Principal Electrical Design Engineer | Data Centres

Principal Electrical Design Engineer | Data Centres Dubai Role Summary: A leading international engineering consultancy is seeking a Principal Electrical Engineer to join its growing Data Centre team in the UAE. This is a senior leadership opportunity for an experienced electrical design professional with a strong background in mission critical facilities, hyperscale data centres, and MEP consultancy environments. You will play a key role in delivering complex, high-value projects across the Middle East while leading electrical design from concept through to construction. Key Responsibilities • Lead the electrical design and technical delivery of hyperscale, colocation, and mission-critical data centre projects from concept design through construction and commissioning. • Undertake and review data centre electrical load assessments, power demand calculations, capacity planning and infrastructure sizing for critical and non-critical systems. • Perform and review power supply and power distribution calculations, ensuring electrical infrastructure is designed to meet resilience, redundancy and scalability requirements. • Carry out and validate fault current, short-circuit and protection coordination studies to ensure system safety, reliability and compliance. • Develop robust and resilient electrical infrastructure solutions, including HV/LV distribution, UPS systems, standby generation, grounding, and power monitoring systems. • Provide technical leadership on complex engineering challenges, ensuring designs meet performance, reliability, sustainability, and operational requirements. • Coordinate closely with mechanical, structural, civil, ICT, and specialist data centre disciplines to deliver fully integrated design solutions. • Review and approve engineering calculations, specifications, drawings, reports, and technical submissions to ensure compliance with project standards and international codes. • Act as a key point of contact for clients, contractors, vendors, and project stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle. • Support project delivery teams in managing programme, resource allocation, design budgets, and technical risk throughout multiple concurrent projects. • Provide technical guidance during testing, commissioning, integrated systems testing, and operational readiness phases. • Mentor, develop, and support junior and intermediate engineers, fostering technical excellence and knowledge sharing across the team. • Support the development of engineering standards, design methodologies, and innovation initiatives aimed at improving project efficiency and sustainability. Requirements • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline. • 10+ years of experience in electrical design engineering within an MEP consulting or engineering consultancy environment. • Minimum 5 years of experience delivering data centre, mission-critical, or other highly resilient infrastructure projects. • Proven experience designing electrical systems for Tier III and/or Tier IV data centre facilities, including redundancy and resilience strategies. • Professional memberships and certifications such as CEng, PE, ATD, CDCDP, AOS, or equivalent are highly desirable. • Proficient in industry-standard design software, including AutoCAD, Revit, and electrical calculation/modelling tools. • Familiarity with international design standards and best practices, including IEC, IEEE, NFPA, ASHRAE, TIA, and Uptime Institute guidelines. • Proven experience undertaking or reviewing electrical load calculations, power distribution calculations and fault current studies for mission-critical facilities. • Experience performing or reviewing short-circuit, protection coordination and power system analysis studies. • Strong technical knowledge of HV/LV power distribution systems, UPS systems, standby generators, busbar systems, earthing, and lightning protection. • Strong client-facing, communication, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to lead technical discussions and present design solutions. • Demonstrated ability to review technical deliverables, manage design quality, and support project delivery across multiple concurrent projects. • Experience supporting construction, testing, commissioning, and handover activities for complex engineering projects is advantageous. • Previous Middle East/GCC project experience and knowledge of regional utility requirements would be beneficial. • A proactive and solutions-oriented approach, with a passion for innovation, sustainability, and technical excellence within the data centre sector. What's on Offer? • Opportunity to work on large-scale hyperscale and cloud infrastructure developments. • Exposure to market-leading data centre clients and projects. • Senior-level technical leadership role. • Collaborative international engineering environment. • Long-term career progression within a rapidly growing sector. Show more Show less