Lead Substation Engineer 1 - Grid

Sargent & Lundy, L.L.C.; Calgary; Hybrid; CAD 130,000 - 179,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation package

Relocation assistance

Comprehensive healthcare

Job summary

Sargent & Lundy, L.L.C. seeks a Lead Substation Engineer in Calgary to apply expertise in protective relaying and controls for HV and EHV substations.

You will lead engineering teams, develop relay philosophies, and guide the design through detailed phases while coordinating with clients and vendors. The role requires 10+ years in protection/control/telecommunications for HV substations, PE/P.Eng, and proficiency with SKM/ETAP/CDEGS.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science Engineering degree required.
• 10+ years experience with a focus on protection / control / telecommunications for high voltage substations; including design, installation, and coordination.
• PE or P.Eng license.
• Experience serving as firm/client liaison in a support or lead engineering role.
• Experience in writing and providing support documentation for relay calculations.
• Experience with the design techniques, tools, and principles involved in the production of technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Proficiency with SKM, ETAP, ASPEN, CDEGS, or vendor software.
• Familiarity with NEC, NESC, NEMA, IEEE and ANSI.
• Experience with vendor protective relay equipment (SEL, ABB, GE, Areva, Basler).

Responsibilities

• Lead engineering and design team on substation modifications and upgrades, including calculations, document designs, and specifications.
• Prepare relaying philosophies, selecting relay, control, and communications equipment; develop SCADA and telecommunication concepts; oversee I/O assignments and connection diagrams.
• Guide junior and senior engineers in protection and controls design; coordinate detailed design phases.
• Support investigations, troubleshooting, and problem solving.
• Analyze and design single line diagrams, relaying & metering diagrams (AC schematic), and DC schematic diagrams.
• Prepare engineering studies for client and peer review.
• Perform independent reviews of work including calculations and drawings.
• Coordinate with engineers, project managers, clients, and suppliers to ensure timely design.
• Review existing facilities to propose upgrades and present findings and recommendations.
• Develop career via Communities of Practice and mentor less experienced engineers.
• Possible travel to client/vendor sites for reviews and field verification.

Skills

Protection & control

Telecommunications

Leadership

MS Office

Written & verbal communication

Education

Bachelor of Science in Engineering

Tools

SKM

ETAP

ASPEN

CDEGS

Vendor software

Job description

Description

This position will offer you the ability to directly apply your knowledge of protective relaying and controls systems for HV and EHV substations. As a Lead Substtion Engineer, you will:

• Lead of an engineering and design team, you will work on a wide range of substation modifications and upgrades to support client requirements and reviews including creating calculations, document designs, and specifications.
• Prepare relaying philosophies, including selecting relay, control, and communications equipment, developing SCADA and telecommunication concepts and configurations, and overseeing the preparation of I/O assignments and connection diagrams.
• Guide junior and senior-level engineers and designers in protection and controls engineering design efforts, including providing guidance with the coordination of detailed design phases for all aspects of the engineering work.
• Support assignments that include investigating, trouble-shooting, and solving a wide variety of engineering issues.
• Perform analysis and design of single line diagrams, substation relaying & metering diagrams (i.e. A.C. schematic diagrams), and D.C. Schematic diagrams.
• Prepare engineering studies for client and peer review.
• Perform independent reviews of work performed by others including calculations and drawing preparation.
• Coordinate and provide guidance to other engineers, project managers, client personnel, and suppliers to ensure a complete and timely design.
• Perform reviews of existing facilities to propose upgrades and replacements, and present findings and recommendations to clients and peers.
• Develop your career via peer-learning through sharing of knowledge with other experienced engineers by way of Sargent & Lundy’s systems of process and associated “Communities of Practice.”
• Provide guidance as a mentor in the development of less experienced engineers.
• There is the potential for you to travel to client and vendor offices for design reviews and to plant site locations for construction coordination and field verification of designs.

This position is based on a hybrid work schedule and will require in-office work 3 days per week, giving you the flexibility to work remotely for two days. Dependent upon your location, this opportunity offers a generous relocation package.

Qualifications

We do not sponsor employees for work authorization in Canada for this position.

This position may require access to U.S. export-controlled information. As such, candidates must be a citizen of a country listed in Appendix A to Part 810 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Please click here to determine your eligibility.

Essential skills and experience:

• This position requires a Bachelor of Science Engineering degree.
• 10 or more years experience with a focus on protection / control / telecommunications for high voltage substations; including design, installation, and coordination.
• PE or P.Eng license.
• Experience with serving as firm/client liaison in a support or lead engineering role.
• Experience in writing and providing support documentation for relay calculations.
• Experience with the design techniques, tools, and principles involved in the production of technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Proficiency with any of the following programs: SKM, ETAP, ASPEN, CDEGS, or vendor software.
• Familiarity with design codes and standards, such as NEC, NESC, NEMA, IEEE and ANSI.
• Experience with various vendor protective relay equipment typically used in substation protection, including SEL, ABB, GE, Areva, and Basler.
• Proficiency with MS Office applications.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Valued but not required skills and experience:

• A Bachelor of Science Electrical Engineering degree is preferrable.
• A degree from a Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board-accredited undergraduate program or a US based ABET-accredited program.
• Prior experience is desirable to include in-line, bus and equipment protection, breaker, transformer and similar equipment control, RTU and data concentrator based SCADA systems, telemetering and communications (fiber optics, microwave, power line carrier, etc.).
• AutoCAD or MicroStation experience.
• Construction and start-up experience.
• Testing or commissioning experience.

AI & Automation at Sargent & Lundy

In this role, we expect people to be willing or able to lead others who use modern tools:

• You are expected to lead others in taking engineering problems from issue to solution by setting expectations for using data and modern tools such as automation and AI to improve workflows, reduce rework, and deliver cost-effective designs.
• Leaders in these roles often direct automation and process-improvement work, for example, how teams automate calculations, summarize technical documents, or generate design documentation and guiding when and how AI or agentic AI tools are used while ensuring results are checked.
• Overseeing engineers who program or script (e.g., Python, MATLAB, advanced Excel) to automate engineering tasks, with review of automated outputs, is valued but not required.
• We also value additional learning, such as a minor, certificate, or other experience in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering, or related fields that enables effective oversight of automation and agentic AI-enabled engineering workflows.

Award-Winning Benefits

At Sargent & Lundy, we care about the health and well-being of our employees. Our commitment extends beyond the workplace, offering comprehensive healthcare plans and generous paid time off to support our team members in every aspect of their lives. We understand the importance of work-life balance, which is why we are proud to provide competitive, award-winning benefits. Our dedication to employee satisfaction has earned us the prestigious Top Workplaces Culture Excellence Award for compensation and benefits in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Compensation Range

$130,193 - $179,016

Transparency Statement

This posting is to fill an existing vacancy. Sargent & Lundy discloses compensation ranges that comply with all provincial and federal legislation. The total compensation package for eligible positions will include a base salary or an hourly rate and a comprehensive benefits package, reflecting our commitment to rewarding performance and supporting the overall well-being of our employees. Individuals may also be eligible to participate in our yearly discretionary bonus.

Equal Opportunity

Sargent and Lundy is fully committed to abiding by all equal opportunity employment standards. Our employment policies strictly prohibit all forms of discrimination on any of the grounds in relevant laws. All our employment practices are solely based on individual merit and our organization's needs at the time. We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. We embrace the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the candidate experience and streamline our recruitment process. AI-enabled tools may support certain stages of recruitment, but human judgment remains central to the candidate experience, and all hiring decisions are made by human reviewers.