Lead Engineer - Protection & Control

NY STATE ELECTRIC & GAS; Orange (CT); On-site; USD 128,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive benefits

Bonuses

12% 401(k) match

Comprehensive health, dental, and vis​

Tuition reimbursement

Professional development

Job summary

THE UNITED ILLUMINATING COMPANY in Orange, CT seeks a Lead Engineer in Protection & Control. The role focuses on researching best practices, developing standards, and advancing P&C technologies across transmission, substation, and distribution scopes.

You will lead projects, mentor junior engineers, and contribute to strategic reviews while working with cross-functional teams and external vendors. An advanced understanding of protective relay systems is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or Electrical Engineering Technology.
• 7+ years of technical experience in protection engineering or related field.
• Strong knowledge of power system protection standards and regulatory requirements.
• Experience leading engineering projects and mentoring junior engineers.

Responsibilities

• Develop and refine P&C engineering standards, relay setting templates, and engineering tools.
• Conduct engineering analysis and review industry literature and technical manuals.
• Lead projects and coordinate with cross-functional teams, vendors, and other departments.
• Provide mentorship and develop P&C training courses for staff.

Skills

Protection engineering

Relay settings

Electrical fundamentals

Project leadership

Education

Bachelor's in EE

Tools

SEL relays

GE relays

Siemens relays

Job description

Job Title: Lead Engineer - Protection & Control

Location: Orange, CT.

Work type: Office (on-site)

The salary range for this position is dependent upon experience, ranging from $128,320 to $160,400.

What We Offer

• Competitive benefits and growth opportunities
• Generous performance‑based bonuses
• 12% 401(k) match
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
• Tuition reimbursement
• Professional development and clear career‑advancement pathways

Job Summary

This role is responsible for researching industry best practices to create Protection and Control standards. Responsibilities also include development of new engineering processes and tools, evaluating new P&C technologies, and writing industry white papers. System scope includes transmission, substation, and distribution. Service companies include Central Maine Power, New York State Electric & Gas, Rochester Gas & Electric, and United Illuminating.

Responsibilities

• General responsibilities include assisting in the development of P&C engineering standards, relay setting file templates, and engineering tools.
• Conducts engineering analysis, researching industry papers and manuals.
• As a lead engineer, this position grants autonomy to propose solutions to open-ended challenges but requires the engineer to work mostly autonomously.
• The lead engineer is expected to lead engineering projects and facilitate meetings with other P&C engineers, other departments, contractors, and vendors.
• The lead engineer is expected to provide informal mentorship to junior engineers.
• The lead engineer is expected to develop and instruct P&C training courses.
• Authoring engineering standards and presenting to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Participate in the evaluation of new vendors and technologies.
• Engineers in the Philosophy and Standards group often are requested to work on special one-off projects. Past examples include overhauling arc flash calculation methods, evaluating the feasibility of distribution switching stations, evaluating new substation designs.
• Active projects include engineering AVANGRID's first IEC 61850 Process Bus Substation, evaluating Virtualized Protection Relays, expanding relaying laboratories (including use of an RTDS), conducting studies, updating engineering standards, creating internal engineering training courses, and writing conference papers.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or Electrical Engineering Technology and a minimum of 7 (seven) years of technical experience in protection engineering or related field.
• Due to the open-ended nature of the department's responsibilities, an intuitive understanding of electrical engineering fundamentals is required. This includes sequential components, per unit, harmonics, transformers, and fault analysis.
• Expert knowledge of all aspects of engineering & design, national and international standards, and compliance requirements associated with power system protection.
• Theoretical Engineering knowledge - Planning, Operations and Engineering Design, Analytic, modeling & Calculation, understanding the business model; Global View of the Business (Values cross-functional collaboration, understands importance of growing knowledge and developing relationships and links across the organization).
• Practical engineering experience/application - Planning, Operations and Engineering Design, Construction, (e.g., field experience, standardization "Perform economic analyses of engineering alternatives, develop business cases and defend in front of stakeholders.").
• Engineering documentation - Ability to adequately document and interpret engineering documentation.
• Ability to review and approve engineering work done by others to ensure compliance with company standards, specifications, and contract requirements.
• Knowledge of Regulatory and Compliance Environment # Local, State and Federal Regulatory Standards and requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Electrical Engineering preferred.
• Professional Engineering (PE) license preferred.
• Experience with SEL, GE, and Siemens relays.
• Experience or knowledge in the following areas is preferred: IEC 61850 (GOOSE Data Models, Sampled Values, MMS, PTP), networking, real time digital simulators (RTDS), virtualized protection relays, and centralized substation protection.

Behavioral Competencies

• Develop self & others
• Empower to grow
• Collaborate and share
• Be a role model
• Focus to achieve results
• Be agile

Company

THE UNITED ILLUMINATING COMPANY

Mobility Information

Please note that any applicant who is not a citizen of the country of the vacancy will be subject to compliance with the applicable immigration requirements to legally work in that country.

At Avangrid we provide fair and equal employment and advancement opportunities for all employees and candidates regardless o