Substation Automation Engineer - Grid Modernization; IEC

Substation Automation Engineer - Grid Modernization (IEC 61850)

Together, we own our company, our future, and our shared success. As an employee-owned company, our people are Black & Veatch. We put them at the center of everything we do and empower them to grow, explore new possibilities and use their diverse talents and perspectives to solve humanity's biggest challenges in an ever-evolving world. With over 100 years of innovation in sustainable infrastructure and our expertise in engineering, procurement, consulting and construction, together we are building a world of difference.

Company:
Black & Veatch Corporation Opportunity Type:
Staff Relocation eligible:
Yes Full time/Part time:
Full-Time Project Only Hire:
No Visa Sponsorship Available:
No

Why Black & Veatch? At Black & Veatch, you'll be part of work that matters—designing, creating, and building the infrastructure communities rely on every day, from concept through execution. We care about how the work gets done as much as what we build. Safety is built into every decision, and people look out for each other—speaking up, collaborating, and doing the right thing because it affects real lives.

You'll work alongside teams solving complex challenges and turning ideas into solutions that perform in the real world—gaining hands-on experience across projects, technologies, and disciplines. Ownership shows up in how we work. We take responsibility for outcomes, follow through on commitments, and take pride in what we deliver. As a 100% employee-owned company, employees share in the long-term success we build together.

With flexible ways of working and meaningful development opportunities, you'll build a career you can be proud to stand behind.

The Opportunity In this role, you may have the opportunity to:

• Lead the transition of IEC 61850‑based digital and virtual substations from pilot to production, shaping real-world grid modernization outcomes.
• Design and standardize secure, vendor‑agnostic substation automation architectures that improve resilience, flexibility, and scalability.
• Serve as a technical leader and subject‑matter expert, influencing system architecture, best practices, and emerging standards.
• Collaborate with utilities, technology partners, and industry groups (including vPAC Alliance ) to help define the future of protection, automation, and control.

The Team Black & Veatch is expanding its Power SCADA team to support a strategic grid modernization initiative focused on IEC 61850 ‑ based substation automation and virtual substation technologies. As a founding member of the Virtual Protection, Automation, and Control (vPAC) Alliance, Black & Veatch is collaborating with industry leaders to advance open, secure, and vendor ‑ agnostic digital substation solutions that replace traditional, hardware ‑ intensive architectures with virtualized, software ‑ defined platforms.

Following successful pilot efforts, BV is now transitioning virtual substations into production environments. This role is being created to bring in experienced SCADA professionals who can help design, implement, standardize, and support production ‑ ready Power SCADA solutions that enable resilient, flexible, and future ‑ ready grid infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities

• IEC 61850 Engineering & Modeling
• Substation Networking & Time Synchronization
• Protection, Automation & SCADA Integration
• Cybersecurity & System Hardening
• Virtualization of Substation Functions
• Industry Engagement & Technical Leadership
• Project Delivery & Collaboration

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with cybersecurity frameworks for operational technology environments, including secure communications and system-hardening practices.
• Interest or participation in IEEE and IEC standards development related to IEC 61850, time synchronization, digital substations, and cybersecurity.
• Experience deploying or supporting virtualized protection, automation, and control applications on VMware ESXi/vCenter/vSAN/NSX, Red Hat KVM or Open Shift Virtualization, and SEAPATH's real-time, high-availability hypervisor platform for vPAC workloads.
• Experience deploying virtualized substation workloads on industrial servers…