Offshore Cable Electrical Engineer

Summary

• Client: Major Irish energy utility – Engineering and Major Projects (EMP) division – client identity disclosed at NDA / interview stage
• Comp. No.: 267
• Contract type: Contingent Labour – daily rate
• Start date: November 2026
• Duration: 12 months with option to extend
• Location: One Dublin Airport Central, Dublin Airport, Co. Dublin, K67 XF72 – hybrid (max. 2 days/month in office for team meetings). Majority remote. Work assignments associated with Offshore Wind projects in Ireland; flexibility required for UK assignments.
• Rate: TBC – to be confirmed
• Level: Senior specialist – minimum 10 years' relevant experience in submarine cable electrical engineering
• Work authorisation: Must hold valid right to work in Ireland. EU/EEA or Irish/UK passport holders strongly preferred. UK tax residents: inside IR35 classification applies.
• SafePass: Required – Irish Health & Safety Authority (HSA) SafePass card mandatory for all site/offshore access
• Equipment: Candidate must provide own phone and laptop/PC with internet

Context

The client is a major Irish energy utility operating across generation, transmission, and distribution in Ireland and the UK, with a growing portfolio of offshore wind projects through its Engineering and Major Projects (EMP) division. As Ireland accelerates its offshore wind development programme to meet its 2030 renewable energy targets, the EMP division is building out the engineering and technical advisory capacity required to deliver complex offshore infrastructure — including export and inter-array cable systems for large-scale offshore windfarms.

The Cables Electrical Engineer will be embedded within the EMP Cables package team, working across the full project lifecycle from concept refinement and FEED through to project execution. The role is technically specialised and sits at the intersection of cable electrical system design, contractor management, and quality assurance — requiring a profile who can both produce and critically review detailed cable engineering work, and who has hands-on experience witnessing factory acceptance testing and managing complex supplier interfaces.

Key Responsibilities

Tender, Design and Engineering

• Review contractor cable electrical system designs with respect to the Employer's Requirements — assess technical adequacy, identify non-conformances, and produce formal technical comments for contractor response. Maintain a systematic record of design review outcomes.
• Co-ordinate all aspects of the tendering phase associated with the electrical cable system design — manage and respond to technical clarifications from the project and contractors, conduct technical evaluation of tender responses, and prepare technical evaluation reports for Package Manager decision-making.
• Ensure cross-package interfacing is effectively managed — work with other package teams (substation, grid, foundations) to ensure that cable electrical inputs and outputs (voltage, current capacity, grounding arrangements, fault levels, induced voltages) are correctly captured and resolved across the wider project electrical system design.
• Provide close technical liaison with Substation and Grid Electrical Designers — act as the cables technical expert within the wider wind farm electrical system design team, ensuring that the cable package is fully integrated into the wind farm electrical concept (array layout, collection system, transformer sizing, reactive compensation, protection philosophy).
• Review offshore site investigation data relevant to cable electrical performance — in particular thermal and electrical resistivities of seabed and landfall soils, identification of potential thermal hotspots, and coordination with contractors on in-situ thermal resistivity (TR) testing methodologies to optimise cable sizing and burial depth.
• Perform technical review of contractor-produced reports, design studies, and analysis documents — including Cable and Accessories Design and Analysis Reports, cable optimisation studies, fault studies, and system studies (short-circuit, load flow, harmonic, transient). Identify and address technical gaps.
• Prepare technical documentation and specifications for internal use and contractor's use — design intent documents (DID), employer's requirements documents, technical specifications for cable systems and accessories.
• Review and comment on detailed costing of all materials, production, and technical services provided by contractors — provide technical input to commercial evaluation and support cost optimisation initiatives.

Project Execution Phase

• Participate in regular technical meetings with contractor representatives throughout project execution — ensure ongoing compliance with Employer's Requirements and the contract, track open technical items, and support resolution of technical disputes.
• Participate in and/or lead factory QA audits of cable manufacturers, including key sub-contractors such as cable protection system manufacturers and HDD (Horizontal Directional Drilling) contractors — assess manufacturing quality systems, witness critical manufacturing stages, and produce audit reports.
• Attend and witness Pre-Qualification (PQ) tests, type tests, and Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) for cable systems and accessories — prepare test witnessing plans, attend testing events at cable manufacturer facilities, assess test results against specification requirements, and provide formal witness statements.
• Provide engineering support to Package Managers across multiple packages — prepare formal technical reports and engineering decision support documents.

General

• Apply relevant standards and specifications in line with OFTO and project requirements — including IEC 60502 / IEC 60840 / IEC 62067 (power cable design and testing), CIGRÉ technical brochures, and project-specific technical specifications.
• Input to risk registers, HSE assessments and engineering decision logs for the cables package — integrate HSE and environmental requirements into cable design and procurement strategy.
• Support value management and project optimisation — track and document cable package optimisation activities and quantify their impact on overall project cost of energy.

Required Profile

Essential experience and qualifications

• Minimum 10 years' relevant experience in submarine cable electrical engineering — covering at least two of the following areas: cable electrical system design, thermal rating calculations, cable and accessory specification and procurement, factory quality assurance, FAT/type test witnessing. Experience on offshore wind or HVAC/HVDC interconnector projects is strongly preferred.
• Cable electrical system design and specification — demonstrated experience in the design and/or critical review of submarine cable systems, including production of Design Intent Documents (DID), cable sizing (current capacity, voltage drop, fault level), and development of detailed technical specifications and employer's requirements documents.
• FAT, PQ testing, and type testing — direct experience attending and witnessing cable pre-qualification, type, and factory acceptance tests at cable manufacturers' facilities. Ability to assess test results against specification and produce formal technical witness statements.
• Thermal rating and thermal modelling — experience of cable thermal rating calculations, including understanding of IEC 60287 methodology. Knowledge of CYMCAP or COMSOL (or equivalent) for cable thermal modelling is a significant bonus. Familiarity with Dynamic Thermal Rating (DTR) systems, including Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) and Real-Time Thermal Rating (RTTR) systems.
• Submarine cable and accessory design — experience in the design and review of cable accessories for offshore applications: transition joints (land/sea interface), J-tubes, cable protection systems, hang-off arrangements, end caps and terminations.
• Factory QA audits — experience conducting or participating in quality assurance audits of cable manufacturing facilities, including assessment of QA/QC systems, production process controls, and material traceability.
• Technical and commercial evaluation of submarine cable systems — experience evaluating contractor tenders for submarine cable supply and/or installation contracts, with the ability to assess both the technical compliance and commercial competitiveness of submissions.
• SHEQ standards — proficiency in SHEQ standards applicable to terrestrial and offshore projects, including familiarity with CDMC, IMO, and IMCA requirements and recommendations.
• Level 8 engineering qualification (or equivalent relevant work experience) in Electrical Engineering or related discipline.

Desirable

• Experience in subsea surveys and engineering, including interpretation of geotechnical and geophysical investigation reports in the context of cable routing, burial assessment, and thermal resistivity characterisation.
• Project Management qualification or MBA.
• Experience with technical design certification processes.