Senior Substation Engineer

Senior Substation Engineer – Oakbrook, IL

We are seeking a highly motivated and skilled Senior Substation Engineer to join our team at K&A Engineering in Oakbrook, IL. In this role, you will have the opportunity to work on exciting and challenging projects that make a real impact in the energy and utility sectors. You’ll be part of a dynamic, people‑focused team where your expertise, ideas, and contributions will be valued and celebrated.

• Perform detailed review of all existing protection schemes present in the subject area to incorporate into new design; focus on anti‑islanding schemes, generator intertie settings, SPS schemes, and other specialized scenarios to ensure required protections remain or are understood before modification.
• Lead overall protection design for all capital projects and define relay protection functionality/scheme in accordance with client standards.
• Review contractor‑provided relay settings, logic diagrams (including Go‑to messaging diagrams), and operational descriptions for all capital projects.
• Review and perform area relay coordination to determine the required level of coordination based on changes in fault duty and overall system performance due to the project changes.
• Review contractor‑provided relay settings for all temporary builds and construction sequence steps, including mobile settings.
• Review and provide input on the Customer’s Aspen model changes as required for individual capital projects.
• Provide design support during implementation/testing and commissioning of protection and automation items.
• Provide feedback to the Customer on existing TM standards and help refine the Customer’s design practices.
• Ensure all as‑built documentation is filed appropriately in the plant filing location at the Customer.
• Lead overall automation and integration design for all capital projects.
• Review/design SCADA point indexes.
• Review contractor‑provided HMI screens/settings for all capital projects.
• Review/design protection settings and settings basis.
• Review/design IED data maps.
• Track all required licenses/firewalls and key automation and integration deliverables needed for project implementation.
• Perform constructability review and ensure that adequate automation and integration coverage is available for each outage step (SCADA, etc.).

• Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) with a strong background and knowledge of all utilities engineering disciplines.
• 6+ years or more of relay/protection settings engineering experience.
• Proficient in Microsoft Project, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
• Proven experience in substation design, including general arrangement, electrical equipment plans, elevation and section views, equipment cable trays, cable design, conduit fill calculations, and rigid bus calculations.
• Professional level skills in Micro Station and AutoCAD.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license requested.

Pay Range: $100,000—$130,000 annually.

People‑First Culture:
We put our people at the center of everything we do, creating an environment where your professional and personal growth is a top priority.

Innovation & Learning:
We encourage continuous learning and invest in your development through training, mentorship, and hands‑on experience.

Collaborative Team Environment:
We believe in the power of collaboration and working together to achieve the best outcomes for our clients and employees.

Recognition & Growth:
We’ve earned our reputation through uncompromising precision and a commitment to excellence. As an agile and fast‑growing company, we offer plenty of opportunities for your career advancement and growth.

Competitive Compensation & Benefits:
We offer a comprehensive benefits package for eligible classified employees, including but not limited to:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• FSA, HSA, and Dependent Care Spending Account
• 401(k) (Traditional and Roth with Company Match)
• Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA)
• Paid Holidays and Flexible PTO
• Tuition Reimbursement, Parking and Transit Reimbursement, and Pet Insurance
• Long‑Term Disability, Short‑Term Disability, and Life Insurance
• EAP (Employee Assistance Program)