Senior Program Manager, Owner's Engineer
Location: Houston, TX
Schedule: Hybrid, approximately 70-80% onsite coordination
Employment Type: Contract with potential for long-term conversion
Compensation: $90-$100/hour
Position Overview:
A leading engineering and infrastructure organization is seeking a Senior Program/Project Manager to support Owner's Engineer services for a large-scale electric transmission and substation capital portfolio. This is a senior-level leadership opportunity supporting the successful delivery of complex utility infrastructure programs through oversight, coordination, and strategic guidance.
The selected individual will serve in an Owner's Engineer capacity, providing independent oversight and advisory support throughout project planning, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and closeout phases. This role requires extensive experience managing large capital programs, leading multidisciplinary teams, and overseeing EPC project execution.
This is not a traditional project management position. The ideal candidate will bring a strong utility infrastructure background, executive-level communication skills, and the ability to provide owner-side leadership across project controls, risk management, cost, schedule, change management, and stakeholder coordination.
Key Responsibilities:
- Provide owner-side leadership and oversight for a portfolio of transmission and substation projects delivered through EPC contracting models.
- Act as a trusted advisor and extension of the project owner's organization.
- Coordinate activities among engineering, project controls, procurement, construction, commissioning, and operations teams.
- Monitor EPC contractor performance related to scope, cost, schedule, quality, safety, and contract compliance.
- Lead project governance activities, readiness reviews, stage-gate processes, and executive reporting.
- Identify project risks, issues, and opportunities early and facilitate timely resolution.
- Review and evaluate project controls information, including cost forecasts, schedules, risk registers, change management documentation, and performance metrics.
- Support construction readiness, commissioning activities, turnover planning, and project closeout.
- Facilitate communication and alignment among internal stakeholders, contractors, consultants, and executive leadership.
- Provide mentorship and leadership to project teams while promoting best practices and continuous improvement.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, or a related discipline.
- Minimum 15 years of experience supporting utility infrastructure, major capital projects, or program management initiatives.
- Demonstrated experience serving in an Owner's Engineer, owner's representative, owner's advisory, utility owner-side, or EPC oversight role.
- Strong background supporting transmission and substation projects.
- Experience with large-scale capital programs involving multiple stakeholders, complex interfaces, and significant project coordination requirements.
- Proven ability to oversee engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning activities.
Experience managing:
- Project scope and execution planning.
- Cost management and forecasting.
- Schedule management.
- Project controls.
- Risk and change management.
- Engineering coordination .
- Procurement and construction interfaces.
- Commissioning and project closeout
- Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
- Ability to operate independently, exercise sound judgment, and proactively drive project success.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Bachelor's or advanced degree in Engineering.
- Professional Engineer (PE) and/or Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
- Experience with transmission and substation EPC delivery models.
- Experience managing multiple concurrent projects within a program or portfolio environment.
- Knowledge of project controls systems, integrated scheduling, cost validation, and reporting tools.
- Experience with Primavera P6 and related project management platforms.
- Experience supporting extra-high-voltage transmission and substation programs.
- Familiarity with executive governance, reporting, and capital program oversight processes.
Ideal Candidate Profile: The successful candidate will demonstrate:
- Strong owner-side project leadership experience.
- Executive presence and client-facing communication skills.
- Collaborative leadership style.
- Ability to build trust across technical and business teams.
- Proactive problem-solving capabilities.
- Strategic thinking combined with practical execution experience.
- Strong organizational and decision-making skills.
- Commitment to delivering value beyond standard project management responsibilities.
Why This Opportunity?
This position offers the opportunity to play a critical leadership role on a major utility infrastructure program, influencing project outcomes, strengthening stakeholder alignment, and helping guide successful execution of high-profile transmission and substation investments.