Lead Protection & Control Engineer - OT Security

About us

National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) sits at the heart of the UK's energy system. The reliability, safety and resilience of our transmission network is critical to daily life, and protecting it against cyber threats is a core priority.

We are seeking a Lead OT Security Engineer to take ownership of cybersecurity for our Protection & Control (P&C) and substation automation environments. This role is intentionally suited to someone with a strong electrical or power systems engineering background who is passionate about developing deeper expertise in OT cybersecurity
.

This role is subject to National Security Vetting (NSV). To be eligible, candidates will normally need to have lived in the UK for at least 5 years

As our network evolves, so too does the need to protect it from emerging cyber threats. We are looking for a Lead OT Security Engineer to strengthen cybersecurity across our Protection & Control (P&C) and substation environments.

This role is ideally suited to someone with a strong electrical or power systems engineering background - particularly within substations or P&C - who is looking to apply or develop their expertise in OT cybersecurity
.

You will act as a subject matter expert at system level
, helping us understand risk across substation environments, improve cyber resilience, and shape how we invest in protecting critical national infrastructure

• Act as the technical lead for OT cybersecurity within substation and Protection & Control environments, ensuring secure‑by‑design delivery of engineering solutions
• Lead assessments of substation and P&C systems to identify cyber and engineering risks, working with teams to define practical, real‑world improvements
• Own and develop the cyber assessment framework for P&C, including metrics, assurance and regulatory reporting
• Work closely with design, protection engineering, commissioning, operations and IT teams to embed security across the full engineering lifecycle
• Provide expertise across substation automation and control systems, including protection relays, engineering workstations, gateways and OT networks (including IEC 61850 environments)
• Identify gaps in current cyber resilience and define clear, achievable remediation strategies
• Develop and maintain key assurance artefacts such as security cases, risk registers and compliance evidence
• Act as business lead on cyber resilience projects (including Ofgem-funded programmes), ensuring outcomes are practical, effective and adopted by the business
• Coach and support engineers in building consistent OT security practices across programmes
• Engage with internal stakeholders, suppliers and industry bodies to continuously improve our cyber capability

• A degree (or equivalent experience) in Electrical/Power Engineering, Systems Engineering, Control & Instrumentation or a related technical discipline
• Essential: demonstrable experience in substation and/or power systems engineering within a regulated CNI environment
• Strong understanding of Protection & Control, substation automation or similar engineering systems
• Awareness of OT environments within critical infrastructure
  , with an interest in applying or developing cybersecurity knowledge
• Understanding of UK regulatory and industrial frameworks, and the ability to apply them pragmatically in safety‑critical environments
• Experience working across multi-disciplinary teams, with strong stakeholder and supplier management skills
• Experience in electricity transmission, distribution or generation is highly desirable, including knowledge of substation asset life cycles, outage planning and engineering change

Desirable (not essential)

• Exposure to OT/ICS cybersecurity concepts or standards (e.g. IEC 61850, ISA/IEC 62443)
• Cyber security certifications (e.g. CISSP, CISM, GICSP) or willingness to work towards them

Not sure you meet every requirement? Please don't let that stop you. If this role excites you and you can bring strong engineering experience from a regulated CNI environment with a passion for OT cybersecurity, we'd love to hear from you. We're committed to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, and we…