Associate Director - Power Engineering in England

This is a high-impact leadership role within a growing UK Power team backed by a globally established, employee-owned engineering consultancy with more than 100 years of heritage in transmission and distribution.

The UK Power group currently consists of a compact, high-calibre team led by two externally facing Technical Directors:

• One focused on renewable generation, BESS, IPPs, private networks and substations
• One focused on UK DNO and TSO frameworks and regulated network infrastructure

Both Technical Directors are heavily client-facing and growth-oriented. The business is now investing in building out its internal delivery and leadership layer, with planned growth through junior, principal and associate-level hires across 2025–2026. This role sits at the centre of that next phase - providing technical leadership, team development, and delivery oversight, while helping establish a scalable UK and European power capability.

The consultancy has an exceptionally strong and visible pipeline, particularly within data centre grid connections and power infrastructure. Globally, the business is one of the leading power and data centre consultancies in the United States, with deep, long-standing relationships across hyperscale and major technology clients. Those relationships are now directly feeding work into the UK and European market.

The near-term workload for this role will be heavily weighted toward UK and European data centre grid connections, substations and associated HV infrastructure, delivered through FEED and Owner’s Engineer services. The pipeline across the UK and Europe is active and secured, rather than speculative. In parallel, the Technical Directors are continuing to expand into renewables, BESS, private networks, and DNO/TSO frameworks, building a broader and more balanced long-term portfolio. This creates a stable foundation of live work today, alongside clear expansion into new sectors as the team grows.

As Associate Director, you will act as a senior internal leader within the Power team, focused on front-end engineering, Owner’s Engineer services, and technical assurance across HV transmission, substations and grid connections in the UK and Europe. The consultancy’s work is typically delivered at FEED, concept and pre-construction stages, with detailed design often completed by EPC or EBoP contractors in the UK market. As such, this role is not a full detailed-design position, though you will retain hands-on technical involvement where required - particularly during periods of peak workload, bid support, or complex technical review. The primary objective is to grow capability, mentor engineers, and create a robust delivery platform that enables the wider business to scale sustainably.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership & Owner’s Engineer Services
  • Lead and oversee front-end engineering, FEED and Owner’s Engineer services for HV transmission, substations and grid connection projects (typically 33kV–400kV).
  • Provide technical assurance, review and guidance rather than routine detailed design.
  • Act as a senior escalation point for complex technical issues across projects.
  • Interface effectively with EPC, EBoP and contractor teams during design development and delivery phases.
• Team Growth & Leadership
  • Play a central role in expanding the Power team through 2025–2026, supporting the recruitment and development of junior, principal and associate-level engineers.
  • Mentor engineers and help build a sustainable technical ladder within the team.
  • Establish ways of working, technical consistency and collaborative behaviours as the team scales.
• Bid & Client Support (Non-Sales)
  • Provide technical input into bids, tenders and framework submissions led by the Technical Directors.
  • Support scope definition, risk identification and technical strategy at pre-contract stage.
  • Attend selected client and stakeholder meetings to provide technical credibility and assurance.
• Collaboration & Governance
  • Work closely with Technical Directors and peers to align delivery capability with growth strategy.
  • Ensure compliance with UK and European standards, regulations and internal quality systems.
  • Contribute to the continuous improvement of technical processes and delivery models.

About You

You are a senior power engineer and people leader who enjoys operating at the front end of projects and building teams, rather than owning detailed design packages end-to-end. You may come from:

• Power engineering consultancy (HV transmission/substations)
• DNO, TSO or ICP organisations
• Owner’s Engineer or grid connections backgrounds
• Contractor or EPC environments with strong FEED and technical leadership exposure

You are likely operating at Senior Principal, Principal or early Associate Director level, and are looking for a role where you can grow your leadership footprint as the business scales.

Key Experience

• Strong experience in FEED, concept design and Owner’s Engineer services.
• Technical credibility across HV transmission, substations and grid connections (UK/EU, up to 400kV).
• Experience mentoring engineers and supporting team growth.
• Comfortable balancing leadership with selective hands-on technical input when required.
• Power system studies experience (DigSILENT, IPSA, ETAP) is beneficial but not essential.

Why This Role Is Compelling

• Strong, real pipeline: Live and secured work across UK and Europe, particularly in data centre grid connections.
• Right-time entry: Join while the team is still small, with clear plans to double in size.
• Leadership without sales pressure: Influence growth through delivery excellence, not personal BD targets.
• Employee-owned culture: Everyone has a stake in the business, aligning effort with long-term value creation.
• Global platform: Market-leading US data centre capability now driving UK and European growth.
• Long-term upside: Employees joining now participate directly in the value created as the business scales globally.

This role suits someone who wants to help build a team, shape capability, and grow alongside the business, rather than step into a static or overly commercialised leadership position.

Apply now by submitting your CV or to discuss the role in confidence, contact Dean Forster at Tempest Jones on dean@tempestjones.com.