Substation Structural Engineer

Substation Structural Engineer

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world? Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. We believe electricity powers modern life. As part of our Power sector, you'll help shape how electricity is generated, transmitted and delivered as global energy demands grow. You'll work side-by-side with these experts and contribute to reliable, resilient and sustainable power systems, helping communities thrive and industries expand. This isn't just a job, it's a chance to drive infrastructure forward, power innovation and leave your mark on our energy future.

HDR is looking for a Substation Structural Engineer to join our Power Delivery Team. This position may be based out of our Charlotte, Raleigh, or Fort Mill (SC) office. At HDR, the Substation Structural Engineer is a key contributor within the Power Delivery team, providing engineering design and technical support for high-voltage substation projects. This role supports HDR's mission to deliver safe, resilient, and high-quality infrastructure solutions for utility and energy clients. The engineer will work in a collaborative, multi-discipline environment and contribute to projects across their full lifecycle from conceptual design through construction and commissioning support.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead, oversee, review, and/or execute structural engineering tasks for a variety of substation structural members such as rolled steel shapes, lattice steel framing, and folded plate tubular steel shapes. Engineering duties include detailed design, calculations, and detailing for fabrication or development of loading and concept drawings for submittal to a steel fabricator to design and fabricate.
• Lead, oversee, review, and/or execute foundation design tasks for substation structures, including drilled piers, spread footings, driven piles, and potentially other types, using industry standard software.
• Work with physical substation layout designs, plans, elevations/sections, details, and associated bills of materials.
• Prepare and/or review specifications for construction & materials.
• Coordinates and/or performs quality checks and reviews for project deliverables per the HDR Quality Management Systems (QMS) requirements, processes, and procedures to deliver a world class quality product to the client. Performs quality checks and/or reviews of projects from other teams on an as needed basis.
• Collaborate with transmission line civil/structural engineers to cross-train and share resources
• Collaborate with other engineers to develop and maintain standards.
• Work independently and direct, mentor, train, and/or supervise one or more EIT's or CADD/Designers.
• Ability to support multiple projects concurrently, utilizing teams in different locations.
• May also assist with developing technical papers and/or presentations that showcase HDR's technical capabilities at industry conferences or other events.
• Participate in project reviews as needed.
• Some travel may be required.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Technical design experience with physical/outdoor design of high voltage electrical switchyard and substation projects of varying complexity.
• Familiarity with the latest NESC, NEC, IEEE, ANSI, ASCE-113 and other industry standards
• Experience using industry standard design software, including Risa 3D, RisaFoundation, L-Pile, MFAD, Mathcad Prime, AutoCAD or MicroStation
• Minimum 5 years of technical design experience with high voltage electrical switchyard and substation projects, including foundation and steel structural design
• Working knowledge of the latest AISC-360, ASCE-7, ACI-318, and other industry standards
• Self-starter with strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong conceptual, organizational, problem solving, and collaboration skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team, local candidates are preferred

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Civil or Structural Engineering
• Requires professional engineering license recognized by the licensing board for the location of the position offered. Example: Professional Engineer (PE or P.Eng) license.
• Previous structural engineer experience
• Microsoft Office, AutoCAD, RISA, Staad, SAP, Tedds, RAM, ETABS, SAFE or similar
• Previous experience with an architectural/engineering or engineering consulting firm
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture is a must