Electrical Engineering Lead

Location: Reading (Office-based with occasional home working opportunities)
Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week
Start Date: ASAP (Ideally September/October)
Contract Duration: 12 months, with potential for extension
Salary: £84,200 - £114,000 per annum (negotiable for exceptional candidates)

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Electrical Engineering Lead to provide technical leadership and specialist expertise across the design, engineering, and assurance of electrical systems for a major capital project.

This position will play a critical role in ensuring electrical facilities are designed, implemented, and operated in accordance with project requirements, international standards, and regulatory obligations. The successful candidate will act as the technical authority on complex electrical systems, working closely with contractors, engineering teams, and stakeholders to deliver safe, reliable, resilient, and cost-effective solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Engineering Excellence

• Provide expert technical leadership for the design, implementation, and optimisation of electrical systems throughout the project lifecycle.
• Ensure electrical designs comply with project standards, industry regulations, and international codes including IEEE, IEC, and NERC requirements.
• Develop and enhance engineering standards, design philosophies, and technical specifications to improve safety, reliability, resilience, and cost-effectiveness.
• Support multidisciplinary teams by providing guidance on technical challenges, risk management, and engineering best practices.

Electrical Power Systems Expertise

• Provide specialist knowledge across a wide range of electrical power systems and equipment, including:
  • Generator synchronisation systems
  • Voltage regulation systems
  • Load shedding and load blocking schemes
  • Protective relay systems
  • UPS and battery systems
  • Solar power systems
  • Electrical distribution and power supply infrastructure
• Advise on power system design, configuration, and optimisation to maximise system availability and operational reliability.
• Review and validate power protection strategies to minimise downtime and improve operational performance.

Power System Protection & Analysis

• Lead technical reviews of power system protection schemes and protective relay selection.
• Conduct assessment and validation of fault studies, protection philosophies, and system designs.
• Apply advanced engineering principles to determine appropriate power supply solutions for project requirements.
• Support and review system modelling and analysis activities, including simulation of fault scenarios and validation of protection settings.
• Evaluate transient system behaviour and provide guidance on load shedding and system reacceleration requirements.

Design Assurance & Contractor Oversight

• Provide technical oversight of contractor-led electrical engineering design, assessment, and execution activities.
• Ensure the delivery of high-quality engineering outputs across design, analysis, integrity management, and technology deployment.
• Review key engineering deliverables and provide assurance that solutions meet project, safety, regulatory, and operational requirements.
• Support technical evaluations, design reviews, and risk assessments throughout project development and delivery.

Safety, Reliability & Compliance

• Validate explosion protection methodologies for electrical equipment operating within hazardous environments.
• Oversee the design and implementation of complex lightning protection and static protection systems.
• Ensure electrical systems are designed with a focus on operational safety, reliability, maintainability, and resilience.
• Apply risk-based decision-making to address regulatory, environmental, and technical challenges.

About You

To succeed in this role, you will bring significant technical expertise combined with a strong track record of engineering leadership within complex industrial or energy-sector projects.

Essential Experience & Skills

• Minimum 15 years' relevant electrical engineering experience, with the majority spent in discipline-specific technical leadership roles.
• Deep understanding of electrical power generation, distribution, protection, and control systems.
• Proven experience in power system protection schemes, protective relays, fault analysis, and system modelling.
• Hands-on knowledge of specialist engineering tools, software, and techniques used in electrical system design and analysis.
• Experience developing engineering standards, design basis documents, and technical philosophies.
• Strong ability to identify practical, risk-based technical solutions and manage complex engineering challenges.

Desirable Experience

• Experience working in both owner/operator and contractor/consultancy environments, with the ability to balance operational and project delivery requirements.
• Demonstrated experience within refining, petrochemical, chemical processing, or downstream energy facilities.
• Exposure to one or more of the following process environments:
  • Heavy oil upgrading
  • High-pressure hydroprocessing
  • Sour gas treatment
  • Saturated gas recovery
  • Ethylene cracking
  • Utilities and offsites infrastructure
• Experience supporting large-scale modularised design and execution strategies.
• Familiarity with ExxonMobil and/or Saudi Aramco engineering standards and project delivery approaches.
• Previous experience, exposure, or understanding of working within Middle Eastern or Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) project environments and cultures.

Personal Attributes

We're looking for a leader who can combine technical authority with effective stakeholder engagement. You will demonstrate:

• Strong leadership and mentoring capability.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Effective facilitation and collaboration across multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• The ability to influence stakeholders and drive technical decisions in complex project environments.

What's on Offer

• Competitive salary of £84,200 to £114,000 per annum, with flexibility for exceptional candidates.
• Opportunity to work on a high-profile, technically challenging project.
• Exposure to industry-leading engineering and operational practices.
• Potential for contract extension beyond the initial 12-month assignment.
• Flexible working arrangements, including occasional home working opportunities.
• The chance to shape engineering standards and influence the delivery of critical infrastructure and energy assets.

If you're a senior electrical engineering professional with a passion for technical excellence, power systems reliability, and delivering world-class engineering solutions, we'd love to hear from you. Join us and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of a major project.