About The Role
Colm Engineering is seeking an experienced MV/HV & Substation Engineering Program & Team Leader to lead and scale our portfolio of medium-voltage (MV), high-voltage (HV), substation, protection & control, and grid-interconnection projects across commercial, industrial (C&I), and utility-scale markets. Energy Storage (BESS) and renewable integration projects form an important subset of this work, and the successful candidate will be able to perform and oversee end-to-end engineering for substations, MV/HV infrastructure, grid connections, and DER integration. This senior role oversees the full lifecycle of engineering delivery, program strategy, financial performance, team leadership, client development, and technical governance for MV/HV & substation systems - with BESS included as an extension of these core competencies.
Requirements
Key Responsibilities
- Technical Oversight, Engineering Delivery & Full Design Package Ownership (70%)
- Perform and lead all engineering work required for MV/HV and substation projects, grid interconnections, protection & control systems, utility infrastructure, and DER/BESS integration.
- Produce and own complete engineering design packages from conceptual through IFC on behalf of EPCs, Owner’s Engineers, utilities, and end clients.
- Develop and deliver comprehensive design packages, including:
- Substation one-line, three-line, and wiring diagrams (MV/HV)
- Protection and control schemes, relay settings, logic diagrams, interlocking, and coordination studies
- MV/HV equipment specifications, grounding systems, bus layouts, cable routing, and conduit design
- SCADA/RTU integration, telecom/communications (IEC-61850, Modbus, DNP3), and sequence-of-operations
- DER/BESS integration, PCS/EMS/BMS interfaces, generation tie-ins, and interconnection compliance
- Perform and/or validate all technical studies including:
- Load flow, short-circuit, motor starting, fault-level, arc-flash, and transient stability
- Protection coordination across MV/HV networks
- BESS capacity modeling (as required), degradation/cycling studies, and DER optimization
- Ensure compliance with Canadian and/or U.S. engineering standards, including: OESC, CEC, NEC, IEEE, UL, NFPA, NESC, and utility-specific requirements.
- Provide engineering authority over all MV/HV, substation, protection, and DER/BESS deliverables.
- Support commissioning planning, energization, field troubleshooting, protection cutovers, and system validation.
- Oversee quality assurance, design reviews, and technical sign-off for all engineering outputs.
- Program Leadership, Strategy, P&L Ownership & Financial Management (20%)
- Develop and execute the strategic roadmap for Colm’s MV/HV, substation, and grid-integration program, with BESS as a supporting vertical.
- Own the program P&L, including forecasting, revenue planning, backlog management, profitability, and margin optimization.
- Lead bid/no-bid decisions, pricing strategies, and project pursuit evaluations based on ROI and technical risk.
- Establish standardized engineering processes, templates, QA/QC frameworks, and delivery workflows to improve efficiency and scalability.
- Provide technical leadership in proposals, client presentations, scopes of work, and RFP responses.
- Collaborate with executive leadership (Finance, Operations, Partnerships) to ensure financial and operational performance aligns with corporate growth objectives.
- Identify strategic vendor and OEM partnerships for substation equipment, protection hardware, and DER/BESS systems across Canada and the U.S.
- Team Leadership, Operations & Stakeholder Management (10%)
- Lead and mentor engineering staff, designers, technologists, and commissioning personnel.
- Oversee workload planning, resourcing, performance management, and professional development.
- Serve as the lead technical representative with EPCs, Owner’s Engineers, utilities, regulators, and major clients.
- Build professional relationships to support repeat business and program expansion across North American markets.
Qualifications
- Education & Licensure
- Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering required.
- P.Eng (Canada) and/or U.S. Professional Engineer (PE) license preferred.
- Advanced training in power systems, power systems, protection & control, HV/MV design, DER, or renewable energy is an asset.
- Experience
- 7+ years in MV/HV, substation, protection & control, or grid-interconnection engineering.
- Strong experience producing and owning full engineering design packages (concept → IFC) for EPCs, utilities, and Owner’s Engineers.
- U.S. project experience (NESC, NEC, utility interconnection, IEEE) preferred.
- Experience integrating DER/BESS into MV/HV systems is an asset.
- Demonstrated financial awareness, including budgeting, cost tracking, or program-level P&L involvement.
- Experience working with utilities, EPC firms, IPPs, ISOs/RTOs, or consulting engineering organizations.
- Technical Skills
- Deep proficiency in MV/HV power systems, substation engineering, protection & control, SCADA/communications (IEC-61850, Modbus, DNP3), and grid interconnection.
- Strong capabilities in engineering tools such as AutoCAD, ETAP (or equivalent), and standard office software.
- Thorough knowledge of Canadian and U.S. standards: OESC, CEC, NEC, IEEE, UL, NFPA, and utility interconnection requirements.
- Leadership & Soft Skills
- Ability to lead engineering execution while balancing scope, schedule, and cost.
- Strong communication and client-facing skills with the ability to represent technical decisions clearly.
- Proven ability to mentor staff, collaborate across teams, and support business development.
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