Substation Front-End Engineering & Design; FEED Lead

Position: Substation Front-End Engineering & Design (FEED) Lead

Substation Front-End Engineering & Design (FEED) Lead

HDR is seeking a national Substation FEED Lead within our Power Delivery Practice to be part of our national Alternative Delivery Leadership Team.

The role involves all technical risk aspects of our power delivery AD program, including medium voltage through 500kV, and focuses on mitigating engineering and design risks associated with AD projects.

Primary Responsibilities

• Develop, lead, and oversee technical aspects of substation AD proposals, including risk analysis and mitigation, preliminary layout and design, contractor bill‑of‑materials take‑off support, and HDR scope, schedule and budget development.
• Review AD project intelligence, opportunities and RFPs to evaluate technical and commercial risks and estimate investments prior to the Go/No‑Go discussion.
• Interface with construction contractors and HDR subconsultants during pursuit and project execution to identify and mitigate risks.
• Assist in Go/No‑Go discussions, project risk assessments, SOQs, proposals, interviews, and negotiations.
• Perform technical resource planning, workload forecasting, and staff assignment for AD projects.
• Serve in project technical leadership roles (engineering manager, discipline lead, technical advisor, etc.) and determine appropriate handoff points.
• Identify and implement measures to mitigate technical risks (e.g., assign expertise, add QA/QC measures, subcontract expertise).
• Develop templates, standards, specifications, drawings, processes, and procedures to support substation AD pursuits and projects.
• Lead team development, mentorship, and leadership of discipline‑specific practitioners (substation site/civil, structural/foundation, environmental, real estate, GIS).
• Collaborate with regional and area operations leaders, market sector leaders, practice leaders, project managers, commercial managers, and project teams to deliver quality services for power delivery AD projects.
• Perform other duties as needed.
• Report to Substation Business Class Lead.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree: in Electrical or Civil Engineering.
• Professional Engineering License.
• Minimum 10 years: of experience in substation design.
• Minimum 5 years: of experience building and leading engineering teams on EPC projects.
• Proficient in: CDEGS, BIM Software (Autodesk, Revit, Bentley).
• Minimum 5 years: of experience developing engineering scope, schedule and budget estimates on EPC projects.
• Experience developing: EPC design and construction packages.
• Specific experience: performing all aspects of substation design, procurement and construction for projects up to 500kV.
• Understanding of: oneline and general arrangement drawings, equipment selection, and value‑engineering solutions.
• Experience optimizing: substation designs in tandem with discipline‑specific SMEs.
• Experience working: with environmental, real estate and GIS teams.
• Strong leadership skills: and engineering management experience with multiple remote teams.
• Self‑starter: with excellent writing and communication skills.
• Strong conceptual: organizational, problem‑solving, and collaboration skills.
• Proficient with: Microsoft Office and conferencing platforms (Zoom, Web Ex, Teams).
• Position requires: up to 20% travel.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree: in a Professional, Architecture, Engineering or closely related field.
• 10 years: experience in related field.
• Maintains a professional or Engineering registration and has related technical experience.
• Experienced in development and management of diverse teams.
• Works cooperatively with other business class regional directors, operations managers, technical directors and marketing managers on business class efforts.
• Committed to quality, improvement and HDR values.
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee‑owned culture is a must.

Location

Primary Location: United States-Nebraska-Omaha

Other Locations: United States-Texas-Round Rock, United States-North Carolina-Charlotte, United States-Pennsylvania-Bethlehem, United States-Oregon-Salem, United States-Maryland-Baltimore, United States-Montana-Missoula, United States-Texas-Houston, United States-California-Irvine, United…