Substation Project Engineer

HDR, Inc.; Sioux Falls (SD); On-site; USD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

HDR, Inc. in Rapid City, SD is seeking a Substation Project Engineer to join our Power Delivery team. You will perform physical substation, protection, and control engineering for high voltage projects from 12kV to 500kV, across the globe.

Responsibilities include substation layout, grounding, equipment specifications, and coordinating with Civil/Structural, Networks, Transmission teams; mentoring junior staff and helping manage scopes, schedules, and budgets.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering required.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license required.
• 3+ years of project execution in substation design.
• Experience with engineering consulting firms preferred.
• Strong proficiency with MS Office and design software (PLS CAD, AutoCAD, Plant 3D, AutoPipe, Revit).

Responsibilities

• Understand physical substation design including layouts, grounding, and protection schemes.
• Develop and review protection and control designs and wiring for panels and relays.
• Prepare studies and reports (grounding, lighting protection, load studies).
• Prepare equipment specifications for procurement and factory tests.
• Coordinate design activities with Civil/Structural, Networks, and Transmission teams.
• Communicate effectively with managers, clients, and team members.
• Mentor and supervise junior staff and EITs.
• Support scopes, schedules, and budgets; ensure timely delivery.

Skills

PE license

Substation design

Engineering consulting

Independent work

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Master's degree in Engineering

Tools

PLS CAD

AutoCAD

Plant 3D

AutoPipe

Revit

Microsoft Office

Job description

Substation Project Engineer

HDR Engineering is looking for a Substation Project Engineer to join our growing and nationally ranked team of Power Delivery professionals in our Rapid City, South Dakota office.

The primary duties of the Substation Project Engineer include physical substation, protection, and control engineering for High Voltage Electric Utility projects, 12kV through 500kV. Projects range in size, complexity, and voltage class from small distribution equipment upgrades to large transmission substation projects across the globe.

Responsibilities

• Understand physical substation design including yard layouts, plans, sections and details, grounding, lightning protection, control building arrangements, interior and exterior raceways, auxiliary AC/DC power systems, and associated bills of material.
• Understand protection and control design including panel arrangements, one line/single lines, three lines, AC/DC schematics, equipment wiring and relay panel wiring.
• Prepare calculations for studies and reports (grounding, lighting protection, AC/DC load studies, etc.).
• Prepare equipment specifications for procurement and/or factory acceptance testing.
• Coordinate design activities with other departments (Civil/Structural, Networks, Transmission Line, etc.).
• Effectively communicate and coordinate project activities with manager, clients, and others as needed.
• Ability to work independently.
• Direct, mentor, train, and/or supervise efforts of less-experienced EIT's and/or Designers.
• Support preparing scopes, schedules, and budgets, and ensure that schedules and budgets are met.
• Perform other duties as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters degree in Engineering
• Minimum of 3 years experience in project execution within substation design
• Previous experience with an engineering consulting firm

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering
• Professional Engineer (PE) licensePrevious experience in project execution within the Power Market Sector.
• Computer skills in Microsoft Office as well as standard Power Market Sector design software. (examples include PLS CAD, AutoCAD, Plant 3D, AutoPipe, and Revit)
• Attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture

Location

United States - South Dakota - Sioux Falls

Other Locations

United States - North Dakota - Bismarck, United States - North Dakota - Fargo, United States - South Dakota - Rapid City

Industry

Power

Schedule

Full-time

Employee Status

Regular

Job Posting Date

Apr 27, 2026