Electrical Designer

Principal Electrical Designer

The Principal Electrical Designer provides senior-level design leadership and technical expertise for complex electrical design deliverables across major projects. This role is accountable for the quality, consistency, and timely delivery of electrical design packages throughout the project lifecycle, while mentoring and guiding electrical design teams. The position involves close collaboration with multidisciplinary teams and active participation in large, long-term industrial projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead and deliver high-quality electrical design services that meet client, statutory, and regulatory requirements, on time and within defined project constraints.
• Lead the development, coordination, and quality assurance of electrical design deliverables from concept and FEED through detailed design and construction support.
• Provide technical direction and oversight to electrical designers and drafting teams, including assigning tasks, planning workloads, and conducting detailed design reviews.
• Participate in project planning and progress reporting, ensuring adherence to established checking and quality assurance procedures.
• Ensure project scope is clearly defined and manage scope changes in accordance with project change management processes.
• Support procurement activities by reviewing electrical equipment requisitions and technical bid evaluations, and by providing input to purchase orders and vendor documentation.
• Support construction and commissioning activities, including resolving site and vendor queries related to electrical design and equipment.
• Coordinate closely with instrumentation, process, mechanical, piping, and automation disciplines to develop fully integrated electrical designs.
• Proactively identify and resolve discrepancies between internal and client design standards and requirements, proposing practical and compliant solutions.
• Provide technical input into constructability, maintainability, and operability reviews to optimize electrical designs for the full asset lifecycle.
• Support and mentor junior designers and engineers, fostering technical excellence, knowledge sharing, and a collaborative team culture within the electrical design group.
• Communicate effectively with project stakeholders, including clients, vendors, and construction partners, to clarify requirements and resolve technical issues.
• Identify technical risks and issues in electrical design, develop mitigation strategies, and escalate concerns when appropriate.
• Contribute to and participate in process safety and operability activities where electrical systems interface with process safety functions, such as HAZOP and LOPA reviews.
• Collaborate in the development of workshare execution plans and delegate design activities across internal and external teams, including offshore teams.

Essential Skills

• Diploma in Electrical Technology or Electrical Design.
• 5–15 years of experience as an electrical designer, preferably on large industrial or EPC projects.
• Proven experience managing offshore design work, with approximately 40–50% of the work executed in India or similar workshare environments.
• Experience working within small to large EPC organizations.
• Proficiency with MicroStation for electrical design and drafting.
• Proficiency with Revit for electrical modeling and coordination.
• Proficiency with AutoCAD Electrical for schematic development and layout design.
• Strong working knowledge of core electrical design deliverables, including single-line diagrams and schematics, equipment layouts, electrical room layouts, cable schedules, cable routing, tray and conduit layouts, power distribution and load lists, MCC layouts and schematics, grounding and bonding drawings, lighting and small power layouts, area classification and hazardous area electrical layouts, bills of material, material requisitions, and construction and engineering work packages.
• Working knowledge of low and medium voltage power distribution systems and their application in industrial facilities.
• Working knowledge of motor control systems and variable frequency drives (VFDs).
• Working knowledge of industrial and outdoor lighting systems.
• Working knowledge of grounding, bonding, and lightning protection systems.
• Working knowledge of hazardous area electrical design and applicable codes and standards.
• Solid understanding of project scope development, workshare execution, and delegation of design activities across internal and external teams.
• Familiarity with process safety and operability considerations where electrical systems interface with process safety functions, including participation in HAZOP and LOPA reviews.
• Clear and effective communication skills with the ability to collaborate across multiple disciplines.
• High attention to detail with strong organizational and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, project-driven environment.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience leading and mentoring junior electrical designers and engineers on multi-discipline project teams.
• Experience supporting procurement, construction, and commissioning activities on large industrial projects.
• Ability to interpret and reconcile differing client and internal design standards.
• Experience contributing to constructability, maintainability, and operability reviews for major facilities.
• Background in oil and gas, midstream, or related heavy industrial sectors.
• Experience working on multi-billion-dollar projects over multi-year timeframes.

Work Environment

This role operates within a dynamic, project-driven environment focused on large-scale industrial and energy projects in Western Canada and beyond. The Principal Electrical Designer reports to a Lead Electrical Designer and works closely with process, mechanical, instrumentation, piping, and automation teams. The portfolio includes major SAGD expansions, production increase projects, large cogeneration and carbon capture facilities, mega pipeline projects with compressor stations, large greenfield gas processing facilities, gas plant relocations, and ongoing portfolio work with oil and gas operators and midstream companies. Work is primarily office-based in a collaborative engineering setting, using tools such as MicroStation, Revit, and AutoCAD Electrical, with regular coordination across time zones to support offshore design teams handling 40–50% of the work. The environment emphasizes high standards of technical quality, safety, and regulatory compliance, and offers exposure to multi-billion-dollar projects over several years, along with opportunities to lead, mentor, and grow within a rapidly expanding engineering team.

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract position based out of Calgary, AB.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $65.00 - $80.00/hr.

Workplace Type

This is a hybrid position in Calgary, AB.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

At Actalent, diversity and inclusion are a bridge towards the equity and success of our people. DE&I is embedded into our culture through:

• Hiring diverse talent
• Maintaining an inclusive environment through persistent self-reflection
• Building a culture of care, engagement, and recognition with clear outcomes
• Ensuring growth opportunities for our people

Actalent is an equal opportunity employer.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services. For more than 40 years, we've helped visionary companies advance their goals. Headquartered in the United States, our teams span 150 offices across North America, EMEA, and APAC—with four delivery centers in India led by 1,000+ extraordinary employees who connect their passion with purpose every day.

Our Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai delivery centers are hubs of engineering expertise, with core capabilities in mechanical and electrical engineering, systems and software, and manufacturing engineering. Our teams deliver work across multiple industries including transportation, consumer and industrial products, and life sciences. We serve more than 4,500 clients, including many Fortune 500 brands. Learn more about how we can work together at actalentservices.com.