Relay Technician

Relay Technician / Senior Relay Technician

This role supports utility substation testing, commissioning, and protection and controls projects across Virginia, Maryland, and the Washington D.C. metro area, with major activity in Northern Virginia. Relay Technicians and Senior Relay Technicians perform relay testing, commissioning, troubleshooting, maintenance, and overall support of protection and control systems for transmission, distribution, and generation facilities. The position offers exposure to large-scale utility infrastructure programs driven by significant data center growth, advanced technical training, long-term project stability, and clear paths for career advancement.

• Perform protective relay testing and commissioning for transmission, distribution, and generation facilities, ensuring accurate and reliable protection and control operation.
• Conduct functional relay testing, acceptance testing, maintenance testing, and end-to-end testing of protection systems in utility substations.
• Execute relay commissioning activities, including verification of protection schemes, relay logic, control circuits, and relay settings prior to energization.
• Support utility substation upgrades and infrastructure projects by testing and validating protection and control systems for new and existing equipment.
• Troubleshoot protection systems, including relays, control circuits, and associated devices, to identify root causes and implement corrective actions.
• Review and interpret relay settings, logic diagrams, and protection schemes to confirm compliance with design requirements and utility standards.
• Work with protection and control drawings, wiring diagrams, one-line diagrams, relay schematics, and logic diagrams to perform accurate installation, testing, and documentation.
• Collaborate with project teams to plan, execute, and document testing and commissioning activities in accordance with established procedures and safety guidelines.
• Provide support for transmission substations, distribution substations, and generation facilities, ensuring reliable operation of protection and control systems.
• Use testing equipment such as OMICRON and similar relay testing platforms to perform advanced diagnostic and commissioning tasks.
• Participate in major utility infrastructure programs related to data center-driven growth and increasing electrical demand in Northern Virginia and surrounding regions.
• For Senior Relay Technicians: lead projects, coordinate testing and commissioning efforts, and serve as a mentor to junior and mid-level technicians.
• For Mid-Level Relay Technicians: work under the guidance of Senior Relay Technicians, applying strong relay and protection and controls fundamentals to support project execution.
• Maintain accurate records of test results, commissioning reports, and troubleshooting activities for utility and project documentation.
• Travel regionally to project sites, including substations in Ashburn, Loudoun County, Leesburg, Manassas, Northern Virginia, and the Washington D.C. metro area, to perform field work as required.

• Mid-Level Relay Technician: approximately 3–5 years of relay and protection and controls (P&C) experience, with strong relay and P&C fundamentals and the ability to work under a Senior Relay Technician.
• Senior Relay Technician: 5–7+ years of relay and protection and controls (P&C) experience, with utility-level relay experience and the ability to independently execute testing and commissioning activities.
• Demonstrated experience in protective relay testing, including functional, acceptance, maintenance, and end-to-end testing.
• Hands-on experience with relay commissioning and protection and controls systems in utility substations.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot relay and protection systems, including identification and resolution of issues in control circuits and protection schemes.
• Utility substation experience supporting transmission substations, distribution substations, and generation facilities.
• Ability to interpret and work from electrical schematics, protection and control drawings, wiring diagrams, one-line diagrams, relay schematics, and logic…