Senior Substation Project Engineer
Job Description
This Opportunity
WSP is seeking a Senior Substation Project Engineer for our Data Center Initiation Team in San Diego, CA. The following locations will also be considered: Kansas City, KS, Seattle, WA, New York, NY, Portland, OR, Houston, TX and St. Louis, MO. This role provides technical leadership for early-stage substation development and supports strategic decision-making for large-scale data center infrastructure projects.
In this role, you’ll lead the development of innovative substation designs at the earliest stages of high-profile data center projects. Your work will directly enable clients to evaluate feasibility, scalability, and long-term reliability, setting the foundation for successful project delivery.
You’ll collaborate across WSP’s diverse business lines to assess site conditions, utility capacity, and system requirements, bringing together the insights needed to turn complex challenges into actionable solutions. As a technical leader, you’ll drive substation configuration, guide critical equipment selection, and define forward-thinking electrical infrastructure strategies.
Beyond design, you’ll play a key role in leading multidisciplinary teams and advancing projects from initial concept through to design handoff.
If you’re passionate about solving complex infrastructure challenges this is an opportunity to lead, innovate, and shape what’s next.
Your Impact
- Lead multidisciplinary coordination for site evaluation, infrastructure planning, and integration
- Support and contribute to proposal strategy, scope, and technical approach
- Lead execution of technical work during early project phases (initiation through design)
- Serve as a key interface with clients, utilities, and stakeholders
- Conduct site visits to validate designs and address constructability challenges
- Develop and track project scope, schedules, and technical deliverables
- Perform and oversee substation design, including:
- Physical design and/or protection & control systems
- Layouts, grounding, lightning protection, and SCADA integration
- Review and produce design deliverables (plans, elevations, wiring diagrams, etc.)
- Provide oversight and review of engineering studies and calculations
- Support equipment specification, procurement, and vendor evaluation
- Ensure QA/QC compliance across assigned deliverables
- Provide mentorship and technical guidance to junior engineers and designers
- Contribute to continuous improvement of design practices and standards
- Communicate technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences
- Exercise responsible and ethical decision-making regarding company funds, resources and conduct, and adhere to WSP’s Code of Conduct and related policies and procedures.
- Perform additional responsibilities as required by business needs.
Who You Are
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering
- 10+ years of substation design experience
- Professional Engineer (PE) License
- Experience leading design packages or acting as technical lead
- Strong knowledge of substation systems, equipment, and design standards
- Experience in either physical or P&C design (cross-discipline exposure preferred)
- Ability to independently execute and coordinate technical work
- Strong communication, leadership, and coordination skills
- Demonstrated ability to mentor and support junior staff
- Proven ability to manage competing priorities
- Proven track record of upholding workplace safety and ability to abide by WSP’s health, safety and drug/alcohol and harassment policies.
- Must be flexible to a variety of schedules to meet business needs and able to prioritize responsibilities and quickly adapt to change in a pressure work environment.
- Occasional travel may be required depending on project-specific requirements.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s Degree in Engineering
- Experience serving as technical lead on multi-discipline projects
- Data center or large infrastructure project experience
WSP Benefits:
WSP provides a comprehensive suite of benefits focused on a providing health and financial stability throughout the employee’s career. These benefits include coverage related to medical, dental, vision, disability, and life; retirement savings; paid sick leave; paid vacation (or other personal time); paid parental leave; and paid time off for purposes of bereavement, voting, and/or attendance at naturalization proceedings.
Compensation:
Expected Salary (all locations): $119,600 - $213,200
WSP USA is providing the compensation range that the company in good faith believes it might pay and offer for this position, based on the successful applicant’s education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities in addition to internal equity and specific geographic location. WSP USA reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and offer additional benefits and other compensation, depending on circumstances not related to an applicant’s sex or other status protected by local, state, and/or federal law.
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WSP USA is the U.S. operating company of WSP, one of the world's leading engineering and professional services firms. Dedicated to serving local communities, we are engineers, planners, technical experts, strategic advisors and construction management professionals. WSP USA designs lasting solutions in the buildings, transportation, energy, water and environment markets. With more than 15,000 employees in over 300 offices across the U.S., we partner with our clients to help communities prosper.
WSP provides a flexible and agile workplace model while meeting client needs. Employees are also afforded a comprehensive suite of benefits including medical, dental, vision, disability, life, and retirement savings focused on providing health and financial stability throughout the employee’s career.
At WSP, we want to give our employees the challenges they seek to grow their careers and knowledge base. Your daily contributions to your team will be essential in meeting client objectives, goals and challenges. Are you ready to get started?
WSP USA (and all of its U.S. companies) is an Equal Opportunity Employer Race/Age/Color/Religion/Sex/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/National Origin/Disability or Protected Veteran Status.
The selected candidate must be authorized to work in the United States.
NOTICE TO THIRD PARTY AGENCIES:
WSP does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters, employment agencies, or other staffing services. Unsolicited resumes include any resume or hiring document sent to WSP in the absence of a signed Service Agreement where WSP has expressly requested recruitment/staffing services specific to the position at hand. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers or other business leaders, will become the property of WSP and WSP will have the right to hire that candidate without reservation – no fee or other compensation will be owed or paid to the recruiter, employment agency, or other staffing service.