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Salary
≈ $103k – $210k per year (Estimated)
Location
In office (Houston)
Seniority
Principal · 5+ years exp

Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Sep 30, 2026. First seen by Alion on Sep 23, 2026. McDermott scores C on the Alion truth index.

Overview
Company
Impact
Profile match
McDermott is an engineering, procurement, construction and installation contractor headquartered in Houston, Texas, delivering offshore and onshore oil and gas, LNG, petrochemical, power and low-carbon energy projects for energy companies. Founded in 1923, the company operates engineering centers and fabrication yards across the Middle East, Asia Pacific, India, Europe and the Americas, with major hubs in Dubai, Chennai, Kuala Lumpur, Batam and London. It hires structural, electrical, process and production engineers, electrical designers, quality inspectors, procurement and contracts specialists, document controllers, project accountants and completion coordinators.

Job Overview:

The Principal Electrical Designer directly impacts the effectiveness of their team and related team. They exchange ideas and information relating to Electrical Design effectively. The Principal Electrical Designer may work autonomously within established Electrical Design procedures and practices. They act as a lead, coordinating the work of others. The Principal Electrical Designer proposes improvements to processes and methods within the Electrical Design discipline.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities:

  • Prepare and develop arrangement and detail conceptual, FEED, studies, and detail design drawings of high technical quality and professional consistent presentation ensuring clarity and ease of construction
  • Develop 3D models and ensure clash-free with all other disciplines
  • Ensure design deliverables are completed and issued per project specifications, MDR, and project Level 2 & 3 procedures, and within agreed schedules and budgets
  • Apply knowledge and/or skills to a range of activities
  • Set priorities, organize own work and time to meet objectives, and (as Lead Designer) forecast and plan resource requirements
  • Become fully familiar with the Contract Scope of Work, specifications, schedule, and all interdisciplinary requirements; including identifying concerns as early as practicable and taking appropriate initiatives to address the issues
  • Identify changes to scope and promptly raise change notification in the Change Management system, including providing any necessary supporting documentation and estimates
  • Provide similar support for Variation Orders
  • Interface with all disciplines to develop clash-free designs
  • Interface with other disciplines to obtain input for Discipline designs and drawings
  • Liaise with other discipline support groups to ensure clearly defined interfaces, deliverables, and schedules are met
  • Document substantive communications (communications that result in significant decisions or assignment of actions), and forward copies to Discipline Lead Designer and Discipline Supervisor
  • Assist Discipline Lead Designer in preparing estimates for proposals and job scope changes, including execution statements, work schedules, and man-hour requirements, identifying software requirements and any other project-specific requirements
  • Raise technical queries to obtain missing information, clarify work scope, and maintain preferred McDermott procedures, specifications, standards, practices, and operational requirements
  • Participate in finalizing deliverables lists, deliverables, and philosophies to ensure compliance with specifications and functional integrity
  • Review project schedule and fabrication schedule in relation to construction sequence, milestones, and design scope
  • Attend project kickoff and review meetings, vendor/supplier meetings, engineering and design meetings, and offshore site surveys as required
  • Research Customer standards and procedures in order to prepare project-specific design procedures and standards for submission to the Customer for approval
  • Set up and maintain the Discipline Master design drawing and document files
  • Develop and maintain project job books
  • Prepare and review Discipline deliverables such as:
    • 3D model
    • Detailed design drawings
  • Develop conceptual layouts based on experience and good offshore engineering practice & develop these through detail design
  • Assist the Lead Designer in supervising the preparation of key Discipline drawings
  • Liaise with the responsible Engineers for the timely expediting of Vendor Data to efficiently progress the project according to schedule requirements
  • Review drawings issued by other disciplines and incorporate the required data into Discipline drawings
  • Review vendor drawings and documents and incorporate required vendor data into Discipline drawings and documents
  • Assist in providing necessary design inputs to other disciplines to enable them to proceed with their deliverables
  • Identify all items for which insufficient data is available to allow the drawing or model to be completed (HOLDS), and list these on the drawing and on the standard 'HOLDS' list form; Notify the Discipline Lead Designer when there are updates to the Holds list
  • Generate IDC design documentation for the project
  • Perform design verification through single discipline checks (SDC) and/or inter-discipline checks (IDC), providing comments to the Lead Designer
  • Review all project IDC design documentation for detail technical interfaces
  • Maintain single discipline and inter-discipline check drawings and filing, including final archiving
  • Prepare, issue, and update material and weight data take-offs
  • Assist Fabrication as required in the resolution of construction difficulties relating to design problems, clashes, etc.
  • Monitor progress and maintain the deliverables register on an ongoing basis
  • Ensure compliance with the Project Execution Plan and the timely completion and archiving of drawings and documents
  • Keep the Lead Designer apprised of all activities, progress, and concerns, including manpower and budgetary-related
  • Assist in providing inputs for actual, planning, and forecasting progress reports including associated productivity
  • Prepare forecasting schedules of delayed deliverables
  • Advise the Lead Designer of problem areas and/or manpower concerns
  • Report errors and suggest resolution for the same
  • Participate in design reviews and audits
  • Capture lessons learned and enter into MDR's Lessons Learned system
  • Act as a resource for colleagues with less experience
  • Act as a technical resource to others in their own discipline
  • Guide less experienced Designers on MDR and Discipline procedures, standards, worksheets, design calculations, software, technical queries, etc.
  • Provide leadership, mentoring, and guidance to others
  • Assist in the maintenance of departmental technical guidelines and standards
  • Participate in the development and maintenance of Global Procedures, Software, Guidelines, and Standards
  • Further develop understanding of MDR's business and processes
  • Identify and provide training to staff in specific techniques and proprietary software
  • Provide information on employee performance to the Discipline Supervisor/ Engineering Manager
  • Assist the Discipline Supervisor/ Engineering Manager in interviewing job applicants
  • Prepare/ review and (as Lead Designer) approve Electrical Design deliverables such as:
    • 3D model Electrical scopes
    • One-line diagrams
    • Schematics
    • Interconnection and wiring diagrams
    • Block diagrams
    • Area classification drawings
    • Conduit and cable schedules
    • Power layout drawings
    • Earthing/grounding layout drawings
    • Lighting layout drawings
    • Electrical cable tray drawings
    • Electrical building drawings
    • Electrical support drawings
    • Electrical drawing indexes
    • Lighting design calculations
    • Cable sizing
  • Prepare/review and (as Lead Designer) approve bills of material and perform material take-offs for electrical items including cables, lighting fixtures, cable trays, cable glands, termination kits, and MCTs
  • Participate in clash resolution meetings, as required
  • Travel to the fabrication yard or offshore to assist in mechanical completion, hookup, and/or commissioning, as required
  • When acting as Lead Designer, in addition:
    • Direct small or medium Design team
    • Lead projects as Lead Designer engaging the participation of other disciplines
    • Coordinate all activities within own discipline and Discipline interfaces with other disciplines
    • Lead the design team of the assigned work area and complete within the planned schedule and budget, in accordance with standards, MDR, and project-specific procedures and to a high professional standard
    • Plan, organize, and direct all aspects of Discipline execution on the assigned project including scope, deliverables, schedule, and all Discipline manpower resources - agree allocations with the Engineering Manager
    • Ensure interfaces and deliverables are clearly identified
    • Maintain responsibility for progress and productivity, identifying any required corrective action
    • Act as project-based Discipline point of contact in communications and meetings with Project Team, Customer, vendor/supplier and/or subcontractor counterparts; and relevant agencies such as certifying authorities, auditors, third parties, etc.
    • Ensure substantive communications are documented
    • Prepare bids and project's Discipline design budget and execution plans, updating as required
    • Identify project staff needs based on knowledge of individual designer's skill sets and provide requests to the Discipline Supervisor / Engineering Manager
    • Plan, organize and assign tasks, responsibilities, and man-hour budgets to the Discipline team, and verify tasks are completed within budgets
    • Plan Discipline Level 4 detail deliverable schedule/ register compliant with the overall execution plan
    • Supervise and guide assigned Designers for Discipline design and design deliverables
    • Ensure Designers assigned to the project execute assigned tasks in a consistent manner
    • Prepare working forecasts identifying change management plans, corrective and real­time schedule
    • Provide Discipline inputs for actual, planning, and forecasting progress reports including associated productivity
    • Alert the project team of any deviation from the scope or a need for a change order
    • Monitor KPI measurement results, and take corrective action as necessary to improve Discipline performance, including performance at interfaces with others
    • Coordinate with other disciplines' Lead Designers to ensure timely receipt of necessary design inputs
    • Ensure Discipline Designers have sufficient input information for the drawing or model being undertaken
    • Raise and approve technical queries to obtain missing information, clarify work scope, and maintain preferred McDermott procedures, specifications, standards, practices, and operational requirements
    • Review and approve Discipline project:
      • Schedules
      • Execution plans
      • Deliverables lists
      • Deliverables
      • Forecasts
      • Estimates
      • Progress and productivity reports
      • Procedures
      • MTOs
    • Single discipline checks (SOC) / inter-discipline checks (IDC)
    • Review comments from Customers & other agencies on documents and drawings produced by the team and resolve and give guidance on their update and incorporation
    • Lead the Discipline team during project audits (internal, Customer, and third-party technical audits) and Design Reviews
    • Assist the Discipline Supervisor/Engineering Manager in the preparation of quarterly forecasts and manpower planning
    • Anticipate project engineering needs and plan accordingly
    • Assist the Discipline Supervisor/ Engineering Manager, and Project Engineering Manager or Project Manager in the Performance Evaluation of project team members
    • Ensure Electrical item clashes identified in 3D model are addressed and resolved
    • Participate in 3D model reviews, and ensure Electrical review comments are closed
    • Travel to the fabrication yard or offshore to assist in mechanical completion, hookup, and/or commissioning, as required

Reports to:

Project: Lead Designer, Project Engineering Manager or Project Manager

Functional: Supervising Designer or Engineering Manager

Liaise With: Lead Electrical Designers, Electrical Engineers, all other Engineering and Design disciplines assigned to the project, Project Engineer, Material Control Team, Document Control, and Customer representatives

Supervises: Design team assigned to a project or part of the project during the detailing and production phases

Essential Qualifications and Education:

  • High School graduate with a diploma in Civil, Electrical, or Mechanical Design, or Drafting in a related discipline or equivalent experience
  • 10 years min with major contractor or consultant of which 5+ years of experience in oil and gas
  • Detailed knowledge of associated industry detailing standards & codes Detailed knowledge of 3D and 2D drafting and material control systems (AutoCAD and/or MicroStation) Minimum 1 or 2 projects working experience in E3D and/or S3D Capable of Leading projects
  • Knowledge of QA Systems and a good communicator Working experience in project coordination and execution skills Detailed knowledge of AutoCAD and/or Auto lisp Programming, 3D Modeling, Menu and/or Macro compilation skills would be an advantage

#LI-DNI

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