Lead Electrical Engineer - Substation Design Job Details | Black & Veatch Family of Companies

Lead Electrical Engineer - Substation Design

Date: Oct 2, 2025

Location: Chicago, IL, US

Company: Black & Veatch Family of Companies

As an employee-owned company, our people are Black & Veatch. We put them at the center of everything we do and empower them to grow, explore new possibilities and use their diverse talents and perspectives to solve humanity's biggest challenges in an ever-evolving world.

Why Black and Veatch

Black & Veatch allows you to lend your talent and perspective to humanity’s biggest challenges in a flexible environment where you are empowered to grow and explore new possibilities. We offer competitive compensation; 401K match and benefits that start day one.

The Opportunity

In this role, you will have the opportunity to:

• Function as a technical specialist or as a lead substation design engineer. Substation design encompasses distribution, sub-transmission and transmission level voltage classes
• Develop electrical design deliverables, including protection and control design (protective relays) and/or physical design
• Actively participate in management, project scheduling, and work/resource planning meetings
• Interface directly with clients, vendors and subcontractors
• QA/QC projects and mentor junior engineers

This opportunity is located in Chicago, IL .

The Team

BV’s Energy & Process business is driven to meet clients’ rapidly changing infrastructure needs in generation, storage, transmission, and distribution of safe, reliable electric power.

Black & Veatch provides complete engineering, procurement, and construction new asset and operating asset services in the following areas:

• Substations
• Overhead Transmission Lines
• Underground Transmission Lines
• Renewables Integration
• HVDC/FACTs

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in engineering from either a recognized accredited program in their home country or the country in which the professional is practicing.
• Minimum of 8 years related work experience.
• All applicants must be able to complete pre-employment onboarding requirements (if selected) which may include any/all of the following: criminal/civil background check, drug screen, and motor vehicle records search, in compliance with any applicable laws and regulations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Substation Design Experience - P&C and/or Physical
• Professional Engineer (PE) License; or in pursuit of obtaining PE License
• QA/QC and Substation (HV) project lead experience
• Written Communications
• Drive For Results
• Priority Setting
• Planning
• Delegation
• Directing Others
• Conflict Management
• Informing
• Listening
• Dealing with Ambiguity And Building Effective Teams
• Advanced knowledge of engineering design principles and applicable design guides and standards related to assigned engineering discipline

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Standards:

• Provides guidance and direction on department design guides, standards, systems, applicable engineering codes and Black and Veatch policies
• Assists in developing, maintaining and updating engineering standards
• Provides technical guidance to others regarding projects and disciplines

Quality/Continuous Improvement:

• Independently applies knowledge and complies with Black and Veatch quality program relative to assigned tasks
• May be responsible for ensuring compliance with Black and Veatch quality program
• Provides related guidance and direction to others
• Supports continuous improvement and change management efforts

Engineering Production:

• Prepares a variety of complex engineering deliverables for larger or multiple projects
• Performs complex research and develops recommendations for equipment and/or materials selection
• Oversees collection, assimilation, and management of data for engineering work
• Prepares complex engineering calculations following standard methods and principles
• Manages assigned budget, schedule, and quality requirements
• Independently applies advanced engineering techniques and analysis problems and methods
• Reviews lower level engineering work or assignments
• Is responsible for one or more of the following: leading larger production teams; coordinating multiple discipline activity; and serving as the responsible charge for a project

Project Coordination:

• Actively coordinates with all other internal/external team members on moderately complex projects

Client Focus:

• Responsible for assisting with identification of key client interests and drivers on moderately complex projects and may determine the key clients in some instances
• Communicates client interests and drivers to project team members and develops approaches to accommodate these concerns in the performance of the work on moderately complex projects
• May offer other services to the clients
• Typically provides support to business development or pursuit activities

Knowledge Sharing, Innovation and Technology:

• Serves as a technical specialist and has knowledge and skill set to provide consultation and guidance to project teams in a particular practice area
• Typically supports multiple projects on the complex technical challenges
• Actively fosters knowledge management and provides mentoring
• Develops and applies advanced engineering concepts and approaches to unique engineering problems

People Management - (supervision,career development,training, mentoring):

• Typically assists with performance management process, mentoring, recognition, and any corrective actions required
• May participate in career planning, and learning and development

Resource Management - (budgets, tools, processes, project support):

• Implements resource management strategy
• Manages engineering resources for small groups of a single discipline

Administrative:

• Administrative responsibilities may include office administration
• Ensures policies, procedures, and processes are effectively implemented and communicated for workgroup
• Ensures adherence to corporate and division programs
• May approve timesheets and expense reports

Black & Veatch is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and welcomes all qualified applicants. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender Identity and expression, disability, veteran status, pregnancy status or other status protected by law.