Senior Engineer, Substations - Protection & Control

Forge ahead with WSB. WSB was founded on the understanding that culture drives results, and we've dedicated ourselves to the value of strong relationships, collaboration, and forward-thinking ideas. We've inspired each other to discover thoughtful and creative solutions that look beyond the needs of today to the opportunities of tomorrow. We are looking for an experienced Senior Substation Protection & Control Engineer with a strong background in utility substation protection, control, automation, and SCADA design. This individual will execute, lead, and provide technical oversight for substation engineering and consulting services across the United States while coordinating with project managers, discipline leads, engineers, designers, and drafters. The role is responsible for successful delivery from conceptual design through IFC, construction support, testing, commissioning, and record drawings. The Senior Substation Protection & Control Engineer will develop and review protection and control designs including one-line and three-line diagrams, AC and DC schematics, protection logic, panel and control enclosure arrangements, equipment and relay wiring, communications and SCADA interfaces, cable schedules, calculations, settings coordination inputs, equipment specifications, and construction packages. The role also supports scope development, proposals, estimates, schedules, execution planning, quality reviews, client coordination, and technical mentoring. The successful candidate will provide technical leadership, improve engineering standards and processes, communicate directly with clients and external stakeholders, and maintain a strong focus on safety, quality, constructability, schedule, and budget. This position is primarily remote, and the candidate may be located anywhere within the United States. We invite you to forge ahead with us.

What you will do:

• Execute, lead, and oversee protection and control design for greenfield, brownfield, expansion, retrofit, and equipment replacement substation projects.
• Develop and review one-line diagrams, three-line diagrams, AC and DC schematics, protection logic diagrams, tripping and closing circuits, interlocking, annunciation, and auxiliary control circuits.
• Develop and review relay and control panel layouts, control building arrangements, equipment wiring diagrams, elementary diagrams, termination drawings, cable schedules, and bills of material.
• Develop protection philosophies and design criteria for transmission, distribution, transformer, bus, breaker failure, capacitor bank, reactor, and other substation protection applications.
• Coordinate relay application, settings requirements, logic, communications, and interfaces with protection studies and relay settings engineers.
• Develop and review SCADA, RTU, HMI, communications, metering, sequence-of-events, and station automation design requirements.
• Develop and review station service AC and DC systems, including battery, battery charger, DC distribution, panelboard, and control power loading requirements.
• Prepare and review equipment specifications and technical procurement packages for relays, control panels, control enclosures, batteries, chargers, RTUs, communications equipment, and related systems.
• Review vendor drawings and incorporate approved equipment, panel, and wiring information into the design.
• Coordinate P&C requirements with Physical, Civil/Structural, Telecommunications, Transmission Line, Distribution, and other supporting disciplines.
• Support project scope development, engineering estimates, schedules, budgets, proposals, and execution plans.
• Provide technical leadership through conceptual, 30%, 60%, 90%, IFC, construction support, testing and commissioning, and record drawing phases.
• Perform interdisciplinary design reviews and identify protection, wiring, interface, constructability, outage, and commissioning risks.
• Perform and document quality control reviews of drawings, calculations, specifications, and other engineering deliverables in accordance with company and client quality processes.
• Participate in client meetings and communicate with utilities, equipment manufacturers, contractors, testing organizations, and other project stakeholders.
• Provide construction and commissioning support, including responses to RFIs, review of substitutions, resolution of field conditions, and support for design changes.
• Perform site visits, field inspections, field data collection, and existing-condition verification for brownfield and retrofit projects.
• Support factory acceptance testing, panel inspections, testing documentation, and energization activities when required.
• Develop and maintain design standards, templates, checklists, specifications, typical details, and engineering procedures.
• Provide technical direction and mentorship to engineers, designers, and drafters while managing assigned work to scope, quality, schedule, and budget requirements.

What you will bring:

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from an ABET-accredited or similarly recognized engineering program.
• 10+ years of experience in substation protection and control engineering and design.
• Demonstrated experience designing medium- and high-voltage utility substations, including both greenfield and brownfield projects.
• Strong experience with protection schemes, AC and DC schematics, relay and control panel design, equipment wiring, station service systems, SCADA, communications interfaces, and cable schedules.
• Advanced knowledge of engineering design principles and applicable IEEE, ANSI, NESC, NFPA, NERC, and utility standards and practices.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and review engineering drawings, calculations, specifications, and construction documents.
• Experience leading technical design activities and coordinating engineers, designers, and drafters.
• Previous experience mentoring junior and mid-level engineers and designers.
• Ability to interpret existing drawings, relay and equipment manuals, vendor drawings, specifications, and field information.
• Strong understanding of constructability, outages, cutovers, testing, and modifications within energized substations.
• Working knowledge of project scope development, estimating, scheduling, budgeting, and proposal preparation.
• Excellent written, verbal, organizational, and client-facing communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects or assignments and travel occasionally for field assignments, client meetings, factory testing, and commissioning support.
• Experience with substations from 69 kV through 500 kV or higher.
• Experience serving as Lead P&C Engineer or Engineer of Record on utility substation projects.
• Experience with major utility clients and utility-specific design standards.
• Experience with AutoCAD Electrical, MicroStation, Bentley applications, Bluebeam, or comparable design and review platforms.
• Familiarity with SEL, GE, Siemens, Schweitzer, and other commonly used protection, automation, and communications equipment.
• Experience with IEC 61850, DNP3, Modbus, PRP/HSR, communications networks, digital substations, or process bus applications.
• Experience with protection studies, relay settings coordination, testing plans, commissioning, and energization support.
• Experience supporting EPC, engineer-procure, or fast-track substation programs.
• Professional Engineer (P.E.) license highly preferred.

Who We Are:

WSB is a design and consulting firm specializing in Transportation, Community Planning, Environmental, Energy, Municipal, and Construction services. We provide solutions for the places, spaces and systems that support our lives. We offer services in more than 50 complementary areas across the nation.

Full time WSB employees qualify for competitive compensation and benefits package, including medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, company paid short-and long-term disability, 401K with match, paid time off, paid holidays, tuition reimbursement, and opportunities for professional growth and development. Part time employees can participate in the 401K plan and applicable earned paid leave.

As an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer, all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran or disability status.

WSB strives to ensure that its careers website is accessible to all. If you need assistance completing your online application, please email wsbrecruiting@wsbeng.com.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, WSB is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans. If you need a reasonable accommodation to assist with your job search or application for employment, please e-mail us at wsbrecruiting@wsbeng.com. In your e-mail, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.

Notice to Third Party Agencies: WSB does not accept unsolicited resumes from third party recruiting firms. Absent a signed Service Agreement by WSB, we reserve the right to pursue and hire any unsolicited candidates without financial obligation to recruiters or agencies.