Senior Protection and Control Engineer

aes; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

The AES Corporation is seeking a Senior Protection and Control Engineer to lead protection activities for high‑voltage substations (35 kV–500 kV) across renewable projects. You will mentor engineers, review relays and coordination studies, and support EPCs, utilities, and project teams through design, commissioning, and energization phases.

Candidates should have 5+ years in HV protection, strong power systems knowledge, and experience with SEL, ETAP, and PowerFactory.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering with emphasis on power systems is required.
• Minimum 5 years of protection & control experience for HV substations or renewable facilities.
• Experience with SEL protection and automation products is required.
• Strong understanding of protection principles, relay coordination, and substations control schemes.

Responsibilities

• Lead protection and control engineering activities for AES Clean Energy HV substations (35 kV–500 kV) across solar, wind, and storage projects.
• Provide technical leadership through design, review, construction, commissioning, energization, and post-energization support.
• Review protection drawings, philosophies, relay settings, and coordination studies; conduct EMT/grounding studies as needed.

Skills

Protection & Control

SEL protection

Power systems fundamentals

Relay coordination

Mentoring & leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering (Power Systems)

Tools

SEL software

ETAP

PowerFactory

Job description

Are you ready to be part of a company that's not just talking about the future, but actively shaping it? Join The AES Corporation, the largest US-based global power company with a team of 8,300 employees across 12 countries.

AES has been ranked #1 by BloombergNEF in renewable energy sales to corporations in the US and Americas for five consecutive years, providing electricity for millions of people worldwide.

We are proud to foster a strong workplace culture, earning prominent positions in Great Place to Work™ rankings across the markets where we operate. AES was also named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the 13th consecutive year in 2026, highlighting our dedication to integrity, transparency, and responsible business practices.

Our spirit of innovation continues to earn industry recognition. AES is the only seven-time winner of the Edison Electric Institute's Edison Awards in the twenty-first century, a distinction honoring global leadership in advancing the electric power industry.

If you're ready to be part of a company that's not just adapting to change, but driving it, AES is the place for you. We're not just building a more sustainable future , we're powering it.

The High Voltage Engineering team provides pre-construction, construction, and commissioning engineering support for high-voltage facilities associated with renewable energy power plants, including solar, wind, and battery energy storage projects. These facilities range from 35 kV through 500 kV. We are seeking a dynamic, collaborative, and technically strong Senior Protection and Control Engineer to support high-voltage substation projects. This role is an excellent opportunity for an engineer with strong protection and control expertise who also values collaboration with EPC partners, power utilities, and internal project teams. The selected engineer will lead protection and control activities from design development through execution, commissioning, and post-energization support for greenfield and brownfield substations across AES Clean Energy projects.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead protection and control engineering activities for AES Clean Energy high-voltage substations supporting solar, wind, and battery energy storage projects, with voltage levels ranging from 35 kV to 500 kV.
• Provide technical leadership throughout the project lifecycle, including design development, engineering review, construction support, commissioning, energization, and post-energization support.
• Review protection and control drawings, protection philosophies, relay settings, short-circuit studies, coordination studies, grounding studies, EMT studies, and related technical reports.
• Evaluate short-circuit study results for generation interconnections and provide actionable feedback to EPC partners to support protection design and coordination.
• Apply strong knowledge of protection coordination, time-current characteristics, SEL protection and automation products, and engineering tools such as SEL software, ETAP, and PowerFactory.
• Support technical review and interpretation of equipment testing for high- and medium-voltage circuit breakers, main power transformers, instrument transformers, surge arresters, and grounding systems.
• Coordinate NERC PRC compliance activities across multiple projects and work with EPCs, utilities, and internal stakeholders to support applicable standards and reporting requirements.
• Lead efforts to standardize protection and control practices, philosophies, templates, and lessons learned across projects and applications.
• Support root‑cause analysis for site events during commissioning, energization, or operations, and incorporate lessons learned into protection and control standards.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams, including development, execution, operations and maintenance, and asset management, to improve project outcomes and support long‑term operational value.
• Stay current with evolving protection technologies, OEM guidance, utility requirements, and applicable industry standards, including NERC PRC standards and IEEE guidelines.
• Mentor associate engineers and peer engineers, support technical knowledge sharing, and contribute to leadership development within the engineering organization.
• Travel to project sites, vendor facilities, and commissioning locations as needed; anticipated travel and field work is approximately 25%.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering with an emphasis in power systems.
• Minimum of 5 years of demonstrated experience in protection and control engineering for high-voltage substations or renewable generation facilities.
• Experience with SEL protection and automation products is required.
• Strong understanding of power system fundamentals, protection principles, relay coordination, and substation control schemes.
• Experience reviewing or supporting high‑voltage equipment tes