Lead Engineer, System Protection & Controls

Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO); Calgary; Hybrid; CAD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Paid vacation

Flex time

Health & dental benefits

Mental health support

Pension plan (defined contribution)

Learning & development

Hybrid work environment

Job summary

The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) is seeking a Lead Engineer, System Protection & Controls to act as the senior technical expert for protection, control and reliability engineering across Alberta’s electricity system. You will lead protection studies, disturbance investigations, reliability initiatives, and standards development to support secure operation.

You will collaborate across AESO and with utilities, regulators, and industry partners, shaping policy and standards while

Qualifications

• Senior technical expert on protection, control, and reliability engineering.
• Lead protection studies, disturbance investigations, and standards development.
• Collaborate with internal teams, regulators, and industry partners.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior technical expert on system protection and coordination.
• Lead reviews of transmission, generation, distribution projects with protection recommendations.
• Develop and maintain protection philosophies, engineering practices, standards, and requirements.
• Lead protection studies involving lines, transformers, HVDC, renewables; evaluate performance under contingencies.
• Conduct investigations of protection events to identify root causes and improvements.

Skills

System protection

Control systems

Reliability engineering

Technical leadership

Protection coordination

Job description

The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) is responsible for the safe, reliable, and economic planning and operation of the Alberta Interconnected Electric System. We provide open and non-discriminatory access to Alberta’s interconnected power grid and also facilitate Alberta’s competitive wholesale electricity market. The AESO strives to foster an inclusive, diverse and equitable workplace where people feel respected and welcomed for who they are, together we deliver high performance and innovative results.

Job Description

Help power Alberta's future through technical leadership on critical transmission infrastructure projects.

Reporting to the Manager, Project Engineering, the Lead Engineer, System Protection & Controls serves as AESO's senior technical expert for protection, control, and reliability engineering across Alberta’s electricity system.

In this role, you will lead complex protection studies, disturbance investigations, reliability initiatives, and standards development to support the secure, reliable, and resilient operation of Alberta's power grid. Working closely with internal teams, utilities, generators, regulators, and industry partners, you will provide technical leadership, influence strategic decisions, and help shape the future of Alberta's electricity system. You will collaborate across AESO, including Connection Projects, System Projects, Operational Engineering, Operational Planning, and Power System Modelling, to advance strategic organizational and industry initiatives.

This full-time opportunity offers a competitive salary, paid vacation and flex time, health and dental benefits, mental health support, a defined contribution pension plan, and learning and development opportunities as part of your overall compensation package. We support a hybrid work environment, where the team is in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Mondays and Fridays are flexible for where you work best.

Why join AESO?

• Influence the reliability and future development of Alberta's electricity system.
• Lead technically complex projects with province-wide impact.
• Collaborate with industry leaders, regulators, transmission owners, and generation developers.
• Contribute directly to Alberta's energy transition and grid modernization initiatives.
• Grow your leadership profile while mentoring the next generation of engineers.

What You’ll Do:

• Serve as the senior technical expert on system protection, control, coordination, and reliability matters.
• Lead technical reviews of transmission, generation, distribution, and large-load interconnection projects, providing technical recommendations on protection schemes and coordination practices proposed by interconnected entities.
• Develop and maintain protection philosophies, engineering practices, standards, and technical requirements.
• Lead complex protection and coordination studies involving transmission lines, transformers, buses, reactors, capacitor banks, HVDC facilities, renewable generation, and inverter-based resources, and evaluate protection system performance under contingency conditions, emerging reliability risks, and abnormal operating scenarios.
• Conduct technical investigations of protection system and disturbance events to identify root causes and recommend reliability improvements.