Lead Protection & Control Engineer

GE Vernova, Inc.; United States; Remote; USD 89,000 - 149,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement benefits (401(k))

Paid holidays (12)

Tuition assistance

Parental leave

Job summary

GE Vernova seeks a Lead Protection & Control Engineer to define, design, and coordinate protection and control for T&D substations, data centers, and BESS projects. You will oversee integration with SCADA, Cyber Security, and telecom needs, guiding teams for panel layouts and interconnect wiring.

The role requires strong IEC 61850 knowledge, relay settings, and experience across protection schemes; frequent collaboration with engineers, designers and project managers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or similar from an accredited university.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in engineering.
• Minimum 3 years’ experience in protection and controls engineering for substations or power generation.
• Willingness to travel up to 20% of the time, including international assignments.

Responsibilities

• Design protection schemes for T&D substations, data centers, BESS and related schematics.
• Lead local or remote design teams for panel layouts and interconnect wiring.
• Evaluate IED interoperability and SCADA, Cyber Security, and telecom needs.
• Coordinate with SCADA engineers and other discipline staff for system integration.
• Review load flow, fault studies, relay settings, and transient studies.
• Lead factory acceptance testing, site testing and commissioning.
• Develop outage, cut-over, and testing procedures.
• Prepare technical documentation, estimates, and vendor clarifications.
• Demonstrate leadership, accountability and continuous learning.

Skills

Protection & Controls

SCADA integration

IEC 61850

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

IEC 61850

IEDs

SCADA

Cyber Security

Telecom

Job description

Job Description Summary

The Lead Protection & Control Engineer works on T&D substations for AC, HVDC and FACTS projects with designers, peer engineers & leaders. The engineer is responsible to define, design, coordinate all technical aspects of HV / EHV substation protection & control and oversee technical plant integration and optimization at project level considering safety, quality, schedule and cost criteria. The engineer should have great attention to detail with a can-do attitude & customer responsiveness. The Lead Protection & Control Engineer may be identified as project engineer for small to medium size project, which are highly secondary engineering focused. The engineer shall continuously update themselves with new technology and have a mindset of continuous learning, consistent with grid transition needs. Responsible for departmental operations planning/execution or is focused on execution of professional activities within a technical discipline. Functions with some autonomy but guided by established policies or review of end results.

Job Description

Essential Responsibilities:

• Ultimately be responsible for design of protection schemes for all kinds of T&D substations, Data Centers, Industrial, BESS applications including one-lines, three-lines, AC / DC schematics, and relay settings.

• Lead a local or remote design team to develop panel and interconnect wiring as well as panel layouts and elevations

• Evaluate the interoperability, control features, and communication / protocol aspects of IED’s serving as protection relays to provide an integrated solution including SCADA, Cyber Security and Telecom needs.

• Be familiar with IEC 61850 process and system bus architecture and its implementation for substations

• Coordinate with and provide technical assistance to SCADA engineers, substation physical engineers, and control design staff in order to fully develop system integration of protection, control, and monitoring systems. Work with team to meet project specifications, cost control, and schedule objectives

• Interface with internal and external team members such as Lead engineers, Project Engineers, Electrical Designers, Physical Designers, Draftsmen, Project managers, Sourcing, and support organizations

• Review power system load flow studies, fault studies, relay setting coordination, and transient studies performed by other agencies

• Train end-users on the theory, operational use, and maintenance of integrated protection and control systems

• Lead or support factory acceptance testing and site testing & commissioning

• Develop outage, cut-over, and testing procedures

• Define processes, procedures, perform RCA’s (Root Cause Analysis), perform corrective actions, and validate process control. Support quality initiatives including aspects of ISO9002

• Work on development of proposals including: writing and/or reviewing technical specifications, estimating design man-hours and materials, supporting sourcing for vendor quotations, and the development of clarifications and exceptions as well as technical responses and performing technical validation.

• Demonstrate leadership behaviors of acting with humility, lead with transparency and deliver with focus

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering or similar degree from an accredited university.

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in engineering.

• Minimum 3 years’ experience in protection and controls engineering for substations or power generation.

• Ability and willingness to travel up to 20% of the time, including international, for meetings and on-site commissioning tests for customer installations and comply with all relevant company travel and tax policies

Desired Characteristics:

• P.E. License or EIT with willingness to pursue and acquire P.E certification or P.Eng or willingness to acquire certification.

• Extensive experience in protective relaying coordination and practices.

• Good understanding of circuit breakers, fuses, circuit switchers, transformers, shunt reactors, cap banks, harmonic filters, HVDC and FACTS systems used in the control of power flow, detection and isolation of power system faults.

• Fluent in English. Strong influencing and relationship building skills. Demonstrated presentation skills and ability to succinctly communicate complex messages.

• Experience in technical problem solving. Mastering of sec engineering discipline (process, tools and technical aspects)

• Demonstrates ownership and accountability, judgment and decision making and has passion for the functional role.

Additional Information

GE Vernova offers a great work environment, professional development, challenging careers, and competitive compensation. GE Vernova is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.

GE Vernova will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States for this opening. Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen (as applicable).

Relocation Assistance Provided: No

Application Deadline: October 26, 2026

For candidates applying to a U.S. based position, the pay range for this position is between $89,300.00 and $148,700.00. The Company pays a geographic differential of 110%, 120% or 130% of salary in certain areas. The specific pay offered may be influenced by a variety of factors, including the candidate’s experience, education, and skill set.

Bonus eligibility: discretionary annual bonus.

Available benefits include medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage; access to Health Coach from GE Vernova, a 24/7 nurse-based resource; and access to the Employee Assistance Program, providing 24/7 confidential assessment, counseling and referral services. Retirement benefits include the GE Vernova Retirement Savings Plan, a tax-advantaged 401(k) savings opportunity with company matching contributions and company retirement contributions, as well as access to Fidelity resources and financial planning consultants. Other benefits include tuition assistance, adoption assistance, paid parental leave, disability benefits, life insurance, 12 paid holidays, and permissive time off.

GE Vernova Inc. or its affiliates (collectively or individually, “GE Vernova”) sponsor certain employee benefit plans or programs GE Vernova reserves the right to terminate, amend, suspend, replace, or modify its benefit plans and programs at any time and for any reason, in its sole discretion. No individual has a vested right to any benefit under a GE Vernova welfare benefit plan or program. This document does not create a contract of employment with any individual.