Principal Engineer -Protection & Control

NY STATE ELECTRIC & GAS CORP; Town of Vestal (NY); On-site; USD 128,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus 12%

401(k) match

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Tuition reimbursement

Professional development

Job summary

NY STATE ELECTRIC & GAS CORP is seeking a Principal Engineer – Protection & Control to lead development of P&C standards and engineering tools for transmission, substation, and distribution systems. You will evaluate new technologies, provide technical guidance, and mentor junior engineers in a complex, multi-site environment.

The role requires a strong background in electrical engineering, 10+ years of relevant experience, and PE licensure preferred.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering with 10+ years of relevant experience.
• Master’s degree preferred for advanced roles.
• Expert knowledge of protection standards, engineering design, and compliance requirements.

Responsibilities

• Assist in development of P&C engineering standards and relay setting templates.
• Conduct engineering analysis and review industry papers and manuals.
• Lead engineering projects and coordinate with engineers, departments, contractors, and vendors.
• Mentor junior engineers and develop P&C training courses.
• Write and present engineering standards to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Participate in evaluation of new vendors and technologies.
• Work on special projects like arc flash methods or substation design evaluations.

Skills

Electrical engineering fundamentals

Protection & Control engineering

Mentorship

Regulatory compliance knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering

Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering (preferred)

Tools

SEL protection relays

GE protection relays

Siemens protection relays

IEC 61850

RTDS

Job description

Job Details

Job Title: Principal Engineer – Protection & Control

Location: Rochester, NY or Binghamton, NY

Work type: Office (on-site)

Salary: $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

• Assist in the development of P&C engineering standards, relay setting file templates, and engineering tools.
• Conduct engineering analysis, researching industry papers and manuals.
• Make engineering decisions with significant impact to the company.
• Lead engineering projects and facilitate meetings with other P&C engineers, other departments, contractors, and vendors.
• Provide informal mentorship to junior engineers.
• Develop and instruct P&C training courses.
• Author engineering standards and present to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Participate in the evaluation of new vendors and technologies.
• Work on special one-off projects such as overhauling arc flash calculation methods, evaluating 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 RTDS), conducting studies, updating engineering standards, creating internal engineering training courses, and writing conference papers.

Required Qualifications

Education & Experience: 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, 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.
• 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: 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

NY STATE ELECTRIC & GAS CORP

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.

Equal Opportunity Statement

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.

Disability Accommodation

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].

Special Role and Compliance Details

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.

Job Posting End Date: December-31-2026