How to become a Senior Technician, Electrical in Australia
Electrical (LV and MV)
The site’s electrical specialist on shift: switching low and high voltage, transfers, UPS systems and generators, under the authorisations each needs.
What the role does
The site’s electrical specialist on shift: LV and MV switching, transfers, UPS and generation, and the authorisations they need.
What a shift looks like
Shifts on a roster. Switching programmes for planned work, generator tests, UPS maintenance with vendors, and the first response to electrical faults.
What employers call it
- Critical Facilities Engineer (Electrical) (colocation and wholesale)
- HV Engineer (colocation and wholesale)
Skills
The level the role needs in each, on FacilityVR’s five levels from Aware to Authority.
Safe isolation
- Isolate and lock out a single energy source Leads others
- Isolate plant with several energy sources Leads others
- Prove dead before touching Leads others
- Remove isolations and restore plant Leads others
- Authorise isolations Independent
Emergency response
- Rescue from a live electrical incident Independent
- Recognise and report a suspected cyber incident Assisted
MV switching
- Earth and lock MV equipment Independent
- Inspect a transformer Independent
- Prove MV equipment dead Independent
- Rack an MV circuit breaker Independent
- Read MV systems and their protection Independent
- Write and carry out a switching programme Independent
LV distribution
- Operate LV switchboards and breakers Leads others
- Trace the power path and its redundancy Leads others
- AI load swings and how they are smoothed Independent
- Connect rack power and busway Independent
- Survey electrical plant with a thermal imager Independent
- Work on in-rack DC busbars and power shelves Independent
Power transfer and generation
- Respond to a utility failure Leads others
- Transfer and retransfer at an ATS by hand Leads others
- Coordinate load changes with the site plant or utility Independent
- Operate a static transfer switch Independent
- Operate and respond to a site battery energy storage system Independent
- Prime and behind-the-meter power Independent
- Restore the site from a black start Independent
- Start, load-test and stop a generator Independent
UPS and batteries
- Put a UPS into bypass and return it Leads others
- Respond to a UPS alarm Leads others
- Battery room safety Independent
- Inspect and test batteries Independent
- Operate a flywheel UPS Independent, desirable
Procedures and documents
- Carry out a method of procedure (MOP) Leads others
- Write and review a MOP Independent
Leadership
- Coach and assess others Independent
Licences and credentials
-
The licence of the state or territory where the site is · Required
- NSW Qualified supervisor certificate (electrical wiring work), NSW · Building Commission NSW
- VIC Electrician’s licence (A Grade), Victoria · Energy Safe Victoria
- QLD Electrical work licence (electrical mechanic), Queensland · Electrical Safety Office (Office of Industrial Relations)
- WA Electrician’s licence, Western Australia · Building and Energy (Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety)
- SA Electrical worker registration, South Australia · Consumer and Business Services
- TAS Electrical practitioner licence (electrician), Tasmania · Consumer Affairs Tasmania
- ACT Electrician licence (unrestricted), ACT · Construction Occupations Registrar (Access Canberra)
- NT Electrical work licence (unrestricted electrical mechanic), NT · Electrical Safety Regulator, NT WorkSafe
-
Provide First Aid (HLTAID011)
Usually asked for · A registered training organisation
Not legal advice: check with the regulator for your state.
Nationally recognised units
Units of competency that line up with what the role asks, as training.gov.au publishes them.
- UEPOPS124 Perform switching to a switching program
- UETDRMP018 Perform rescue from a live low voltage panel
Ways in and ways on
From outside the industry
From another data centre role
Where it leads
- Shift Lead, typically 2 years
- Chief Engineer, typically 3 years
- Facilities Assurance Lead (a sideways move)
Jobs open now
None right now. See every open job.
Questions about data centre careers? Ask about data centre careers
Sources and licences
Occupation codes: 381231 Electrician (General); 381233 Industrial Electrician.
- Critical Facilities reference framework © Facility Labs. (CC BY 4.0)
- Units of competency from training.gov.au, © Commonwealth of Australia, captured 2026.10. Kept as published. (Training package content, © Commonwealth of Australia: kept as published, no adapted copies)
- Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, OSCA – Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0, and its correspondence to ISCO-08. CC BY 4.0. (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International)