Head of Engineering – Renewables
About the Company
A leading global engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) organisation operating across the renewable energy sector is seeking a senior technical leader to oversee its engineering and technology strategy across a growing portfolio of utility-scale renewable energy projects.
The organisation delivers large-scale projects across solar PV, onshore and offshore wind, battery energy storage systems (BESS) and hybrid renewable energy plants.
As the renewable energy sector continues to evolve, the business is investing further in its technical capability, particularly around power systems engineering, grid integration, plant controls, power electronics and the integration of large inverter-based renewable generation into increasingly complex electricity networks.
The Role
The Chief Technology Officer will provide senior technical leadership across the renewable energy business, with a particular focus on electrical engineering, power systems, grid integration and renewable generation technology.
The role will lead a team of specialist engineers and provide technical oversight throughout the project lifecycle, from early-stage development and bidding through detailed engineering, construction, commissioning and operational handover.
A key focus will be ensuring that large-scale renewable and hybrid generation assets are technically robust, commercially viable and capable of operating reliably under increasingly complex grid conditions.
The successful candidate will bring significant experience in utility-scale renewable generation and power systems, ideally gained across an EPC, developer, OEM, utility or grid operator environment.
Key Responsibilities
Technical & Engineering Leadership
- Provide senior technical leadership across the renewable energy engineering function.
- Set engineering standards, technical strategies and design philosophies across renewable energy projects.
- Provide technical input into bids, tenders and early-stage project development, identifying engineering risks and appropriate mitigation strategies.
- Lead technical assurance throughout the project lifecycle, from concept and basic engineering through detailed design, commissioning and handover.
- Review and approve key electrical and power systems design decisions.
- Ensure renewable generation projects meet applicable grid codes, international standards and client technical requirements.
- Develop engineering solutions that improve plant performance, reliability, grid compliance and overall project competitiveness.
- Provide technical direction on complex engineering challenges and support project teams in resolving critical issues.
Power Systems & Grid Integration
- Lead the technical approach to integrating large-scale inverter-based renewable generation into utility networks.
- Provide oversight of power system studies, including load flow, short circuit, dynamic, transient stability and electromagnetic transient studies.
- Review and oversee specialist studies relating to:
- Grid stability and power quality
- Weak-grid operation
- Grid-forming and grid-following inverter behaviour
- Harmonics and resonance
- Sub-synchronous interactions
- Power system oscillations
- Protection and control
- Grid event analysis
- Ensure appropriate modelling and simulation methodologies are applied throughout the engineering and commissioning process.
- Provide technical oversight of grid connection studies and compliance with country-specific grid codes.
- Identify potential operational challenges that may not be captured through standard grid-code compliance and develop appropriate engineering solutions.
- Provide technical leadership during grid connection, energisation, testing and commissioning activities.
Electrical Engineering & Plant Design
- Provide technical oversight across the electrical design of utility-scale renewable energy projects.
- Review key electrical equipment selections, including:
- Transformers
- Switchgear
- HV/MV systems
- Inverters/converters
- Protection systems
- Power quality equipment
- SCADA and control systems
- Battery energy storage systems
- Ensure electrical engineering interfaces are effectively managed across generation, balance of plant, grid connection and control systems.
- Establish appropriate technical standards and engineering specifications for major equipment packages.
- Review OEM technical proposals and challenge design assumptions where appropriate.
Controls, Automation & Plant Performance
- Provide engineering leadership around plant control architecture, SCADA, PPC and energy management systems.
- Oversee the development of control philosophies for solar, wind, BESS and hybrid renewable plants.
- Ensure effective integration between plant controllers, inverters, SCADA systems and grid operator requirements.
- Provide technical oversight of plant performance, availability and generation commitments.
- Assess the technical implications of OEM guarantees and performance commitments during bidding and project execution.
- Support root-cause investigations and corrective engineering solutions following plant or grid events.
Testing & Commissioning
- Provide senior technical oversight during factory testing, site testing and commissioning.
- Lead or supervise specialist testing activities, including dynamic and real-time simulation where required.
- Provide technical direction during grid connection, energisation and performance testing.
- Support resolution of complex technical issues arising during commissioning and early-stage operations.
Technical Strategy & Innovation
- Identify emerging technologies and engineering approaches that could improve the competitiveness and reliability of the renewable energy portfolio.
- Assess the technical and operational risks associated with new technologies and OEM solutions.
- Develop engineering strategies for emerging areas including BESS, hybrid plants, grid-forming technology and increasingly complex inverter-based resources.
- Maintain awareness of developments across international grid codes, power system engineering standards and renewable energy technologies.
- Represent the organisation at relevant technical forums, industry events and engineering conferences.
Stakeholder Management
- Act as the senior technical interface with utilities, grid operators, developers, OEMs, consultants and other technical stakeholders.
- Provide technical leadership during complex negotiations and resolution of engineering issues.
- Manage relationships with specialist engineering consultants and technology providers.
- Work closely with senior leadership, commercial, project development, construction and operations teams to ensure technical decisions are aligned with wider business objectives.
Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate will be an established senior engineering leader with 20+ years of experience in electrical engineering, power systems, renewable energy or grid integration, including significant experience leading technical or engineering teams.
The individual should have a strong technical foundation in power systems and renewable generation, with demonstrable experience working with large-scale inverter-based resources.
Essential Experience
- 20+ years' experience within electrical engineering, power systems, renewable energy, utilities, EPC, grid operations or a related environment.
- 7–10+ years in a senior engineering, technical or technology leadership position.
- Degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Systems Engineering, Power Electronics or a closely related discipline.
- Extensive experience with utility-scale renewable generation.
- Strong understanding of electrical power systems and grid integration.
- Significant experience with inverter-based resources, including solar PV, wind, BESS and/or hybrid plants.
- Experience with grid connection studies and international grid-code requirements.
- Strong understanding of power system modelling and simulation.
- Experience overseeing complex technical investigations, grid events and root-cause analysis.
- Experience with commissioning, testing and technical troubleshooting of large renewable energy assets.
- Demonstrable ability to make technically robust decisions while understanding their commercial and project implications.
Desirable Experience
- Experience with renewable portfolios or individual projects exceeding 1GW.
- Experience operating or integrating renewable generation into networks with high levels of renewable penetration.
- Experience with weak-grid environments and complex grid stability issues.
- Knowledge of RTDS or equivalent real-time simulation platforms.
- Experience with HIL testing, SAT and commissioning.
- Knowledge of grid-forming/grid-following inverter technologies.
- Experience with BESS and hybrid renewable plants.
- Familiarity with IEEE, IEC and CIGRE standards and guidelines.
- Experience working with utilities, TSOs/DSOs, OEMs and major renewable developers internationally.
- Postgraduate qualification in Power Systems or Power Electronics would be advantageous.
