Lead Electrical Commissioning Engineer

James L Williams Middle East is seeking an experienced and technically accomplished Lead Electrical Commissioning Engineer to join our Commissioning team and lead electrical commissioning activities across mission-critical Data Centre projects.

This role is responsible for independently leading electrical commissioning from equipment readiness through L4 Functional Performance Testing and L5 Integrated Systems Testing (IST), while managing energization, load bank testing, protection implementation, safety, specialist teams, and technical closeout.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead electrical commissioning activities from L1/L2 readiness and L3 start-up through L4 Functional Performance Testing and L5/IST.
• Develop, review, and approve commissioning plans, method statements, test scripts, inspection records, and IST scenarios.
• Lead commissioning and testing of MV/HV and LV systems, transformers, switchgear, UPS and battery systems, generators, ATS/STS, busways, PDUs/RPPs, and associated critical power infrastructure.
• Lead OEMs, subcontractors, and commissioning engineers during FAT, SAT, pre-functional checks, start-up, functional testing, and integrated systems testing.
• Plan and execute normal, abnormal, and failure scenarios including utility loss, UPS ride-through, generator start-up, power transfer, equipment failure, and system recovery.
• Develop and manage load bank strategies, including generator and UPS load testing, temporary power arrangements, load simulation, and A/B power path testing.
• Review short-circuit, protection coordination/selectivity, and arc-flash studies and verify implementation of approved protection settings.
• Coordinate electrical energization activities, including switching procedures, LOTO, safe isolation, energization readiness, and test permits.
• Monitor electrical performance and power quality, including harmonics, voltage/current imbalance, power factor, frequency stability, and transient response.
• Manage commissioning deficiencies, retesting, punch lists, evidence capture, and final commissioning closeout.
• Coordinate with Clients, Consultants/CxA, Designers, Contractors, OEMs, and Operations teams, including leading commissioning coordination meetings.
  
  

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering or Electrical & Electronics Engineering.
• Minimum 8 years of experience in electrical construction, testing, and commissioning.
• Minimum 5 years of commissioning experience specifically within mission-critical Data Centre projects.
• Previous experience as a Senior/Lead Commissioning Engineer, Electrical Commissioning Lead, or equivalent role.
• Experience delivering large colocation or hyperscale Data Centres, preferably in multi-MW critical load environments.
• Strong knowledge of critical power infrastructure, protection systems, EPMS/BMS interfaces, electrical safety, and controlled energization.
• Strong understanding of Data Centre redundancy and resilience concepts, including N, N+1, 2N, concurrent maintainability, and single points of failure.
• Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary teams, OEMs, specialist subcontractors, and commissioning activities.
• Professional certifications such as Chartered Engineer, PE, CCP, ATD, CDCDP, or equivalent will be an added advantage.