Remote Senior Power Systems Protection Engineer

Elevate Energy Consulting; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Elevate Energy Consulting is seeking a Senior or Lead Power Systems Protection Engineer to lead protection system design, relay coordination, event analysis, and NERC PRC compliance across transmission, distribution, and renewable interconnections.

This fully remote role with occasional travel involves mentoring junior engineers, developing technical reports, conducting fault and misoperation analyses with tools like ASPEN OneLiner, CAPE, and SEL AcSELerator, and collaborating with clients to

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in electrical engineering with a specialization in power systems engineering (or a closely related field).
• At least 5+ years of deep technical experience in system protection engineering, including relay settings, testing, coordination studies, and event analysis.
• Specialized experience in NERC PRC standards compliance, including evidence preparation, documentation, and audit readiness.
• Understand protection and control systems and know how to get information from protection and control diagrams (single-line, three-line, logic, etc.), equipment test reports, and manuals.
• Proficiency with short-circuit analysis and protection design tools, including ASPEN OneLiner, CAPE, SEL AcSELerator, or equivalent.
• Experience working with protection system hardware and software from major manufacturers (e.g., SEL, GE, ABB, Siemens).
• Familiarity with protection relay test procedures, test plan developments, and test reports.
• Familiarity with powerflow, dynamics, and/or EMT simulations to understand protection system impacts on system behavior.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complex technical requirements into actionable recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Lead and conduct protection system design and coordination studies for transmission, distribution, and renewable interconnections.
• Analyze system faults and protection system performance, including root cause analysis of misoperations using tools such as ASPEN OneLiner, CAPE, SEL AcSELerator, or equivalent.
• Support clients in NERC compliance activities, including PRC-005 (Protection System Maintenance and Testing), PRC-019 (Voltage Coordination), PRC-027 (Coordination during Fault), PRC-029 (Inverter-Based Resource Ride-through), and other relevant standards.
• Develop and review relay settings to ensure proper system protection, selectivity, dependability, and security.
• Review short-circuit study results of generating interconnections and provide analysis and recommendations to clients.
• Integrate protection studies with broader power system engineering analyses, including powerflow, dynamics, and EMT studies, to ensure reliable operation under changing grid conditions.
• Develop technical reports, presentations, and documentation to support project deliverables and client communication.
• Conduct event analysis of system disturbances to identify lessons learned, root causes, and recommend mitigation measures.
• Stay current with emerging technologies (e.g., IEC 61850, wide-area protection schemes, grid-forming inverter interactions) and their impact on protection system design and operation.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (e.g., system planners, renewable developers, large load customers) to integrate protection system requirements into broader grid modernization projects.
• Provide subject matter expertise and mentorship to junior engineers on protection engineering best practices.
• Deliver technical presentations to clients and across the industry to share insights and elevate best practices in protection engineering.
• Meet with clients (virtual and in-person as needed) to understand needs and deliver actionable, strategic guidance.

Skills

Protection engineering

Relay coordination

Event analysis

NERC PRC compliance

Power systems analysis

Technical reporting

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Electrical Engineering (Power Systems)

Tools

ASPEN OneLiner

CAPE

SEL AcSELerator

Job description

Elevate Energy Consulting is seeking a Senior or Lead Power Systems Protection Engineer to lead protection system design, relay coordination, event analysis, and NERC PRC compliance across transmission, distribution, and renewable interconnections.

This fully remote role with occasional travel involves mentoring junior engineers, developing technical reports, conducting fault and misoperation analyses with tools like ASPEN OneLiner, CAPE, and SEL AcSELerator, and collaborating with clients to