Design Lead - Primary Electrical

Role overview

The Design Lead for Primary Electrical will take ownership of primary engineering work for air insulated substations (AIS) and gas insulated substations (GIS) across multiple regions. This role requires strong expertise in substation layout engineering, along with the ability to guide BIM 3D model development for substations and coordinate smoothly with Electrical, Civil/Structural, MEP, and other functions through inter-disciplinary reviews.

The position spans the complete engineering lifecycle, starting from pre-bid support through commissioning and warranty assistance, while also providing technical help to the site team. The successful candidate will lead a group of Design Engineers and Draughtspersons, ensuring engineering output stays within budget, is delivered on schedule, and meets high quality standards.

Key responsibilities

• Ensure engineering drawings and documents are completed and released on time.
• Align all deliverables with the agreed project schedule.
• Obtain spatial inputs, cut-out requirements, and opening details from the Secondary Design Lead and reflect them accurately in the relevant drawings.
• Examine primary drawings prepared by Design Engineers and Draughtspersons, including checks on design calculations and equipment sizing, and secure client approvals.
• Assess vendor submissions related to primary engineering.
• Handle multiple priorities at once and deliver several outputs within the required timelines.
• Estimate engineering effort and prepare man-hour plans.
• Review BOQ documentation, share it with the contracts team, and provide technical clarifications where needed.
• Coordinate with different disciplines to complete inter-departmental checks.
• Support the site execution team with technical explanations and clarifications.
• Review vendor offers before award against the client's technical specifications and pass the validation document to Supply Chain Management.
• Inspect equipment supplied by the selected vendor after the validation documentation is submitted.
• Resolve design-related issues and explain client requirements to the site execution team.
• Collect project inputs such as plot details and feeder arrangements from the client and Project Engineering Manager.
• Work with the Operations team and share design specifications needed for approvals.
• Gather project information such as General Arrangement Drawings from vendors.
• Verify deliverables including equipment layouts, cable routing layouts, cable tray layouts, earthing layouts, lighting layouts, and lightning protection layouts.
• Assist the secondary engineering team in reviewing vendor drawings.
• Submit man-hour requirements for preparing and reviewing project design and drawings.

Additional information

This role requires someone who can manage primary engineering activities end-to-end, support BIM-related coordination, and contribute effectively across design, vendor review, execution support, and commissioning phases. The person is expected to lead teams, manage deadlines, and maintain engineering quality throughout the project cycle.