Electrical Design Lead

Electrical Design Lead – Data Centres | Critical Infrastructure

📍 Location: Remote – Anywhere in Europe

✈️ Travel: Regular travel across Sub-Saharan Africa

💼 Job Type: Full-Time | Technical Leadership

🏗️ Sector: Data Centres | Digital Infrastructure | Critical Power

🎯 Experience: 10+ Years

🚀 The Opportunity

Zircoe Recruitment is seeking an experienced Electrical Design Lead to take ownership of electrical engineering standards, design strategy and technical governance across a growing portfolio of data centre campuses in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This is a senior technical leadership opportunity within an ambitious digital infrastructure business, offering the flexibility to work remotely from anywhere in Europe, alongside regular international travel to project locations across the region.

Acting as the electrical technical authority, you will oversee critical power infrastructure from utility connection through to the IT white space, providing technical direction throughout design, procurement, construction, commissioning and operational handover.

This is an opportunity to shape the electrical engineering strategy of a growing data centre business and help deliver reliable, resilient, hyperscale-grade digital infrastructure.

🔑 Key Responsibilities

⚡ Electrical Design & Technical Authority

• Lead electrical design across HV, MV and LV distribution systems, including utility connections, switchgear, transformers, busbar systems and cabling.
• Oversee resilient power infrastructure, including N+1 and 2N UPS systems, standby generators, static and automatic transfer switches, battery systems and rack-level power distribution.
• Establish electrical design standards, specifications and technical governance across the data centre portfolio.
• Review and approve single-line diagrams, cable schedules, earthing drawings and protection coordination studies.
• Ensure designs incorporate appropriate redundancy, resilience, concurrent maintainability and fault tolerance.

🏗️ Design Review & Construction Oversight

• Act as the technical representative for electrical engineering throughout design development and construction.
• Review and approve electrical drawings, design calculations, specifications and contractor submissions.
• Assess contractor and supplier proposals, supporting technical tender evaluations and procurement decisions.
• Work closely with construction teams to resolve technical queries, manage design changes and maintain approved design intent.
• Identify and manage technical risks, design discrepancies and compliance issues.
• Coordinate electrical infrastructure with mechanical, structural, architectural and IT systems.

🔧 Commissioning & Operational Handover

• Provide technical oversight of electrical testing and commissioning activities.
• Witness and approve Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) and Integrated Systems Testing (IST).
• Support commissioning plans, test procedures and acceptance criteria.
• Review as-built drawings, test certificates, equipment schedules and asset records.
• Oversee operational documentation, including Method of Procedure (MOP), Emergency Operating Procedures (EOP) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
• Support the successful handover of electrical systems to Operations.

🌱 Power Performance & Energy Strategy

• Drive electrical efficiency, power quality and infrastructure performance.
• Oversee protection coordination, harmonics, metering and electrical monitoring systems.
• Support the integration of EPMS, DCIM and associated monitoring platforms.
• Evaluate renewable energy solutions, battery energy storage and low-carbon power options.
• Identify opportunities to improve resilience, sustainability and whole-life operating costs.

🛡️ Compliance, Safety & Governance

• Ensure electrical engineering and construction activities comply with applicable Kenyan legislation and recognised international standards.
• Maintain alignment with relevant EPRA, IEC, IEEE and NFPA 70 requirements.
• Establish robust electrical safety procedures covering HV switching, safe isolation and permit-to-work systems.
• Oversee electrical risk assessments, arc flash assessments and mitigation measures.
• Promote a strong electrical safety culture across design, construction, commissioning and operations.
• Liaise with utilities, regulators and statutory authorities as required.

👥 Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Provide technical leadership, direction and mentorship to electrical engineers and technical personnel.
• Collaborate with the Head of Engineering, Mechanical Lead, construction teams, commissioning personnel and Operations.
• Build relationships with design consultants, contractors, equipment manufacturers and utility providers.
• Prepare engineering reports, technical risk assessments, design reviews and CapEx proposals.
• Provide technical input into customer due diligence, pre-sales activities and client presentations.
• Help develop the engineering capability, standards and processes required as the business expands.

👤 About You

You are a technically credible Electrical Engineering professional with extensive experience delivering complex electrical power infrastructure within the data centre sector.

You have the confidence and expertise to act as the electrical technical authority, make critical engineering decisions and influence multidisciplinary teams across design, construction and commissioning.

You will bring a combination of deep technical knowledge, critical infrastructure experience, safety leadership and the ability to establish engineering standards within a growing international business.

✅ Essential Requirements

• BSc or BEng in Electrical Engineering from a recognised university.
• Registered or Chartered Professional Engineer with a recognised engineering body, such as EBK, ECSA, Engineering Council UK or US PE.
• Willingness to obtain any additional professional registration required to practise in Kenya.
• Minimum 10 years' progressive electrical engineering experience, including at least 5 years within the data centre sector.
• Demonstrable experience acting as the electrical technical authority on Tier III or higher (or equivalent) data centre projects, preferably involving multi-megawatt facilities.
• Direct responsibility for electrical design, redundancy and resilience strategies, commissioning and operational handover.
• Hands-on experience with HV/MV switchgear (typically 11kV–33kV), transformers and protection relay schemes.
• In-depth understanding of data centre power architectures, including 2N, N+1, distributed and block redundancy, and concurrent maintainability.
• Proven experience with large-scale UPS installations and standby generator plant.
• Competency in producing and reviewing SLDs, cable schedules, earthing drawings and protection coordination studies.
• Strong understanding of TIA-942, EN 50600 and Uptime Institute Tier classification.
• Experience witnessing and signing off FAT, SAT and IST activities.
• Experience preparing electrical operating procedures and working within formal permit-to-work systems.
• Strong understanding of electrical safety, power system protection and regulatory compliance.
• Ability and willingness to undertake regular international travel across Sub-Saharan Africa.

⭐ Desirable Experience

• Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Systems or Energy Management.
• Uptime Institute Accredited Tier Designer (ATD), CDCP or equivalent data centre certification.
• Experience integrating renewable energy solutions, PPAs and battery energy storage systems.
• Familiarity with SCADA, EPMS and BMS platforms.
• Knowledge of East African power infrastructure and regulatory requirements, including Kenya Power, KETRACO and REREC.
• Manufacturer training or certification with Schneider Electric, ABB, Eaton or similar.
• Experience delivering greenfield data centre developments or major data centre fit-outs.
• Experience working across multiple international markets, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa.

🎁 What's on Offer?

• Remote working opportunity from anywhere in Europe.
• A senior technical leadership position within a growing digital infrastructure business.
• Significant ownership and influence over electrical engineering standards and design strategy.
• The opportunity to deliver critical, hyperscale-grade data centre infrastructure across Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Exposure to major infrastructure developments and leading engineering and technology partners.
• Competitive compensation package, including performance-based incentives.
• The opportunity to help build engineering capability, systems and processes as the business expands.

📩 Apply Today

If you are an experienced Electrical Engineering professional with a strong data centre background and the technical capability to lead critical power infrastructure across international projects, we would like to hear from you.

Apply today or contact Zircoe Recruitment for a confidential discussion.

🔷 Zircoe Recruitment – Your Future Secured.