Senior Grid Protection Engineer — Hybrid

Sargent & Lundy; Warrenville (IL); Hybrid; USD 135,000 - 206,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Plans: Medical, Dental, Vision

Life & Accident Insurance

Disability Coverage

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

401(k)

Paid Annual Personal/Sick Time

Paid Vacation

Paid Holidays

Paid Parental Leave

Job summary

Sargent & Lundy is seeking a Lead System Protection Engineer to join our Grid Services team. You will lead protection philosophies, relay settings, and power system studies for transmission and substation projects, while supporting P&C design and field commissioning.

This role requires ABET‑accredited Electrical Engineering and 10+ years of experience, with hands-on relay settings, CAPE/ASPEN analysis, and familiarity with standards (IEEE, ANSI, NERC).

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from an ABET‑accredited program (or equivalent).
• 10 or more years of experience in system protection engineering for transmission and/or substation projects, including: Significant hands‑on responsibility for relay settings and protection studies.
• Strong background in system protection and relay logic, including: Line, transformer, bus, breaker failure, and capacitor/reactor protection philosophies.
• Proven experience performing fault studies and relay coordination using CAPE and/or ASPEN (or equivalent protection analysis tools).
• Proficiency with at least some of the following relay configuration and settings tools: SEL AcSELerator, EnerVista, Other major OEM relay software
• Experience working with Powerbase or similar relay/asset databases for managing settings and protection data.
• Demonstrated ability to check and interpret P&C drawings: One‑lines, three‑lines, schematics, wiring diagrams, logic diagrams, and panel layouts.
• Familiarity with applicable IEEE, ANSI, and NERC/PRC standards related to protection and control.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work directly with: Utility clients, Equipment manufacturers, Construction and commissioning teams
• Proven experience leading portions of projects, coordinating with multidisciplinary teams, and meeting schedule and quality requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and application of protection philosophies and settings for transmission lines, power transformers/autotransformers, buses and breakers, capacitor/reactor banks, and station services.
• Perform System Protection Studies including short-circuit analysis, relay coordination and time-current curve development, and protection settings verification.
• Configure, set, and troubleshoot microprocessor-based protective relays using vendor software (SEL AcSELerator, EnerVista, etc.).
• Use Powerbase or similar databases to manage relay records, settings and documentation in line with client standards.
• Support event analysis and misoperation investigations to recommend settings or scheme adjustments and ensure compliance with standards.
• Develop and review P&C design documents (AC/DC one-lines, three-lines, schematics, wiring/logic diagrams, layouts, BOMs) with substation teams.
• Provide system protection requirements and markups for CT/VT ratios, trip/close/interlock logic, and communications.
• Support commissioning and field energization by reviewing test plans, answering RFIs, and assisting with protection issue resolution.
• Hybrid work arrangement: three days in the office, two remote; relocation package may be available.

Skills

Protection engineering

Relay settings

Protection studies

IEEE/ANSI/NERC standards

Project leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering (ABET-accredited)

Tools

SEL AcSELerator

EnerVista

CAPE/ASPEN

Powerbase

Job description

Sargent & Lundy is seeking a Lead System Protection Engineer to join our Grid Services team. You will lead protection philosophies, relay settings, and power system studies for transmission and substation projects, while supporting P&C design and field commissioning.

This role requires ABET‑accredited Electrical Engineering and 10+ years of experience, with hands-on relay settings, CAPE/ASPEN analysis, and familiarity with standards (IEEE, ANSI, NERC).