Principal Electrical Engineer

A Snapshot 

 As Principal Electrical Engineer, you will report to the Senior Director, Engineering and be based at our North Sydney headquarters. You will lead AirTrunk's electrical engineering discipline and its team of electrical Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), working across Design and Engineering, Development, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning. You will make an impact in the following ways: 

• Lead, develop and empower a high-performing team of electrical engineering SMEs, setting clear accountabilities, strengthening technical capability and building succession coverage. 

• Act as AirTrunk's senior electrical technical authority, escalation point and delegated decision maker for material electrical risks, interpretations and design decisions. 

• Own the lifecycle of global electrical engineering and construction standards and electrical Owner-Supplied Equipment (OSE) specifications, ensuring they remain current, practical, controlled and consistently adopted. 

• Forecast and allocate electrical engineering resources across the global project pipeline according to project risk, design maturity and business priority, balancing workload and continuity. 

• Provide risk-based technical direction and independent design assurance from concept through IFC, confirming compliance with AirTrunk standards without owning day-to-day project design coordination or driving the general contractor's design development. 

• Be accountable for the discipline's cost outcomes, technical compliance and engineering suitability, including safety, resilience, operability, constructability, maintainability and lifecycle value. 

• Drive global consistency, standardisation and value engineering while protecting safety, regulatory compliance, resilience, customer commitments and operational performance. 

• Turn lessons from design, delivery, commissioning and operations into improvements to standards, specifications, assurance practices and team capability. 

 

Your Day to Day 

• Lead the electrical SME team through clear objectives, coaching, performance management, development planning, recruitment and succession management. 

• Maintain a forward electrical resource plan and assign appropriately skilled SMEs to projects and technical initiatives, resolving priority or capacity conflicts with the Senior Director, Engineering. 

• Set electrical technical direction and acceptance criteria across LV distribution systems, standby generation, UPS systems, BESS systems earthing, protection and grading, power quality, controls interfaces and electrical OSE. 

• Establish the scope, timing and depth of risk-based electrical reviews across concept, preliminary, schematic, detailed and IFC design stages, and verify that agreed actions are closed. 

• Review designs and technical submissions to confirm alignment with AirTrunk standards, approved project requirements, applicable codes and customer commitments. Design Management retains ownership of project design coordination and the project design basis, while project delivery teams and their designers remain responsible for developing the design. 

• Serve as the senior electrical escalation point and make timely, evidence-based decisions within delegated authority; clearly record the decision, rationale, risks, conditions and accountable owner. 

• Approve, reject or escalate electrical departures, waivers, interpretations, substitutions and material non-conformances in accordance with the technical authority framework and risk appetite. 

• Own and approve electrical engineering and construction standards and OSE specifications, including review cadence, change control, stakeholder consultation, release communication, implementation guidance and evidence of adoption. 

• Maintain visibility of electrical cost drivers and benchmarks, challenge unnecessary complexity and sponsor value engineering that improves capital efficiency, programme, repeatability, energy performance or lifecycle cost without weakening technical outcomes. 

• Assess the suitability of electrical designs and equipment for safety, compliance, reliability, resilience, efficiency, constructability, maintainability, operability, scalability and intended service life. 

• Partner with Procurement and Supply Chain to evaluate vendor proposals, technical deviations, equipment substitutions and quality risks, and provide senior technical input to factory acceptance testing and proof-of-concept activities. 

• Lead discipline peer reviews and resolve interfaces with mechanical, controls and automation, civil, structural, architectural, fire and commissioning teams; maintain effective alignment with the HV delivery team. 

• Champion Safety in Design and ensure material electrical hazards, assumptions, constraints and residual risks are identified, treated and communicated to the appropriate owner. 

• Provide senior technical support for significant site, commissioning and operational issues, then ensure root causes and lessons learned are reflected in standards, specifications and future project assurance. 

• Communicate complex electrical matters clearly to executives, customers, commercial teams, delivery partners and non-technical stakeholders, including recommended options and trade-offs. 

 

Measures of Success 

• A capable, engaged electrical SME team with clear accountabilities, strong retention, effective succession coverage and demonstrable technical development. 

• Projects resourced in line with risk, design maturity and agreed priorities, with electrical reviews and technical actions completed to required stage-gate timeframes. 

• Electrical standards and OSE specifications reviewed to the approved cadence, consistently adopted across regions and improved using documented delivery and operational learning. 

• Electrical cost outcomes supported by transparent benchmarks, disciplined scope decisions and value engineering that preserves required performance and compliance. 

• Improved first-time-right design quality, with fewer repeated deviations, late changes, design-related RFIs, non-conformances and commissioning defects. 

• Material electrical risks, departures and decisions resolved or escalated promptly, with clear accountability and auditable records. 

• Electrical systems and equipment demonstrably suitable for their intended application across safety, resilience, operability, maintainability, constructability and lifecycle value. 

 

Requirements 

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related discipline; a relevant postgraduate qualification is advantageous. 

• Typically 12+ years of progressive electrical engineering experience, including leadership of senior engineers or SMEs across complex, multi-project or multi-region portfolios. 

• Chartered or Professional Engineer status, or an equivalent recognized registration, is preferred. 

• Deep expertise in mission-critical electrical systems, including HV and LV distribution, generation, UPS, earthing, protection and grading, power quality and electrical controls interfaces. 

• Strong experience in data centres, mission-critical facilities, industrial infrastructure or another high-availability operating environment. 

• Demonstrated experience owning engineering standards or equipment specifications and applying technical assurance, delegated authority, configuration control and deviation governance. 

• Proven ability to plan and deploy specialist resources across competing projects while maintaining quality, responsiveness and global consistency. 

• Commercially astute, with experience evaluating discipline cost, value engineering, vendor proposals, lifecycle cost and technical trade-offs. 

• A decisive and accountable leader who can resolve ambiguity, challenge constructively and communicate complex technical matters to diverse stakeholders. 

• Willingness to travel occasionally across AirTrunk's regions to support critical reviews, technical issues and team engagement.