HVDC Project Engineering Director

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Job Description Summary

The Project Engineering Director is in charge of overall technical coordination and management. He/she is the contact to the Customer on technical matters and answerable for elaboration of best solutions with project members under technical aspects.
Project Engineering Director is accountable of the proper performance of design in matter of engineering cost mastering, deadlines, and quality. He/she will coordinate and manage global time schedule of engineering activities, follow with work packages PEM’S engineering budgets, define the project design quality plan, ensure implementation of EMH guide lines, supervise overall technical coordination between different work packages of Grid Complex large project. He/she will guarantee that global optimisation is implemented when selecting technical solutions (cost effective solution, safe, ease of installation and operation of the systems) in line with Customer expectation and relevant documentation delivered as per project general time schedule. He will support ITO teams to define design strategy.
Project Engineering Director has the capacity to perform technical coordination of projects which are classified “full set” according to PMH and specifically 'complex large project' using a combination of 3 criteria for complexity assessment
  • Technical complexity: FACTS / SPS content or offshore platform
  • Coordination complexity: cross-regions, multi-sites, or complex logistics
  • Other complexity: First of a Kind or Civil Works content
  • All HVDC projects are considered as Complex large projects

Job Description

Key missions of the Project Engineering Director:

Project management

  • Scope of work & time schedule
  • Accountable for consolidation of provisional drawing list issue with submission dates and global time schedule of engineering activities.
  • Ensure that the follow up of critical activities is done in a regular base by discipline PEM’s
  • Time delivery mastering
  • Support work-package PEM’s to anticipate and mitigate delivery issues
  • coordinate with discipline PEM’s delivery time of technical interfaces check that information exchange interface sheets are in place and followed.
  • Challenge the global time schedule for engineering activities in close collaboration with PEM’s and the planner
  • Ensure technical disciplines are Coordinated in terms of interfaces, synchronisation
  • Budget and Resources
  • Support Package PEM’s to get required resources
  • Responsible for the project engineering budget, he/she manages monthly follow-up of the budget, identify potential savings and deviations through the modifications sheet. He/she makes sure that the imputations are properly allocated by WBS to ensure a consistent Return on Experience
  • Animate Visual Management session / I-Obeya

Project strategy & risk management

  • Elaborate the engineering execution strategy with the PEM’s
  • Participate to project strategy elaboration with Project Director
  • Define and validate the design quality plan for the whole engineering scope.
  • Ensure implementation of EMH guidelines
  • Consolidate and follow for the whole project technical risks & opportunities and the corresponding mitigation/ action plan
  • Implement a design freeze process for the project and validate the design freeze following relevant design reviews and technical risks assessment for the project

Customer relationship

  • The PED is responsible in front of the customer of the engineering execution of the project. He is the preferred contact of the customer management for all topics related to the engineering.
  • Accountable for the respect of customer technical requirements, he/she organises the clause by clause analysis and coordinate the certification activities when required
  • Ensure with PEM’s compliance to customer requirements through technical queries, track, manage potential exceptions.
  • Together with all PEM’s ensure that answers to customer are consistent and check cross impact of comment
  • Manage customer technical meetings (including validation meeting, clarifications, design liaison meetings)

Document & configuration management

  • Organise with integration & interface Manager and document controller leader the technical document management for the project: tool set-up, delivery process, Master drawing list, Q/R follow up
  • Validate and check consistency of the engineering documents before final release to customer
  • Coordinate Tracking of customer comments and answers, along with document resubmission
  • Ensure that Management of return status of project documentation (approved, comments, resubmit, rejected) is performed
  • Coordinate the way to Tracks & manage identified or potential deviations

Design expediting

  • Accountable for the On-Time Delivery of the engineering
  • Check effectiveness of design against delivery of contract requirements within project budget and look for global cost optimization during basic design
  • Review main subcontracting files for main work packages design activities (scope, deliverables, inputs, schedule)

Process & Tools

  • Ensure deployment of Engineering tools (CAD, PDM/DMS,) is done as per strategy
  • Define design management tools
  • Organise Design review plan and manage design review with Customer, and certifier (if any)
  • Integrate EHS requirements based on project Strategy
  • Set up and consolidate engineering KPI’s and reporting for the whole project on regular basis (monthly generally)
  • Ensure that non-conformance reports involving engineering are managed
  • Support PEM integration on management of technical interfaces with main subcontractors, Customers and third parties
  • Development of O&MM structure
  • Organise ROE with Customer, Main Suppliers and internally for GRID

Required Qualifications & Experience:

  • A minimum of a first degree in Power Engineering, or a related electrical engineering discipline.
  • Experience working in a role where you have successfully led Engineering teams to deliver large and complex high voltage electrical transmission projects.
  • A practical working knowledge of both ‘High Voltage Direct Current’ and ‘High Voltage Alternating Current’ Power Transmission.


Desirable Experience:

  • The successful candidate will be dynamic, resilient, have strong leadership and communication skills, and will be experienced in coordinating the actions of both local and extended engineering teams.
  • In addition, you will be comfortable liaising with Customers and Partners for the purpose of technical management, and be familiar with working closely with the site team who will undertake the construction works.
  • You will be fully conversant with the types of processes and methods used to ensure that projects are designed for safety, of a high quality, and delivered on time and to budget.

Additional Information

Relocation Assistance Provided: No