OT Substation Controls Engineer: Secure, Standardized

Sword Group; Aberdeen City; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Career development opportunities

Flexible working arrangements

Pension scheme

Private health and well-being programs

Employee assistance programme

Job summary

Sword Group is a leading provider of business technology solutions, delivering secure, scalable control systems for electricity distribution and critical national infrastructure. The OT Controls Engineer will shape engineering policy, define standard configurations, and collaborate across engineering, cyber security and operations teams to implement repeatable, cyber-secure control architectures.

The role spans design, testing and standardisation across multi-site deployments.

Qualifications

• Experience in OT/control system environments, preferably utilities/energy.
• Experience designing, configuring or commissioning substation control systems and telecontrol equipment.
• Hands-on experience configuring RTUs (Schneider, Hitachi/ABB, ZIV, SEL or equivalents).
• Strong understanding of DNP3 protocol (essential).
• Familiarity with IEC 61850 (desirable).
• Knowledge of OT cyber security principles and secure configuration practices.
• Ability to communicate with technical specialists and wider stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain engineering standards for substation control systems, including RTUs, telecontrol and automation equipment.
• Produce detailed technical specifications for control system components and ensure alignment with operational and regulatory requirements.
• Design and implement structured test plans to validate equipment against defined specifications.
• Carry out technical evaluation and assurance of vendor solutions prior to deployment.
• Develop, configure and test standardised RTU builds and control system configurations to ensure repeatability across sites.
• Produce engineering schematics, control cabinet layouts and wiring diagrams using AutoCAD.
• Support the development of standardised substation control system designs and architectures.
• Work with industrial communication protocols including DNP3 (essential) and IEC 61850 (desirable).
• Collaborate with engineering, cyber security and operational teams to ensure solutions are practical, deployable and aligned to standards.
• Support the wider digitisation of control systems, ensuring scalable and future-ready solutions.

Skills

OT environments

RTU design/configuration

DNP3 protocol

IEC 61850

AutoCAD

Cyber security basics

Analytical problem solving

Stakeholder communication

Education

Electrical Engineering degree or related

Tools

AutoCAD

RTU platforms (Schneider, Hitachi/ABB, ZIV, SEL)

DNP3 configurations

Job description

Sword Group is a leading provider of business technology solutions, delivering secure, scalable control systems for electricity distribution and critical national infrastructure. The OT Controls Engineer will shape engineering policy, define standard configurations, and collaborate across engineering, cyber security and operations teams to implement repeatable, cyber-secure control architectures.

The role spans design, testing and standardisation across multi-site deployments.