Planning Advisor

Job Description — Senior Dry Utilities Planning Advisor
Role Overview
We are seeking a Dry Utilities Planning Advisor to provide strategic leadership in the planning and integration of electrical power and telecommunications infrastructure for complex, large-scale developments, including city-scale masterplans, industrial zones, corridors, mixed-use and giga-project programs. The role requires deep experience across electrical and telecommunication network planning and design, including primary/secondary substations, distribution networks, and grid interface/tie-in strategies, as well as strong capability in demand forecasting, renewable energy integration, and energy modelling. This is India based role and will be supporting the Middle East advisory business – mainly KSA and UAE projects.
You will act as a trusted advisor to clients, coordinate across multidisciplinary teams, and produce decision grade technical outputs from early feasibility and optioneering to enable robust, policy aligned, and future ready infrastructure outcomes, including preparation of indicative dry utilities layout plans and spatial schemes at strategic planning and master planning levels of detail.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities
•    Provide strategic advisory leadership on dry utilities planning across power and telecommunication systems, supporting master planning, vision plans, and development frameworks from early feasibility through concept and pre-design stages
•    Translate land use, density, development mix, and phasing into high-level power and telecom infrastructure strategies, spatial reservations, and servicing principles that enable master plan outcomes
•    Define planning-level network architectures, including grid interface strategies, primary and secondary substation allocation, HV corridors, MV routing/looping concepts, LV distribution principles, and district-level infrastructure reservations, supported by indicative layout plans and corridor alignments appropriate to master planning and framework plan stages
•    Assess and advise on grid connection options, reinforcement requirements, and interface risks, aligning utility strategy with developmental sequencing, authority constraints, and long-term capacity needs
•    Lead demand forecasting and capacity planning using land-use-driven methodologies, diversity assumptions, and scenario-based growth trajectories, translate results into staged infrastructure investment and delivery pathways
•    Support the integration of renewable energy generation and storage solutions at district or city scale, advising on grid impacts, phasing implications, and strategic interface considerations rather than detailed system design
•    Undertake feasibility studies, technical optioneering, and advisory reviews to inform client decision-making, investment prioritization, and downstream design development
•    Prepare and review conceptual and masterplan-level dry utilities layout plans, including substation plots, HV/MV routing, telecom corridor planning, and utility plot safeguarding, ensuring alignment with land use, urban design intent, and phasing strategies
•    Act as client-facing technical advisor, clearly communicating planning strategies, risks, and recommendations through reports, workshops, and senior forums
•    Coordinate with utility authorities, regulators, and stakeholders to align on planning assumptions, corridor safeguarding, capacity interfaces, and approval considerations
•    Contribute to multidisciplinary infrastructure advisory teams, supporting integration across wet utilities, transport, sustainability, and delivery planning
•    Mentor junior planners and engineers, providing technical guidance, QA/QC oversight, and structured coaching in planning methodologies and advisory reporting
•    Deliver planning level design outputs that define spatial strategy, constructability intent, and future design safeguards, without progressing to detailed engineering design or IFC documentation
 

Qualifications

Qualifications and Experience
•    Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering (Master’s preferred).
•    10+ years’ experience in electrical spatial planning and utility master planning, including city-scale or large development programs (mixed-use, industrial, infrastructure corridors).
•    Demonstrated capability across HV/MV/LV planning and design, including substations, distribution networks, and grid interfaces.
•    Experience preparing and reviewing master planning level utility layouts, spatial diagrams, and concept schematics to support master planning and early design decision making.
•    Proven experience delivering feasibility studies, demand forecasting, and planning-level assessments.
•    Strong client-facing track record and experience leading multidisciplinary teams/workstreams.
•    Middle East experience is preferred
Personal Skills
•    Clear, structured communicator with strong technical report writing and presentation skills
•    Confident advisor capable of guiding clients through uncertainty and early-stage decision-making
•    Strong integrator, comfortable coordinating across disciplines and balancing competing objectives
•    Detailed-oriented with a robust QA/QC mindset, while maintaining focus on strategic outcomes rather than design mandates.

BGV:

• Employment with WSP India is subject to the successful completion of a background verification (“BGV”) check conducted by a third-party agency appointed by WSP India.

• Candidates are advised to ensure that all information provided during the recruitment process — including documents uploaded — is accurate and complete, both to WSP India and its BGV partner”.

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