Data Center Substation, Protection & Automation Engineer

Anthropic

10d•$320,000 - $405,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Anthropic’s Data Center Infrastructure team delivers the physical infrastructure needed to power large accelerator clusters, working with build partners, equipment manufacturers, and utilities. Its campuses typically use dedicated high-voltage substations and medium-voltage distribution networks, which may include on-site generation and battery energy storage. The Data Center Substation, Protection & Automation Engineer will own protection and automation architecture across Anthropic’s US portfolio, from the utility point of interconnection through HV/MV substations and distribution to LV switchgear. The role develops protection philosophy and reference relay settings, performs and reviews short-circuit, coordination, and arc-flash studies, designs substation automation and SCADA architecture, and defines relay and meter integration with the electrical power monitoring system (EPMS). The engineer will also lead protection-related utility interconnection work, including relay settings, transfer-trip, and ride-through requirements. Protection engineering and substation automation are the core focus. Substation physical design experience is valued but is not required. The engineer works with infrastructure colleagues, build partners’ A/E firms, relay and switchgear vendors, and utility protection groups. Travel is expected to be approximately 20–35% for factory acceptance and relay testing, site energization, and commissioning.

Requirements

10 or more years of experience in power system protection engineering, substation automation, or substation design for utility, heavy-industrial, or mission-critical facilities.
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Deep, hands-on expertise applying and setting protective relays for transformers, feeders, buses, generators, and switchgear; fluency with at least one major relay platform such as SEL, GE Multilin, ABB, or Siemens.
Fluency in short-circuit, protective-device coordination, and arc-flash analysis, and ability to run or critically review studies using tools such as SKM, ETAP, EasyPower, ASPEN, or CAPE.
Hands-on experience integrating protective relays into substation automation or SCADA using protocols such as DNP3, Modbus, or IEC 61850, and understanding of RTU/gateway and sequence-of-events architecture.
Experience with utility interconnection protection, such as relay settings submittals, transfer-trip or communications-assisted schemes, or point-of-interconnection protection requirements, on the utility or customer side.
Ability to confidently read, interpret, and mark up single-line and three-line diagrams, AC and DC schematics, relay panel drawings, and wiring diagrams.
Experience developing relay test plans and witnessing factory acceptance testing, secondary-injection testing, or field commissioning of protection and control systems.
Familiarity with applicable codes and standards, including IEEE C37, IEEE 1584, NFPA 70/70E, and, for utility-connected or bulk-electric-system facilities, NERC PRC reliability standards.
Clear communication with technical peers and non-specialist stakeholders; results-oriented approach, practical problem-solving, and willingness to take on work outside the core remit when needed.

Nice To Haves

HV/MV substation physical design experience, including general arrangement, bus configuration, power transformer and HV breaker specification, grounding-grid design per IEEE 80, insulation coordination, and control-building layout.
Experience with protection and control for on-site generation and battery energy storage systems, including anti-islanding, synchronizing, and microgrid transfer schemes.
Background in data centers, hyperscalers, or other high-availability electrical distribution, and familiarity with critical-power topologies such as 2N, N+1, and distributed redundant.
Experience owning NERC PRC compliance evidence for a generation or transmission asset, including settings-basis documentation, misoperation reporting, and PRC-005 maintenance programs.
Proficiency with vendor relay engineering tools such as SEL AcSELerator, GE EnerVista, ABB PCM600, or Siemens DIGSI, and IEC 61850 system configuration tools.
Experience designing IEC 61850 station- or process-bus systems with GOOSE-based protection or interlocking schemes.
Prior work at a utility, relay or switchgear manufacturer, protection-engineering consultancy, or hyperscaler serving large-load interconnections.
Professional Engineer (PE) licensure.

Responsibilities

Own the protection philosophy and basis of design across HV substations, MV distribution, generator and energy-storage interties, and LV switchgear; maintain reference relay settings and protection one-line templates.
Specify protective relays and develop settings for transformer, feeder, bus, generator, motor, and arc-flash applications across major relay platforms.
Perform and critically review short-circuit, protective-device coordination, and arc-flash studies, and use findings to guide equipment selection, settings, and incident-energy mitigation.
Implement automatic transfer, load-shed, and restoration schemes in protection and automation logic, ensuring they remain secure and coordinated under credible contingencies.
Review protection and control design packages, relay-setting calculations, and coordination studies from build partners and A/E firms; address deviations and exceptions.
Design site substation automation architecture, including IEC 61850 station and process bus, GOOSE messaging, RTUs and gateways, local HMI, sequence-of-events recording, and time synchronization; standardize the architecture across the portfolio.
Integrate protective relays, meters, and switchgear controls into EPMS and substation SCADA; define electrical points lists and event and waveform capture in accordance with site alarm and HMI standards.
Help define network topology, redundancy, and cybersecurity boundaries between substation automation, EPMS, and facility BMS/DCIM, including how protection events reach operations.
Evaluate and qualify relay, RTU, gateway, and EPMS platforms, and work with supply chain to diversify vendors and reduce lead-time and single-source risk.
Review HV/MV substation design packages, including diagrams, bus configuration, general arrangement, equipment specifications, grounding-grid design, and control-building layout, for buildability and maintainability of protection and control design.
Work with utilities, transmission owners, and ISOs/RTOs on interconnection protection requirements, including settings submittals, transfer-trip and communications-assisted schemes, POI study reviews, and ride-through and grid-code requirements.
Review protection and control interfaces for on-site generation and battery energy storage, including anti-islanding, synchronizing, and intertie protection.
Support NERC PRC compliance for applicable facilities through settings documentation, misoperation analysis, and periodic maintenance and testing basis.
Develop relay test plans and factory and site acceptance procedures; witness FAT, secondary-injection testing, GOOSE messaging and end-to-end scheme testing, and integrated systems testing.
Review protection and control portions of energization and switching MOPs, support first energization of substations and MV distribution, and resolve field issues.
Lead root-cause analysis of protection operations and misoperations using relay event records, sequence-of-events data, and disturbance records; incorporate findings into settings and standards.
Develop and improve internal protection and automation standards, including settings templates, scheme logic libraries, test procedures, and commissioning checklists.