Position Title: SENIOR PROTECTION ENGINEER
Location: HOUSTON, TEXAS or REMOTE USA
FLSA Class: EXEMPT
Responsible to: PRINCIPAL PROTECTION ENGINEER
Position Summary: We are seeking a highly motivated and detail-oriented Senior Protection Engineer to join our electrical engineering team. This individual will play a key role in designing, developing, testing, and supporting electrical protection schemes for VoltaGrid power generation, medium voltage distribution, and auxiliary power systems. The Protection Engineer will collaborate across Engineering, Operations, Commissioning, OEM, and project teams to develop relay settings, perform short circuit studies, support factory acceptance testing and site commissioning, and help ensure safe, reliable, and resilient operation of VoltaGrid assets.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Design protection schemes for transformers, generators, feeders, busses, and related medium voltage and low voltage power distribution equipment.
- Create, review, and maintain relay calculation workbooks, settings files, logic, protection narratives, coordination documentation, and associated design deliverables.
- Apply protection functions to protect equipment such as synchronous generators, transformers, and IBRs with other functions as required by the application.
- Coordinate protection requirements with single-line diagrams, control schematics, equipment vendor packages, and project specifications.
- Create and review short circuit studies to support equipment ratings, protection settings, and coordination requirements.
- Develop study assumptions, validate system data, and document study conclusions in a clear and auditable manner.
- Support arc flash, load flow, transient, and dynamic modeling activities as required by project needs.
- Use engineering tools and models to evaluate abnormal operating conditions and recommend practical protection or control improvements.
- Design and implement protection and control schemes using IEC 61850 standards, including GOOSE messaging and related IED configuration requirements.
- Develop or review relay logic, communications mapping, test plans, and integration documentation for protection and control systems.
- Work with SCADA, controls, automation, and networking teams to ensure protection system data is properly integrated into plant monitoring and control systems.
- Support standardization of relay templates, naming conventions, settings practices, and testing procedures across VoltaGrid projects.
- Support factory acceptance testing (FAT), hardware-in-the-loop testing, site acceptance testing, and site commissioning activities for protection and control systems.
- Troubleshoot relay settings, logic, communications, wiring, and field implementation issues in coordination with commissioning and operations personnel.
- Review test results, resolve punch list items, and ensure protection settings and documentation reflect the final installed configuration.
- Travel to project sites, vendor facilities, and test locations as needed, particularly during initial project execution and commissioning phases.
- Work cross-functionally with Engineering, Construction, Operations, Commissioning, Procurement, and external engineering partners.
- Provide technical guidance to project teams and support continuous improvement of VoltaGrid protection engineering standards.
- Prepare clear technical documentation, issue logs, design notes, and turnover packages for internal and external stakeholders.
- Maintain a strong safety mindset and promote ethical behavior in all aspects of the business.
Other Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field, or equivalent power systems protection experience.
- 10+ years of experience in protection engineering, relay settings, power system studies, and commissioning support.
- Experience developing relay standards, settings templates, commissioning procedures, or protection philosophy documents.
- Experience creating short circuit studies for industrial, generation, utility, or medium voltage distribution systems.
- Hands-on experience with SEL relays and relay settings software.
- Experience designing and implementing protection schemes using IEC 61850 standards and familiarity with the data model concept.
- Experience supporting site commissioning and/or factory acceptance testing for protection, controls, or power system equipment.
- Strong understanding of power system protection principles, relay coordination, single-line diagrams, control schematics, and field testing practices.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Ability and willingness to travel 25% to 50% of the time, at least initially, based on project and commissioning needs.
- 15+ years of experience in protection engineering, relay settings, power system studies, and commissioning support.
- Experience creating short circuit studies in ETAP.
- Experience with Siemens and ABB relays.
- System modeling experience with PSS/E, PSCAD, and/or hardware-in-the-loop testing with RTDS.
- Professional Engineer (PE) license or ability to obtain licensure in Texas.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- High attention to detail and ability to manage multiple priorities.
- Strong interpersonal skills; able to work with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Ability to translate protection requirements into practical relay settings, logic, studies, and test procedures.
- Self-motivated, safety-focused, and comfortable supporting fast-paced project execution and field commissioning activities.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this classification. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.
VoltaGrid is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability or handicap, sex, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information, arrest record, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.
Our management team is dedicated to this policy with respect to recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, training, compensation, benefits, employee activities, and general treatment during employment #GC
Originally posted on