Manager, Substation Construction

Manager, Substation Construction

The Manager, Substation Construction position is responsible for leading and overseeing substation construction projects, including new construction, expansions, upgrades, rebuilds, and maintenance activities. This role manages project teams, field supervision, craft labor, subcontractors, and vendors to ensure work is completed safely, efficiently, and in accordance with customer requirements, approved drawings, utility standards, schedule commitments, and financial objectives. The position provides leadership to support safe operations, quality workmanship, project performance, and customer satisfaction while fostering strong relationships with customers, industry partners, and internal stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor project management, field supervision, and operations teams to safely and efficiently execute substation construction projects while supporting business growth and customer satisfaction.
• Develop team members through coaching, training, performance feedback, and professional development opportunities.
• Foster a collaborative work environment by recognizing employee contributions, maximizing individual strengths, and resolving conflicts effectively.
• Share best practices, lessons learned, and continuous improvement initiatives across project teams.
• Train project managers, superintendents, foremen, and field leaders on construction methods, customer standards, safety requirements, and company technology platforms.
• Communicate organizational updates, company initiatives, and operational changes to assigned employees.
• Support business development activities by identifying opportunities, strengthening customer relationships, and expanding market presence.
• Assist with proposal preparation, estimating, project scoping, constructability reviews, outage planning, material forecasting, subcontractor coordination, and pricing strategies.
• Present company qualifications and capabilities to customers, stakeholders, and key decision-makers.
• Promote the organization's value proposition through demonstrated expertise in safety, quality, outage coordination, and project execution.
• Ensure compliance with OSHA, NESC, NFPA 70E, utility regulations, customer requirements, and company safety policies.
• Oversee project schedules, manpower allocation, equipment utilization, material deliveries, productivity targets, and budget performance.
• Monitor project financials, including revenue, profitability, labor efficiency, change orders, and schedule adherence.
• Identify and communicate project risks, operational challenges, resource needs, and financial impacts to senior leadership.
• Support accounting and finance teams with billing inquiries, payroll issues, receivables management, and contract administration.
• Review and manage contract documents to ensure compliance with legal, commercial, and customer requirements.
• Coordinate all phases of substation construction, including site development, grounding, foundations, structural steel, equipment installation, cable systems, testing, commissioning, and project turnover.
• Collaborate with engineers, customers, inspectors, vendors, system operators, and commissioning teams to resolve technical and operational issues.
• Drive innovation by evaluating and implementing emerging construction practices, utility standards, safety initiatives, and equipment technologies.
• Lead project review meetings focused on safety, quality, schedule performance, cost control, procurement, and customer satisfaction.
• Support strategic resource planning across multiple projects, including labor, supervision, subcontractors, equipment, tools, and material logistics.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Construction Management, or a related field; or a high school diploma with 10 years of equivalent experience in construction management, engineering, or utility construction.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in transmission, substation, and distribution construction within the electric utility industry.
• Demonstrated leadership ability with professionalism, initiative, and confidence to lead teams, drive operational excellence, and support profitable business growth.
• Proven experience managing substation construction projects and leading diverse teams while balancing technical requirements, customer expectations, and business objectives.
• Strong organizational skills with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Proficient in Microsoft 365, Timberline, Trimble Enterprise, project scheduling software, drawing and document management platforms, and other industry-related applications.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to build effective relationships at all levels of an organization.
• Comprehensive knowledge of substation construction practices, including grounding systems, foundations, structural steel erection, bus installation, major electrical equipment, control buildings, protection and control wiring, testing support, commissioning, and energization activities.
• Ability to read, interpret, and apply construction drawings, one-line diagrams, specifications, utility standards, outage plans, schedules, and contract documents.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills with the ability to resolve issues at the appropriate level and escalate critical matters when necessary.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate sensitive or complex information with professionalism, discretion, and sound judgment.

Compensation:

The minimum and maximum annual salary (or hourly rates) that O’Connell Electric Company believes in good faith to be accurate for this position at the time of this posting is $123,500 to $164,000 per year.

It is important to O’Connell Electric that potential candidates for this position understand that compensation depends on numerous factors, including the geographic location where the role will be performed, skills required, experience, complexity, travel, and market rate. O’Connell Electric aims to reward performance and attract top talent with competitive, fair pay and benefits. Please note that the top of the salary range represents exceptional and/or senior-level positions that meet all required qualifications. Actual offers take candidates’ knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience into account.

Equal Opportunity:

O’Connell is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable state and federal non-discrimination laws. The Company will recruit, hire, train and promote all persons without regard to race, color, creed, sex (including pregnancy), religion, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, physical or mental disability, citizenship or immigration status, military or veteran status, or any other protected class in accordance with applicable federal, state, or local laws.