Senior Project Manager- Transmission & Substation
Senior Project Manager - Transmission & Substation Projects
Location: Northwest Indiana (Greater Chicagoland area)
About the Opportunity A well-established electric utility is growing its major projects team and is looking for a Senior Project Manager to lead high-voltage transmission line and substation capital projects from start to finish. You'll own projects from early development and concept through design, permitting, construction, energization, and closeout. This is a high-visibility role with real ownership, and the projects you deliver will strengthen grid reliability across the region.
What You'll Do
- Lead full-lifecycle delivery of transmission line and substation projects from 69 kV up to 345 kV and above, including greenfield builds, rebuilds, expansions, upgrades, and interconnections.
- Build and own the project plan: scope, baseline schedule, estimate, cash flow, risk register, contracting strategy, and change control.
- Bring together cross-functional teams across engineering, P&C, environmental, right-of-way, procurement, operations, construction, and commissioning.
- Manage engineering consultants, EPC and construction contractors, and suppliers, and hold them accountable for deliverables, performance, and contract terms.
- Plan outages and cutovers with system operations, including switching, testing, and energization, while keeping the system reliable.
- Track budgets, forecasts, and cost-to-complete, flag variances early, and correct course before they become problems.
- Manage risks such as permitting, land acquisition, long-lead equipment, field conditions, and contractor performance.
- Report progress to leadership through dashboards, milestone reviews, and executive updates.
- Work with landowners, municipalities, regulators, RTOs, and interconnecting customers as needed.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, or a related technical field plus 6+ years of relevant experience. Equivalent project or construction experience will also be considered.
- A proven record of managing transmission line and substation projects at transmission voltages, with ownership of scope, schedule, cost, and closeout.
- Hands-on knowledge of transmission construction, substation configurations, outage constraints, and commissioning.
- Strong project controls skills covering scheduling, cost management, forecasting, and risk.
- Confidence leading multidisciplinary teams and contractors, along with strong negotiation and conflict-resolution skills.
- Willingness to travel up to 50% and work in field environments.
- Valid driver's license.
- A PMP, or the ability to earn one within a year of hire.
Nice to Have
- Owner-side, EPC, EPCM, or construction management experience on major capital projects.
- Experience with reconductoring, OPGW, structure replacements, and remote-end modifications.
- Experience with ring-bus, breaker-and-a-half, AIS/GIS substations, transformer and breaker replacements, and relay modernization.
- Proficiency in Primavera P6, MS Project, SAP, or Procore.
Why This Role
- You'll own large, complex transmission projects that affect regional grid reliability.
- The company is stable and investing in long-term transmission infrastructure.
- You'll have room to grow within a major projects organization.
- You'll get a clear path to PMP certification, with support.
FAQs
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