About the role

We're partnering with a major NSW infrastructure and utilities organisation to bring a hands-on Design Engineer into their Substation Primary Systems team, part of a broader Design Engineering function of around 50 engineers spanning front end design, powerlines (overhead and underground), civil and structural, electrical substations, earthing, enablement and digital innovation. This is a genuine technical design role. You'll be developing substation primary systems designs yourself: plant layouts, equipment arrangements, clearances, cable routes, earthing interfaces, constructability and maintainability.

You'll be across the detail, not just directing others through it.

They're growing fast. This is one of the most active regions in NSW for new substations, brownfield upgrades, transmission and sub transmission infrastructure, and digital substation projects. A significant portion of large scale infrastructure delivery is also coming back in house, which means more of the design work, and more influence over how it's done, is staying with the internal team rather than going out to consultants.

They're looking across a range of experience levels for this stream, from engineers building their primary design capability through to senior engineers who can set technical direction, mentor others, and improve standards, templates and design practices. This ad is pitched at mid to senior level, for someone who wants to keep doing real design work while taking on more technical ownership.

What you'll be doing

- Developing substation primary systems designs: plant layouts, equipment arrangements, clearances and cable routes
- Working through earthing interfaces and coordinating with earthing specialists to get integration right
- Designing with constructability and maintainability front of mind, not just compliance on paper
- Coordinating with civil, structural and secondary systems engineers so primary design decisions hold up once they hit the field
- Reviewing and improving design standards,



templates and practices as the team standardises and brings more work in house
- Mentoring less experienced engineers on primary design practice as your seniority allows
- Getting involved in constructability and site walkthroughs where helpful, so designs reflect real world delivery constraints

What they're looking for

- Hands-on substation primary systems design experience, plant layouts, equipment arrangements, clearances, cable routing, earthing interfaces
- A background in large scale infrastructure similar to what this organisation looks for: electricity, water, rail, resources or similar asset intensive sectors; substation experience highly valued
- An electrical engineering qualification (or equivalent), with a genuine track record of producing and signing off primary design work
- Comfortable working across disciplines (civil, structural, secondary systems) to land a design that's buildable and maintainable, not just technically correct in isolation
- For more senior candidates: some experience improving standards, templates or design practices, and mentoring more junior designers
- Practical, detail oriented approach; someone who wants ownership of the design itself rather than moving into pure program or people management

Why this role stands out

- A genuinely hands-on design role with a growing pipeline of substations, brownfield upgrades and digital substation work behind it
- Real scope to influence standards and templates as large scale infrastructure delivery moves in house, without giving up the technical work to do it
- Room to grow: a clear path from developing primary design capability through to senior and principal level within the same discipline
- A collaborative team culture across disciplines, in a business actively investing in better tools, standards and ways of working
- Based in Western Sydney (Glendenning/Parramatta), with flexibility around hybrid working

This role would suit someone who wants to keep their hands on the design table while growing their technical influence, whatever level you're coming in at. We are super excited to hear from you, learn more about you and tell you more about us. So hit APPLY now and let's catch up.

📌 Design Engineer (Sydney)
🏢 Interface Agency
📍 Sydney