Senior Protection Engineer

My client is seeking a highly motivated and detail-oriented Senior Protection Engineer to join its Electrical Engineering team. This individual will play a critical role in the design, development, testing, and commissioning of electrical protection systems supporting power generation, medium-voltage distribution, and auxiliary power systems. The Senior Protection Engineer will collaborate closely with Engineering, Operations, Commissioning, OEMs, and project stakeholders to develop relay settings, perform power system studies, support factory and site testing, and ensure the safe, reliable, and resilient operation of critical power assets.

This role can be based out of Houston, TX or be remote with travel.

• Design electrical protection schemes for generators, transformers, feeders, buses, medium-voltage, and low-voltage distribution systems.
• Develop, review, and maintain relay settings, calculations, logic diagrams, coordination studies, protection narratives, and associated engineering documentation.
• Apply protection functions for synchronous generators, transformers, inverter-based resources (IBRs), and other electrical equipment based on system requirements.
• Coordinate protection system designs with one-line diagrams, control schematics, vendor documentation, and project specifications.
• Perform and review short circuit studies to support equipment ratings, relay coordination, and protection settings.
• Develop study assumptions, validate system models, and clearly document engineering conclusions.
• Support load flow, arc flash, transient stability, and dynamic system modeling as required.
• Analyze abnormal system operating conditions and recommend practical protection or control improvements.
• Design and implement protection and control systems utilizing IEC 61850, including GOOSE messaging and Intelligent Electronic Device (IED) communications.
• Develop and review relay logic, communications mapping, integration documentation, and testing procedures.
• Partner with SCADA, controls, automation, and networking teams to integrate protection systems into plant monitoring and control infrastructure.
• Support the standardization of relay templates, naming conventions, engineering practices, and testing procedures across multiple projects.
• Participate in Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), hardware-in-the-loop testing, and field commissioning activities.
• Troubleshoot relay settings, communications, wiring, logic, and field implementation issues during commissioning and operational support.
• Review commissioning documentation, resolve punch list items, and ensure final relay settings accurately reflect installed systems.
• Travel to project sites, vendor facilities, and commissioning locations as required.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Construction, Operations, Procurement, Commissioning, and third-party engineering partners throughout project execution.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship while supporting continuous improvement initiatives within the protection engineering program.
• Prepare technical reports, engineering documentation, issue logs, turnover packages, and project deliverables.
• Promote a strong safety culture while maintaining the highest ethical and professional standards.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent experience in power system protection.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in protection engineering, relay settings, power system studies, and commissioning support.
• Experience developing relay standards, protection philosophies, commissioning procedures, and settings templates.
• Hands-on experience performing short circuit studies for…