Principal Engineer -Protection & Control

Iberdrola SA; City of Rochester (NY); On-site; USD 128,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive benefits

12% 401(k) match

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Tuition reimbursement

Professional development and clear 3+5

Job summary

NY State Electric & Gas Corp in Rochester, NY is seeking a Principal Engineer – Protection & Control. The role focuses on researching best practices, developing P&C standards, and leading engineering projects across transmission, substation, and distribution scopes.

The candidate will evaluate new P&C technologies, write industry white papers, and mentor junior engineers while coordinating with multiple departments and external vendors in a demanding utility environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering with 10+ years of relevant experience.
• Strong understanding of power system protection and related standards.
• Professional Engineering license preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain P&C engineering standards and relay settings templates.
• Conduct engineering analyses and evaluate new P&C technologies.
• Lead projects and mentor junior engineers, including training courses.

Skills

Engineering fundamentals

Engineering design

Regulatory knowledge

P&C protection

Modeling & calculation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Master's degree preferred

Job description

Job Title: Principal Engineer – Protection & Control

Location: Rochester, NY or Binghamton, NY

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

For more information, please visit: Benefits - Avangrid

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.
• Make engineering decisions with significant impact to the company.
• The principal engineer is expected to lead engineering projects and facilitate meeting with other P&C engineers, other departments, contractors, and vendors.
• The principal engineer is expected to provide informal mentorship to junior engineers. The principal 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, and 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:

Education & Experience Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering with a minimum of 10+ years’ relevant experience required; Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering preferred.
• 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

Technical Skills/Competencies:

• 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
• bility 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
• Professional engineering license preferred
• Expert knowledge of all aspects of engineering & design, national and international standards, and compliance requirements associated with power system protection

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering preferred.
• Professional Engineering (PE) license strongly preferred.
• Experience with SEL, GE, and Siemens protection 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

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 of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, protected veteran status or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law.
If you are an individual with a disability or a disabled veteran who is unable to use our online tool to search for or to apply for jobs, you may request a reasonable accommodation by contacting our People and Organization department at [e-mail].

Avangrid employees may be assigned a system emergency role and in the event of a system emergency, may be required to work outside of their regular schedule/job duties. This is applicable to employees that will work in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York within Avangrid Network and Corporate functions. This does not include those that will work for Avangrid Power.

Avangrid employees may also be assigned a NERC Reliability Standards compliance role supporting Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) and/or Operations and Planning (O&P) responsibilities. This is applicable to employees that will work in electric transmission, operations, and cyber security business areas in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York within Avangrid Network and Corporate business areas. NERC Reliability Standards compliance roles and responsibilities may include additional access protections, training, audit engagement, and required evidence retention, and will be communicated by the employee’s management.

Company:

NY STATE ELECTRIC & GAS CORP

Job Posting End Date:

December-31-2026