing electrical systems (substations and/or microgrids)
• Solid grounding in electrical circuit and power flow fundamentals
• Comfortable laying out equipment and routing conduit, cable tray, duct banks, and grounding grids
• Proficient with AutoCAD and/or MicroStation, Bluebeam, and MS Office
• Prior experience as a Team Lead or Design Supervisor strongly preferred
• Demonstrated leadership and team management skills, with a genuine interest in mentoring others
• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team of drafters and designers, assigning projects and ensuring on-time, high-quality delivery.
• Develop and quality-check design work including plans, elevations, sections, and bills of material for substation and facility systems.
• Prepare and oversee electrical power system drawings—single-line, three-line diagrams, schematics, and wiring diagrams.
• Perform complete design checks, verify codes/standards, and incorporate project comments into final documents.
• Collaborate with engineering staff, attend coordination meetings, and provide design input.
• Conduct field verification of existing facilities and support customer-facing technical discussions.
• Exercise independent judgment to develop designs with minimal direction across multiple projects.
• Own and evolve design/drafting standards with the team.

Skills

Leadership

Team management

AutoCAD

MicroStation

Bluebeam

MS Office

Field verification

Autodesk Inventor

ArcGIS

Education

Associate degree or equivalent

Tools

Bentley Substation

Substation Design Suite

Arc-GIS

PLS-CADD

Pole Foreman

Autodesk Inventor

Job description

The Opportunity

A growing engineering firm serving the electric utility sector is hiring a Substation Design Supervisor for its Denver-based team. The firm's design and drafting work is grounded in real operational experience - its affiliated field organization actively maintains a sizable base of substations and microgrid assets under multi-year utility contracts, which keeps this group busy with steady, ongoing project work rather than one-off engagements.

This is a hands-on leadership role: you'll oversee a team of drafters and designers, assign and quality-check their work, and stay directly involved in developing and coordinating the drawings that go into substation and microgrid projects (500 kW to 10 MW). There are no silos here - you'll work closely with engineering staff, interface with clients, and see your team's designs through from concept to field verification.

Note: this role sits with a federal contractor. Candidates must be U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents (Green Card holders) and able to obtain Military Base Security Access Clearance.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team of drafters and designers, assigning projects, monitoring workload, and ensuring high-quality, on-time delivery.
• Develop and quality-check design work, including plans, elevations, sections, and bills of material for substation and facility systems (above and below ground).
• Prepare and oversee electrical power system drawings - single-line diagrams, three-line diagrams, schematics, and wiring diagrams - to recognized drafting standards and company practices.
• Perform complete design checks, verifying applicable codes, standards, and technical accuracy, and ensuring project comments and markups are incorporated into final documents.
• Collaborate directly with engineering staff, attending coordination meetings and providing design input and review.
• Conduct field verification of existing facilities and support customer-facing technical discussions as designs are integrated.
• Exercise independent judgment, developing designs with minimal direction while concurrently supporting multiple projects.
• Own and evolve the design/drafting standards, working with the team to keep them current.

Why This Role Stands Apart

This firm operates one of the more distinctive platforms in the industry: an engineering consultancy that also holds direct operational ownership of the systems it designs. For a design leader, that shows up in a few concrete ways:

• Real ownership of a team and a standard. You're not just checking drawings - you're building the team and the design standards that shape how projects get delivered.
• Your work doesn't stop at the drawing set. You stay connected to projects through field verification and coordination, seeing how your team's designs perform in practice.A genuinely stable pipeline. Long-term utility privatization contracts mean the project backlog isn't dependent on any single client relationship or market cycle.
• Room to grow into new tools. Exposure to platforms like Bentley Substation, Autodesk Inventor, Substation Design Suite, Arc-GIS, PLS-CADD, and Pole Foreman, with training provided.
• A culture built around retention, not churn. Hybrid schedule, real work-life balance, and a track record recognized externally as a top employer.

Candidate Profile

• Associate degree (or equivalent) in drafting, engineering technology, or a related field preferred
• 10+ years of relevant experience, including 5+ years designing electrical systems (substations and/or microgrids)
• Solid grounding in electrical circuit and power flow fundamentals
• Comfortable laying out equipment and routing conduit, cable tray, duct banks, and grounding grids
• Proficient with AutoCAD and/or MicroStation, Bluebeam, and MS Office
• Prior experience as a Team Lead or Design Supervisor strongly preferred
• Demonstrated leadership and team management skills, with a genuine interest in mentoring others
• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills

Supervisory Responsibility

• Oversees and manages a small team of drafters and designers

Additional Requirements

• U.S. citizenship or Permanent Residency (Green Card) required (federal contractor)
• Must be able to obtain Military Base Security Access Clearance
• Valid driver's license required, meeting company fleet policy standards
• Travel to project sites as needed

Compensation & Benefits

Base salary of $120,000-$143,000, based on experience, plus eligibility for a Short-Term Incentive Plan.

• Full benefits package includes medical, dental, and life insurance, 401(k) with company contribution, and paid time off and holidays.