Director, Substation & Grid Engineering

About the Role

• We are looking for a Director of Substation & Grid Engineering to lead substation and grid engineering design for NScale's data center portfolio.
• This leader will own technical standards for substations, transformers, switchgear, and protection schemes supporting high-density AI/GPU workloads.
• You will own load and generator interconnection applications and studies, serving as the technical lead on interconnection requests to utilities, ISOs/RTOs, and transmission owners.
• You will provide technical support to the Utility Development and Power Procurement organizations on interconnection, grid, and substation topics.
• You will lead a team of Staff Engineers delivering substation and grid engineering design.

What You'll be Doing (Responsibilities)

Engineering Design & Standards

• Define technical requirements and design standards for substations, transformers, switchgear, protection, and metering.
• Collaborate with internal and external design teams on one-line diagrams, protection schemes, and redundancy strategies (N, N+1, 2N).
• Oversee fault and reliability studies supporting substation and grid design.
• Define electrical topology and one-line requirements for on-site generation integration, including paralleling, synchronization, islanding, and black-start concepts.
• Establish protection and controls philosophy for generation integration (relaying, coordination, fault duty, grounding, synchronization, load sharing).
• Guide equipment specification for generator sets, switchgear, transformers, e-houses, and balance-of-plant, accounting for long-lead risk.

Load & Generator Interconnection

• Own the preparation, submission, and technical management of load and generator interconnection applications to utilities, ISOs/RTOs, and transmission owners across the portfolio.
• Lead interconnection studies (feasibility, system impact, facilities studies) for both load interconnection and on-site/behind-the-meter generation, tracking queue positions and study timelines.
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact with utility and ISO/RTO interconnection engineering teams, resolving technical issues raised during study review.
• Coordinate interconnection agreement technical exhibits (one-lines, protection requirements, metering, telemetry) in partnership with Legal and Energy Procurement.
• Track interconnection queue risk and grid upgrade requirements, escalating schedule or cost impacts to the VP of Power Infrastructure Design and affected project teams.

Team Leadership

• Lead and develop a team of Staff Engineers supporting substation and grid engineering.
• Review technical designs and ensure quality and consistency across projects.
• Support career development and technical growth of engineering staff.

Project Support

• Serve as the substation and grid engineering owner for data center projects from design through energization.
• Visit sites as needed to support commissioning, troubleshooting, and design clarifications.
• Identify and mitigate technical risks related to substation and grid design.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Utility Development and AI Load Power Strategy teams to align substation design with utility and load requirements.
• Provide technical support to the Utility Development organization on interconnection processes, grid capacity assessments, and site diligence for new and existing markets.
• Provide technical support to the Power Procurement organization on interconnection timelines, technical risk, and grid constraints that affect power supply agreements and market strategy.
• Communicate technical design trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders.

About You (Skills / Qualifications)

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• 8-12+ years of experience in substation design, protection and controls, or grid engineering.
• Strong ability to interpret and produce electrical one-lines, protection schemes, and system studies.
• Demonstrated success leading or mentoring engineering teams.
• Direct experience preparing and managing load and/or generator interconnection applications with utilities, ISOs/RTOs, or transmission owners.
• Ability to serve as a technical resource to commercial and development teams (e.g., Utility Development, Power Procurement) on interconnection and grid topics.

Preferred

• Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or Power Systems.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license.
• Experience with high-density AI/GPU or HPC data center substation design.
• Experience with generator OEMs, EPCs, and commissioning providers for large-scale standby/prime power plants.
• Experience navigating interconnection queues and study processes in multiple ISO/RTO markets.

Salary Range $180,000—$270,000 USD

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