Senior Protection & Control (P&C) Design Engineer | Cape Town

Kirby Group Engineering; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary & benefits

Professional development

Career progression

Collaborative one-team culture

Job summary

Kirby Group Engineering is seeking an experienced Senior Protection & Control Design Engineer to join our Cape Town team. You will lead HV/MV substation protection design, develop protection philosophies, and coordinate relay settings for complex projects in the UK, Ireland and Europe while based in South Africa.

You will mentor engineers and ensure compliance with IEC 61850 and client requirements. You will collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams, deliver Schematics and SCADA interfaces, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering required.
• 6–12+ years' experience in P&C design.
• HV/MV substation design experience and strong protection knowledge.

Responsibilities

• Lead HV substation protection schemes design ( transformers, lines, busbars).
• Develop protection philosophies, relay selection, coordination & settings.
• Deliver control system & auxiliary designs, incl. schematics & SCADA integration.
• Perform power system studies: fault level, coordination, load flow, grid integration.
• Review documentation (schematics, BOM, equipment specs).
• Lead design reviews and mentor junior engineers.
• Interface with clients & multidisciplinary teams; support testing.

Skills

Protection relays selection & coord

SCADA / substation automation

IEC 61850 & comms architectures

ETAP / DigSilent / EPLAN / AutoCAD

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering (BEng/BSc Eng)

Tools

ETAP

DigSilent

EPLAN

AutoCAD

Job description

• Permanent position available with a considerable portfolio of works for the next 5+ years
• To build your career by assisting in the delivery of 'leading edge' engineering projects.
• To work with a vibrant, agile and multi-functional team in delivering projects on time, safely, to budget and to the required quality standards.
• To benefit from Kirby's Career Development Programmes that will enhance your leadership capability.
• To work with the best.
• Excellent package on offer with room for negotiations

• Permanent position available with a considerable portfolio of works for the next 5+ years
• To build your career by assisting in the delivery of 'leading edge' engineering projects.
• To work with a vibrant, agile and multi-functional team in delivering projects on time, safely, to budget and to the required quality standards.
• To benefit from Kirby's Career Development Programmes that will enhance your leadership capability.
• To work with the best.
• Excellent package on offer with room for negotiations

About Kirby Group Engineering

Kirby Group Engineering is an international multi-disciplinary engineering services contractor and leading provider of high-value engineering services to a number of 'blue chip' companies. Operating across Ireland, the UK, Europe and South Africa, Kirby has become the engineering service provider of choice in growth segments such as pharmaceuticals, data centres and power transmission and distribution. Our culture is innovative, collaborative and performance focused. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to grow and develop in a company committed to developing talent and rewarding performance.

About The Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Protection & Control (P&C) Design Engineer to join our growing engineering team in Cape Town. The successful candidate will play a key technical leadership role in delivering high-voltage and medium voltage substation designs for projects, ensuring compliance with international standards and client requirements.

This is an exciting opportunity to work on complex high voltage transmission utility and renewable energy infrastructure projects in the UK, Ireland and the rest of Europe while contributing to a collaborative, high-performance engineering culture.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design of HV substation protection schemes (transformers, lines, busbars, feeders)
• Develop protection philosophies, relay selection, coordination, and settings
• Deliver control system and auxiliary systems designs, including schematics and SCADA
• integration
• Perform power system studies (fault level, coordination, load flow, grid integration)
• Develop protection and control logic ensuring redundancy and system reliability
• Produce and review technical documentation (schematics, BOM, equipment specification and sizing)
• Ensure compliance with IEC, IEEE, ANSI and Utility specific standards
• Support IEC 61850-based digital substation designs
• Lead design reviews, including evaluating 3rd-party consultant deliverables
• Interface with clients, project engineers, and multidisciplinary teams
• Support testing, commissioning, and troubleshooting
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to team development

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering (BEng/BSc Eng) or equivalent
• 6-12+ years' experience in P&C design
• Proven experience in HV/MV substation designs
• Strong knowledge of:
• Protection relays selection and coordination
• SCADA / substation automation systems
• IEC 61850 and communication architectures
• Proficiency in tools such as ETAP, DigSilent, EPLAN, AutoCAD or similar
• Demonstrated ability to lead design reviews and mentor team members
• Registration with ECSA (PrEng) or working towards this will be advantageous

Key Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication and client-facing ability
• Leadership and mentoring capability
• High attention to detail and commitment to safety

What We Offer

• Opportunity to work on international projects while based in South Africa
• Competitive salary and benefits
• Professional development and career progression
• Collaborative "one-team" engineering culture

For more information on this role, or other Construction / Engineering opportunities across Ireland, the UK, Europe, or South Africa please review our careers page (Vacancies - Kirby Group Careers) or contact the Talent Acquisition Team at Kirby Group in confidence on [phone].

Kirby Group Engineering is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace and welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates, regardless of race, gender, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or age.