Senior Solar PV Design Engineer

Overview

The Senior Solar PV Design Engineer is the design authority within Sunbird’s core design team. The post-holder reviews and approves design packs at each project gate before they are issued for permitting, procurement and construction, owns the day-to-day application of the Sunbird design standard, and develops the design engineers whose work they check.

This is a senior hands-on role, not a management layer. The post-holder holds delegated approval authority from the Head of Engineering, carries their own design load on the most complex projects, and is accountable for enforcing the design approval process. They are also the technical bridge between the core design team and our in-country engineers, especially in Poland, currently our largest market.

Responsibilities

Design review & approval (primary focus)

• Review and approve design packs at each project gate: energy-yield models, layouts and stringing, single-line diagrams, cable sizing, protection and earthing, and structural and fire-safety interfaces.

• Exercise delegated design authority: approve within the standard, return packs with clear redlines, and escalate genuine departures from the standard to the Head of Engineering.

• Keep review turnaround predictable and visible, so that design approval supports the delivery programme rather than holding it up.

• Review designs produced by EPC partners and third-party designers where Sunbird acts as EPC manager, holding them to the same standard as in-house work.

Complex design delivery

• Lead the design of Sunbird’s most complex projects; larger and MV-connected systems, carports and ground-mount, and first projects in new markets.

• Build and check PVsyst energy-yield models (P50/P90) and optimise system configuration for yield, losses, buildability and cost.

• Specify and standardise primary equipment (modules, inverters, mounting and protection) with Procurement, so that designs and bulk purchasing stay aligned.

Sunbird design standard

• Maintain Sunbird’s design standard, templates, calculation tools, equipment ranges and QA checklists, with the Head of Engineering and the Lead Solar PV Designer.

• Keep the design logic identical across markets, with country-specific requirements layered on top, and feed lessons from site and operations back into the standard so each failure is fixed once.

In-country engineering interface

• Work alongside in-country engineers and local consultants, who own local permitting, grid-connection applications and statutory sign-off. The core design team owns design quality to the Sunbird standard; in-country engineering owns local compliance. The post-holder makes sure the two fit together.

• For Poland, review design documentation, grid-connection conditions and fire-safety inputs prepared locally, and make sure they align with Sunbird’s design before submission.

• As new markets open, identify which local requirements need to be captured in the standard, and brief local partners and EPCs on how Sunbird designs.

Team development

• Mentor and develop the design engineers and graduates, using structured redline feedback and regular design reviews to raise the standard of first submissions, and support recruitment and onboarding as the team grows.

Project & technical delivery

• Resolve complex technical issues during procurement, construction and commissioning, and respond to contractor RFIs.

• Carry out site visits, design verification and commissioning performance reviews, and represent Sunbird's design to insurers, lenders’ technical advisers and independent engineers.

Collaboration

• Work closely with Project Management, Procurement and Asset Management, and share lessons learned across the portfolio and between countries.

Person Specification

Essential

• Degree (BEng, MEng or BSc) in Electrical, Energy, Renewable Energy or a closely related engineering discipline, minimum RQF Level 6.

• Around five years’ or more experience in solar PV system design, including at least two years reviewing, checking or approving other engineers’ designs.

• Fluent professional English, and willing and able to travel frequently across Europe.

• Expert, hands-on PVsyst energy-yield modelling, and strong LV electrical design: single-line diagrams, cable sizing, protection coordination and earthing. Working knowledge of MV connections.

• Experience delivering C&I or distributed-generation PV across the full lifecycle, preferably in more than one country or regulatory regime.

• A track record of writing or improving design standards, templates or QA processes, rather than only working to them.

• The judgement and confidence to reject a design, and the patience to teach the engineer how to fix it; methodical, with strong documentation discipline.

  
  

Desirable

• Polish at professional working level, strongly preferred, given the size of our Polish portfolio.

• Familiarity with Polish PV permitting and grid-connection processes, including building permit, fire-safety agreement and distribution network operator (DSO) connection requirements.

• Polish building design qualifications (uprawnienia budowlane) in electrical installations, or another national design sign-off qualification.

• Chartered Engineer (CEng) or IEng status, or working towards it.

• AutoCAD and VirtoSolar (Virto CAD), drone or point-cloud survey models, and carport, ground-mount or battery storage (BESS) design experience.

• Additional European languages, particularly German, Spanish, Italian or Croatian.

What We Offer

• Design authority and influence in a growing pan-European solar PV business

• A clear route into engineering leadership as the core design team grows.

• Travel support, including visa costs where required and generous living-out allowances.

• All tools and IT equipment required to perform the role.

• A collaborative, entrepreneurial team culture.