Engineering Design Team Manager - Temporary

About Us

We’re National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED), the owner and operator behind the electricity distribution systems for the Midlands, the Southwest of England and South Wales. Serving communities of more than 8 million people, our expert teams deliver heat, light and power for homes and businesses.

National Grid employs over 29,000 people worldwide. We are building an inclusive workplace, a place to actively celebrate the cultures, personalities and preferences of our colleagues – who in turn help to build the success of our business and reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. Our vision is to be at the heart of a clean, fair and affordable energy future and we are doing this in a fast-moving industry with an increasing focus on tackling climate change, exploring new energy sources that are renewable, low carbon, and improve efficiency to meet demand.

Job Introduction

A temporary opportunity is available for an Engineering Design Team Manager based at our offices in Bristol.  The position is initially for a period of up to 12 months, subject to review.

The Engineering Design (ED) Team prepare electrical, protection/control, mechanical and civil designs for schemes to construct, extend or modify electricity substations energised at up to 132kV. The team assists network design colleagues with the assessment of substation options and develop selected schemes from a broad engineering brief into a full specified build package.  The team also has responsibility for the preparation, issue and archival of protection relay configurations and settings at up to 132kV.

The broader ED Team comprises cira 80 design staff, primarily based at offices in Tipton, Castle Donington, Bristol and Cardiff.  It handles in excess of 500 active design commissions at any time ranging in capital value from £50k to £10m.

*Please note the successful candidate may initially be appointed at a lower salary until all relevant courses and/or training are complete.

Main Responsibilities

• The immediate management of the team of Substation Design Engineers.
• The provision of high-level technical input to the EHV substation design task and providing subject matter expertise in this area within NGED and to customers.
• Ensuring that direct reports are supported in discharge of their duties as ‘Designers’ under the Construction Design and Management regulations.
• Programming of overall 132kV, 66kV and 33kV substation design workload.
• Allocating and coordinating design resources to meet the particular needs of the capital programme (including asset replacement, network reinforcement and/or the connection of new load or generation).
• Acting as the focal point of substation engineering advice to colleagues across National Grid, Customers, their agents and other third parties as necessary.
• Custodianship and upkeep of substation design archives and protection settings archives.
• Policy setting (in conjunction with the Policy team) in the area of substation engineering.  This aspect is to be focused primarily around physical substation design policy standardisation (including civil design aspects).
• Ensuring rapid response to queries arising from the design or construction phases of substation projects.
• Ensuring compliance of design output with National Grid policy.
• Providing overview of substation civil and primary design outputs.
• Providing overview of protection design, setting and protection relay configuration outputs.
• Ensuring consistency of design outputs across the team (including consistency of ICP design submission response).
• Coordinating the design response to potential mal-operation of protection systems or major plant failures.
• Managing team operational and non-operational authorisations and associated training requirements.
• Preparing and periodically reviewing overall and individual training and developments plans for the team.
• Conducting recruitment of personnel, when team vacancies arise.
• Managing the return and archival of as-constructed substation design information.
• Managing the return and archival as-applied protection setting data.
• The health, safety and welfare of the team.
• The setting and control of financial budgets.

The Ideal Candidate

The successful candidate will be qualified to HNC level, or above, in an appropriate engineering discipline and have a minimum of 3 years’ experience in an Engineering Design discipline or equivalent experience gained from a related design or project delivery role.

Excellent communication skills are required and previous experience or the ability to manage a team with a diverse project portfolio are also essential. 

*Please note the successful candidate may initially be appointed at a lower salary until all relevant courses and training are complete.

National Grid Electricity Distribution is committed to safeguarding the interests of the Company, colleagues and customers.

This role is subject to a satisfactory Barring Service (DBS) check.  Depending on the role different levels of screening and vetting are required. Some roles require a triannual check.

About The Company

Joining the UK’s leading electricity distribution business means plenty of career opportunities and well-deserved recognition. We reward hard work and encourage ambition. So, as well as a competitive salary, you will also benefit from:

• 26 days paid leave plus 8 bank holidays, up to 28 days with continuous service
• Competitive contributory pension scheme (we double match your contributions up to a maximum of 12%)
• Annual Share Save plan
• Contributory private healthcare scheme for you and your family
• Support via our Employee Assistance Programme, including musculoskeletal and physiotherapy services
• Free on-site parking at all our main sites

Things you need to know

As an equal opportunities employer who is committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, we celebrate individual difference and are actively bringing in more employees from diverse backgrounds to build on our inclusive culture. We anonymise all applications in our recruitment system so we can eliminate unconscious bias and be a workplace that reflects the community we serve. Hiring managers only have access to necessary information at interview stage. If you require additional support to complete your online application, please email nged.recruitment@nationalgrid.co.uk

Recruitment correspondence is usually sent by email, please check your email account including spam/junk folders regularly after the closing date.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy early should sufficient numbers of suitable applications be received, so it would be best to apply as soon as you can.