Senior Electrical (Power) Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

Senior Electrical (Power) Engineer

Location: Martinez, CA

Position Type: Full-Time

Salary Range: $101,000.00 – $216,000.00/ year (commensurate with scope of role, experience, education, and internal equity)

Role Overview

Our client is seeking a high-performing Senior Electrical (Power) Engineer to join their team at their facility in Martinez, CA. In this role, you will be responsible for assuring the safe, cost-effective reliability and operational integrity of the site's electrical distribution systems.

Working closely with Electrical Inspectors, you will balance long-term reliability objectives with hands-on technical troubleshooting across complex plant equipment—including 15kV, 4160V, 2300V, and 480V distribution networks, synchronous and induction motors, starters, and blowers—while providing engineering support to an on-site 98.5MW cogeneration facility.

Key Responsibilities

Safety Leader & Technical Mentor

• Drive Goal Zero performance by ensuring complete compliance with site electrical safety standards, process safety fundamentals, and regulatory frameworks (NFPA 70E, OSHA Subpart S, OSHA 1910.269).
• Educate and mentor operational, maintenance, and engineering staff on power generation, power distribution, electrical safety, and equipment best practices.

System Engineering & Operational Support

• Deliver daily "run and maintain" technical support to refinery production units, utility infrastructure, the main power grid, and the 98.5MW cogeneration plant.
• Oversee the design, repair, and ongoing maintenance of power distribution equipment (breakers, relay upgrades) and utilization hardware (motors, starters, VFDs).
• Author, review, and approve electrical procedures, switching instructions, and preventative maintenance (PM) strategies.
• Facilitate Management of Change (MOC) reviews and conduct root cause analysis (RCA) and risk assessments to prevent repeat equipment failures.

Project Management, Turnarounds & Reliability

• Evaluate site electrical reliability risks and design infrastructure upgrade plans, capital projects, and turnaround execution packages.
• Lead project scope development, cost-benefit analyses, equipment procurement, and field implementation in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
• Provide active field support to trade crafts during electrical system troubleshooting, field commissioning, and performance monitoring to maintain environmental compliance and process safety.
• Develop turnaround work scopes, draft execution plans, and deliver technical field coverage during planned plant outages.
• Ensure all assigned projects strictly follow company standards and relevant industry codes (NEC, IEEE, ANSI, NFPA, API, NEMA).

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements

• Physical Demands: Ability to walk up and down stairs, climb ladders, lift a minimum of 50 pounds, and wear standard refinery personal protective equipment (PPE), including respirators and arc flash gear.
• Schedule & On-Call: Standard full-time schedule with participation in the site on-call Electrical Team duty rotation for off-hours support. Altered work schedules over extended periods may be required during major maintenance events, turnarounds, overhauls, and project executions.

Candidate Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from an accredited institution.
• Experience: Minimum of 5 years of experience in industrial electrical design, repair, and maintenance within a refinery, petrochemical, power generation, or equivalent setting.
• Technical Skills: Familiarity with electrical system modeling, performance analysis, and national codes/standards (IEEE, API, NEMA, NFPA, NEC).

• Proven track record troubleshooting, analyzing, and resolving complex industrial electrical failures.
• Direct experience specifying, designing, and procuring heavy industrial electrical hardware (switchgear, motors, transformers, breakers, relays, UPS, batteries, cathodic protection, MOVs, heat tracing, and temporary generators).
• Familiarity with NFPA 70B maintenance practices and hands-on experience executing substation outage plans.
• Proficiency in power system modeling studies (short circuit, load flow, protective device coordination, transient motor starting, arc flash).
• Working knowledge of hazardous area classification per API RP-500.
• Hands-on experience with SKM modeling software, one-line diagrams, Schweitzer (SEL) relay programming, and full project lifecycle management.

·        Active Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC®) card (or ability to obtain one).