Sr. Substation Protection & Control Engineer

WSP in the U.S.; Buffalo (NY); Hybrid; USD 83,200 - 145,530; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Paid sick leave

Paid vacation

Paid parental leave

Job summary

WSP in the U.S. is seeking a Sr. Substation Protection & Control Engineer for their Binghamton, NY office. The role involves designing protection schemes, leading capital projects, and ensuring adherence to safety standards.

The ideal candidate has a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, EIT Certification, and 5+ years of relevant experience. Benefits include health coverage and a competitive salary range of $83,200 – $145,530.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of relevant post-education experience in electrical engineering, power systems protection and control.
• EIT Certification.
• Proven track record of upholding workplace safety.

Responsibilities

• Lead overall protection design for all capital projects.
• Perform detailed review of protection schemes for new design.
• Provide design support during implementation/testing and commissioning.

Skills

Ability to make technical computations and calculations

Highly capable self-leadership

Critical thinking and problem-solving skills

Ability to direct subcontractors

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering

Master's Degree in Engineering

Tools

Engineering design tools and software

IEC 61850/GOOSE

Job description

Sr. Substation Protection & Control Engineer

Location: Binghamton, NY (client office); Horseheads, NY (WSP office). Other considered locations include Buffalo, NY; Boston, MA; New York, NY; Portland, ME; and Augusta, ME.

Responsibilities

• Work under mentorship and guidance of the Supervising Engineer.
• The Protection & Control Engineer is responsible for the following functions:
• Perform detailed review of all existing protection schemes present in the subject area to incorporate into new design. Special areas of focus are anti-islanding schemes, generator intertie settings, SPS schemes, etc. (anything outside of normal). Basically, the goal is to ensure that we don’t remove required protections already in place or at least be aware of how things work today before we modify existing schemes.
• Lead overall protection design for all capital projects and define relay protection functionality/scheme in accordance with Client standards.
• Review contractor provided relay settings, logic diagrams (including Goose messaging diagrams), and operational descriptions for all capital projects.
• Review/perform area relay coordination and determine what level of area coordination is required/needed (based on changes in fault duty and overall system performance due to the project changes).
• Review contractor provided relay settings for all temporary builds and construction sequence steps including mobile settings.
• Review/provide input to Owner’s Aspen model changes as required for individual capital projects.
• Provide design support during implementation/testing and commissioning of the above items.
• Provide feedback to Owner on existing standards and help refine the Owner’s design practices.
• Ensure all as-built documentation gets filed appropriately in the plant filing location at Owner.
• Lead overall automation and integration design for all capital projects.
• Review/design SCADA point indexes.
• Review contractor provided HMI screens/settings for all capital projects.
• Review/design Protection settings and settings basis.
• Review/design IED Data Maps.
• Review/create substation level operational descriptions (HMI operation, relay front panel operation, etc.).
• Review automated maintenance data gathering (Digital Substation Data) point lists.
• Track all required licenses/firewalls and key automation and integration deliverables needed for project implementation.
• Provide design support during implementation/testing and commissioning of the above items.
• Perform constructability review and ensure adequate automation and integration coverage is available for each outage step (SCADA, etc.).
• Ability to make technical computations and calculations involving the application of electrical engineering principles, understanding plans and specifications, and making factual comparisons to the appropriate regulations.
• Highly capable self-leadership with attention to detail, multi-tasking, and prioritization of responsibilities in a dynamic work environment.
• Ability to work independently and provide guidance and leadership to junior team or project members, with strict adherence to QA/QC.
• Developed critical thinking and problem-solving skills required to apply technical knowledge to reach conclusions from testing results, data collation, statistical analysis and arriving at the most effective, economical, and logical solution.
• Ability to assertively direct others in the field such as subcontractors and others to consistently complete tasks safely and efficiently.
• Perform additional responsibilities as needed.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering.
• 5+ years of relevant post-education experience in electrical engineering, power systems protection and control.
• EIT Certification.
• IEC 61850/GOOSE experience required.
• The ideal candidate will have experience working in consulting firms.
• Proficient with various engineering design tools and software.
• Effective self-leadership with attention to detail, results orientation, and managing multiple priorities in a dynamic work environment.
• Ability to perform independently and in a team environment and maintain project ownership.
• Efficient communications and ability to work with team members not located in the same office through MS Teams, email, and/or telephone calls.
• Proven track record of upholding workplace safety and ability to abide by WSP’s health, safety and drug/alcohol and harassment policies.
• Ability to work schedules conducive to project-specific requirements that may extend beyond the typical workweek.
• Occasional travel may be required depending on project-specific requirements.
• This role is subject to a client‑mandated drug/alcohol testing policy. As such, employee may be subject to random drug/alcohol tests. A copy of this policy will be provided during employee onboarding and is available upon applicant request.
• This position is subject to and contingent upon client approval of candidates put forth for consideration by WSP.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Engineering.

Benefits

WSP provides a comprehensive suite of benefits focused on health and financial stability throughout the employee’s career. These benefits include coverage related to medical, dental, vision, disability, and life; retirement savings; paid sick leave; paid vacation (or other personal time); paid parental leave; and paid time off for purposes of bereavement, voting, and/or attendance at naturalization proceedings.

Compensation

Expected Salary (all locations): $83,200 – $145,530.

Equal Opportunity Employer

WSP USA (and all of its U.S. companies) is an Equal Opportunity Employer Race/Age/Color/Religion/Sex/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/National Origin/Disability or Protected Veteran Status.

Notice to Third‑Party Agencies

WSP does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters, employment agencies, or other staffing services. Unsolicited resumes include any resume or hiring document sent to WSP in the absence of a signed Service Agreement where WSP has expressly requested recruitment/staffing services specific to the position at hand. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers or other business leaders, will become the property of WSP and WSP will have the right to hire that candidate without reservation – no fee or other compensation will be owed or paid to the recruiter, employment agency, or other staffing service.