Substation Design Engineer – Protection and Control

Tipton, West Midlands
National Grid

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, working outdoors with underground cables, overhead lines and substations that operate between 230 and 132,000 volts.

National Grid employs over 29,000 people worldwide. 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 which are renewable, low carbon, and improve efficiency to meet demand. If this appeals to you too, you could soon work in a supportive, rewarding and friendly environment that empowers everyone to succeed.

We are an equal opportunities employer. Our desire is to bring in more employees from diverse backgrounds to build further on our inclusive culture. We value and celebrate individual difference and we believe that an inclusive culture will help the business grow as a positive, strong and innovative company.

Job Introduction

An opportunity has arisen for a Design Engineer based at our offices in Tipton.

The Engineering Design Team prepare electrical, protection/ control, mechanical and civil designs for schemes to construct, extend or modify electricity substations energised at up to 132,000 volts. The team assists network design colleagues with the assessment of substation options and develops selected schemes, from a broad engineering brief into a fully specified build package for delivery via internal and external construction teams.

The team comprises 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.

As part of our hybrid working approach and in line with our policy, this role allows you to apply for a mix of office and home working. Hybrid working can only be considered once your initial training is complete and subject to business need.

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 jobs 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 after shortlisting has taken place and before interview so they can prepare.

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

Evidence of your qualifications will be required prior to appointment.

If you are offered a position, you will be required to complete and provide a satisfactory basic DBS check that shows any unspent convictions or conditional cautions.

Main Responsibilities

We are seeking to recruit a Substation Design Engineer with experience/background in Protection and Control / Secondary Design within in the following areas:-

• Identifying the safety implications of decisions made at design stage on the constructability, operation, maintenance and final decommissioning of substation asset.
• Preparation of concept substation designs at pre-sanction stage. Identifying the engineering design merits of alternative scheme variants/options.
• Preparation of detailed designs/drawings/specifications/schedules and the like for substation construction/ commissioning purposes.
• Working closely with colleagues on a project-by-project basis as part of a discrete team.
• Responding flexibly to the changing needs of the EHV capital spend programme.
• Managing design workload effectively.
• Responding promptly to queries arising from site during construction phase.
• Ensuring compliance of design output with relevant NGED policy.
• Preparation and manipulation of design output using computer-aided design tools.
• Providing design outputs for Protection and Control Panel & Scheme Designs from 11kV to 132kV.
• Secondary Interface Design Packages for Protection Designs. (MC&P, Cable Schedules, Wiring Diagrams, Termination Diagrams, and SCADA Interfaces).
• Preparation and Release of Secondary Design Drawings, and Secondary Design Drawing Packages.

The Ideal Candidate

Candidates should ideally be qualified to a higher BTEC level in an appropriate discipline or an equivalent in an engineering discipline. Ideally applicants should have experience in preparing and manipulating engineering drawings using computer-aided design tools (e.g. AutoCAD). Applicants should hold a full UK driving licence.

Candidates will further be expected to demonstrate customer focus, flexibility, good communication skills and an ability to manage a number of design commissions.

About The Company

If this is your opportunity to join us, you’ll find we offer a supportive, rewarding and friendly working environment where you’ll be empowered to build a career. Along the way, you’ll be invested in, be enabled by the latest technology and find that we’re always interested in evolving our systems and processes so that we get even better, every day.

In return, you’ll enjoy a package of benefits designed to reward your hard work and incentivise your ambition. In addition to your competitive salary, we offer a competitive contributory pension scheme where the company will double match your pension contributions up to a maximum company contribution of 12%. You will also have access, subject to eligibility criteria, to join our annual Share Save plan.

You will receive a generous annual leave entitlement on joining, starting at 26 days rising to 28 days following 10 years’ service, plus 8 bank holidays. Protective clothing and Safety Equipment will be provided where required and we offer free parking at all main sites. In addition, you will be able to access support via our Employee Assistance Programme, including musculoskeletal and physiotherapy services.

Additional Application Information

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

To enhance your candidate experience, we recommend using Google Chrome to complete your online application. Should you have any questions regarding this or require additional support to complete your online application, please email

We reserve the right to close the vacancy early should sufficient numbers of suitable

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 jobs 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 after shortlisting has taken place and before interview so they can prepare.