Engineering Supervisor, Transmission Protection (NJ & PA)

FirstEnergy Corp; Holmdel Township (NJ); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

FirstEnergy is seeking a Supervisor, Transmission Protection to lead a team of protection engineers and contractors in developing protection schemes for substation upgrades and new facilities. The role requires PE licensure or equivalent experience and a strong background in relay protection philosophy and coordination studies.

The position emphasizes leadership, rigorous analysis of system protection performance, and collaboration with industry groups.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from an ABET accredited institution is required.
• In lieu of a degree, a Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology or Electrical Engineering with a PE license is required.
• Minimum of 5 years of related work experience is required.
• Strong understanding of relay protection philosophies, protection design standards and protection practices (setting development, event analysis).
• Leadership and communication skills; ability to motivate and drive improvements.
• Self-directed with the ability to manage multiple priorities among protection staff.
• Superior written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficiency with protective relay analysis tools including Siemens APA, Doble PowerBase, and Schweitzer SEL tools.
• Ability to supervise and train professional engineering and specialist personnel.
• Familiarity with PJM and NERC practices and requirements.

Responsibilities

• Supervise and coordinate daily activities of protection engineers and contract staff.
• Develop project protection scopes, specifications and relay configurations in FE capital portfolio.
• Perform peer reviews of protection tasks (coordination studies, settings, specs).
• Analyze BES tripping events and address deficiencies in protection performance.
• Provide technical support to meet load and generation connection requirements within the footprint.
• Develop staff through coaching and feedback.
• Ensure work adheres to NERC standards and FE practices.
• Participate in regulatory committees to share best practices; engage with FE leadership.
• Travel within FE service territory and to industry events as required.

Skills

Leadership skills

Communication skills

Self-directed work style

Analytical problem solving

Supervise staff

PJM knowledge

NERC knowledge

Minimal supervision

Policy/presentation skills

Education

BSEE ABET-accredited

PE License required

Five+ years experience

Tools

Siemens APA

Doble PowerBase

Schweitzer SEL tools

Job description

Job Title: Supervisor, Transmission Protection

FirstEnergy

About the Opportunity

This is an open position with FirstEnergy Service Co., a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. This role is designated as an onsite position and requires the individual to maintain regular presence at the Reading, Pennsylvania office. This position requires the individual to reside within a 60 mile commute to the FirstEnergy Transmission Protection Office in Reading.

All employees who apply for a posted position must notify their supervisors that they have applied. Employees who have not been in their current positions for at least one year or who are in a position with specific requirements beyond one year, must obtain approval from their supervisor before applying.

The Transmission Protection group is responsible for system protection functions across FirstEnergy's (FE) transmission and sub-transmission systems in FirstEnergy area. The primary focus of this group is studying and revising the protective relay schemes installed on the FirstEnergy transmission and sub-transmission systems with the goal that the relaying is reliable and fully coordinated for all faults and all expected system contingencies.

The supervisor is responsible for a team of engineers that specify system protection schemes for substation upgrades and new facility additions, perform coordination studies and develop protective relay configurations (settings). Additionally, the engineers are responsible for analyzing all automatic system operations for correct relay performance and when incorrect, initiating and supporting investigative efforts to uncover the root cause of any performance issues. The Supervisor also supports the capital budget process by creating new and emergent projects in the OPPM system to replace and upgrade protective relay systems.

Locations

Holmdel NJ, Morristown NJ, Reading PA

Responsibilities

• Supervise and coordinate the daily activities of protection engineers and manage contract staff providing transmission system protection engineering support within the Jersey Central Power and Light and the Metropolitan Edison service territories.
• Ensure the timely and accurate development of project protection scopes, protection specifications and protective relay configurations in support of the successful execution of FE's capital portfolio.
• Perform in-depth technical peer review of system protection work tasks (coordination studies, protection settings, protection specifications, etc.) as required.
• Ensure timely analysis of Bulk Electric System (BES) tripping events, with appropriate follow-up to address deficiencies in system protection performance.
• Provide technical support and leadership to ensure that the protection requirements for load and generation connection requests in the assigned footprint are completed on schedule.
• Develop assigned staff, providing feedback and coaching on an ongoing basis by discussing priorities, developmental opportunities and any performance issues.
• Understand and ensure all work tasks and finished work products are done in accordance with the applicable NERC reliability standards and FE practices.
• Participate in regulatory committees and industry groups (NATF, EPRI, IEEE, etc.) to collaborate, share and develop best practices to meet obligations that FE has within the industry.
• Support responses to state and federal commission requests for information.
• Review current system protection philosophies and practices to support continuous improvement, and adapt to the ongoing technological changes in both the power delivery equipment and protection systems hardware and software.
• Travel throughout FirstEnergy's service territory and to other industry-related events as required.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) from an ABET accredited institution is required.
• In lieu of a degree, a Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology or Electrical Engineering, and a Professional Engineer's (PE) License is required.
• A Professional Engineer's (PE) License is preferred.
• Minimum of 5 (five) years of related work experience is required.
• Strong consideration will be given to those with an in-depth understanding of relay protection philosophies, relay protection design standards and protection practices (setting development, event analysis, etc.).
• Leadership skills; capable of communicating, motivating and driving positive change and improvement.
• Self-directed individual with a strong ability to perform detailed engineering activities and manage the multiple priorities and activities of the protection engineering staff.
• Superior written and verbal communication skills.
• Proven ability to develop and present policies, procedures, reports and mitigation plans to peers, TPP management and executive leadership of FE.
• Proficiency (or demonstrated capability to become proficient) in the use of key protective relay analysis tools including Siemens APA (Advanced Protection Assessment), Doble PowerBase, and the various Schweitzer (SEL) protection setting and analysis application tools.
• Ability to supervise and train professional engineering and specialist personnel.
• Familiarity with PJM, and NERC practices, procedures, and requirements in the areas of transmission protection criteria and principles.
• Capability to analyze and resolve problems and issues.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision and be able to handle complex issues and assignments.
• Adherence to FirstEnergy's Standards of Conduct and FERC compliance obligations.

Benefits, Compensation & Workforce Diversity

At FirstEnergy, employees are key to our success. We depend on their talents to meet the challenges of our changing business environment. We are committed to rewarding individual and team efforts through our total rewards philosophy which includes competitive pay plus incentive compensation, a company-sponsored pension plan, 401(k) savings plan with matching employer contribution, a choice of medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, and life insurance programs, as well as skills development training with tuition reimbursement.

Please visit our website at www.firstenergycorp.com to learn more about all of our employee rewards programs.

• competitive pay plus incentive compensation
• a company-sponsored pension plan
• 401(k) savings plan with matching employer contribution
• a choice of medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, and life insurance programs
• skills development training with tuition reimbursement

FirstEnergy proudly supports workforce diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with a disability.

No recruiters or agencies without a previously signed contract. Unable to sponsor or transfer H-1B visas at this time.

Safety

Safety Safety is a core value for FirstEnergy and is essential to all of our business activities. We ensure employees have the tools, information, and processes to perform their duties in a manner that assures safety for themselves, their co-workers, our customers and the public. Our goals are to provide a safe work environment, to maintain an accident-free, injury-free workplace, and to promote and maintain public safety. To meet these goals, we dedicate ourselves to achieving world-class safety standards.

FirstEnergy Human Resources Team