Substation Commissioning Engineer
Listed on 2026-07-26
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Engineering
Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineer, Test Engineer, Field/Service Technician
Substation Commissioning Engineer
Lead the moment that matters most: bringing critical power infrastructure online.
If you thrive in the field, enjoy solving complex protection and control challenges, and want to be the engineer who gives the final approval before a substation is energized, this opportunity is built for you.
We're seeking an experienced Substation Commissioning Engineer to lead the testing, validation, and energization of utility and industrial substation projects. You'll work on both greenfield and brownfield substations, taking ownership of the most critical phase of the project lifecycle—ensuring every relay, protection scheme, control system, and piece of equipment performs exactly as intended before power flows.
This is a highly visible role offering significant autonomy, technical challenge, and a clear path toward project leadership, field service management, and operations leadership.
Why Engineers Join Our Team- Own the energization process and play a direct role in bringing critical infrastructure online.
- Work on complex transmission and distribution substation projects with sophisticated protection and control systems.
- Gain exposure to advanced relay technologies, protection schemes, SCADA integration, and commissioning best practices.
- Enjoy a high level of field autonomy and decision-making responsibility.
- Advance into leadership roles through a well-defined career growth path.
- Competitive compensation, relocation assistance, and sign-on bonus available for qualified candidates.
As a Substation Commissioning Engineer, you will lead field commissioning activities from site readiness through final energization and turnover.
Key Responsibilities- Lead commissioning activities for greenfield and brownfield substations, ensuring safe and successful project execution.
- Perform comprehensive protection and control testing, including relay functional testing, end-to-end testing, and logic validation.
- Execute and review commissioning plans, test procedures, and energization checklists.
- Analyze relay settings, logic, and protection schemes to verify system reliability and coordination.
- Validate correct operation of transmission and distribution protection systems prior to energization.
- Troubleshoot wiring, controls, communications, and protection issues identified during commissioning.
- Support breaker, transformer, switch gear, SCADA, and control system testing.
- Serve as a technical leader in the field, coordinating commissioning activities with project managers, construction teams, owners, and utility representatives.
- Take ownership of final system verification and provide commissioning sign-off recommendations.
- Document test results, commissioning reports, redlines, and project closeout deliverables.
- Mentor junior engineers and relay technicians while promoting commissioning best practices and safety excellence.
- Continuously improve commissioning processes through lessons learned and field expertise.
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in substation protection and controls, relay testing, or commissioning.
- Hands-on experience commissioning medium- and/or high-voltage substations.
- Strong knowledge of substation protection schemes and relay logic.
- Experience performing functional relay testing, logic verification, and system validation.
- Solid understanding of three-phase power systems, protection coordination, and substation operations.
- Demonstrated success supporting or leading energization activities.
- Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills in time-sensitive field environments.
- Ability and willingness to travel to project sites as needed.
- Commitment to safety, quality, and operational excellence.
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.
- Professional Engineer (PE) license.
- Experience with SEL, GE, ABB/Hitachi Energy, Siemens, or Schweitzer relay platforms.
- Experience with relay setting development and protection studies.
- Substation design or protection and controls engineering experience.
- NETA, NICET, or other industry certifications.
- Previous experience leading field teams or commissioning programs.
- Sr relay technicians with…
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