Senior Engineer, Power Systems Controls

TAR•Austin, TX

About The Position

As Senior Engineer, Power Systems Controls, you own the two places where an islanded, inverter-dominant plant is proven before it is energized: detailed PSCAD EMT studies and Typhoon HIL testing. You build and validate the EMT models of the grid-forming PCS, BESS, PV, and data center load, then take the same control behavior onto a real-time HIL bench and prove it against the actual controller hardware. Your results tell the team whether the integrated plant holds frequency and voltage on its own, powering a 24/7 data center load with no utility behind it. You report to the Principal Engineer, Power Systems Controls, within the VP of Power Systems Control and Integration's organization. Two scope notes on what this role is and is not. First, we integrate utility-scale OEM equipment; we do not design power converters at the silicon level. You need to understand converter internals well enough to build credible EMT models, read OEM control block diagrams, and find where an OEM model or firmware misbehaves, not to lay out gate drivers. Second, the Principal Engineer sets the control philosophy and the OEM-firmware-versus-MGC boundary; you prove it works.

Requirements

M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Power Systems, Power Electronics, or Controls with 5+ years of relevant experience, or a Ph.D. in one of these fields with 1 to 3 years of relevant experience.
Hands-on PSCAD/EMTDC experience building plant-level models of inverter-based resources (BESS, PV, or wind), including integrating OEM black-box models and running fault, ride-through, and dynamic studies.
Hands-on real-time HIL experience, preferably Typhoon HIL.
Working knowledge of grid-forming versus grid-following inverter control: droop, virtual synchronous machine, PLL-based current control, current limiting, and how each behaves during faults and load steps.
Ability to read OEM control block diagrams and model documentation critically, and to explain why an EMT result does or does not match expected behavior.
Understanding of islanded and low-fault-current protection, and why conventional overcurrent coordination becomes unreliable at 1.1 to 1.5x rated fault current.
Proficiency in Python for study automation and data analysis; MATLAB/Simulink experience is a plus.
Experience writing clear test procedures and technical study reports.
Extreme attention to detail, with a bias for speed and rapid iteration.

Nice To Haves

Direct islanded, off-grid, or behind-the-meter microgrid experience, especially black start of an inverter-dominant system.
EMT modeling of utility-scale PV+BESS powering a large, fast-changing load such as a data center.
Field-validated GFM behavior, fault response, and inverter-to-inverter interactions in a real IBR-dominant plant.
Typhoon HIL certification or experience building automated HIL regression pipelines (CI/CD for controls).
Controller-HIL or power-HIL testing of commercial microgrid controllers or BESS PCS controllers.
Experience with impedance-based or small-signal stability methods (frequency scans, Nyquist criteria) alongside EMT.
Familiarity with PowerFactory, PSS/E, or ETAP for load flow, short-circuit, and protection studies.
C/C++ or Simulink Embedded Coder experience for controller code deployed to HIL or embedded targets.
Written and executed commissioning test plans and troubleshot bring-up in the field.
Test-like-you-fly culture (Tesla Energy, Fluence, SpaceX, Array, Nextracker, or comparable) where validation rigor is the norm.

Responsibilities

PSCAD EMT modeling and studies: Build, maintain, and version-control the plant-level PSCAD EMT model: grid-forming BESS PCS, PV inverters, MV collection, transformers, cables, grounding, and a representative data center load (UPS, rectifier front ends, and load-step profiles).
Integrate OEM-supplied black-box and user-defined PSCAD models. Check them for numerical stability, time-step sensitivity, initialization, and fidelity to the OEM's stated control behavior; document gaps and push OEMs for corrected or better-documented models.
Run islanded EMT studies: black start and energization (transformer inrush, cable charging), large load steps and load rejection, fault ride-through, fault current contribution in the 1.1 to 1.5x rated range, unbalanced faults, and protection operation.
Study inverter-to-inverter and control interactions: GFM droop and virtual-inertia sharing, GFM/GFL coexistence, sub-synchronous and harmonic oscillations, weak-grid and low-SCR behavior, and impedance-based stability screening.
Verify that protection settings stay selective across every operating mode, and provide the EMT evidence behind differential, communication-assisted, or adaptive schemes.
Automate study cases and post-processing in Python (batch runs, parameter sweeps, pass/fail criteria, plots, and reports).
Typhoon HIL testing and controller validation: Build and maintain real-time Typhoon HIL models of the islanded plant, sized and partitioned to run on the available HIL hardware while keeping the dynamics that matter.
Run controller-HIL testing of the microgrid controller (MGC/PPC), EMS functions, and, where available, OEM PCS controllers or replica panels.
Write HIL test procedures and automate them with Typhoon's Python API and TyphoonTest IDE: black start, mode transitions, load steps, loss of a BESS block, communications loss, setpoint dispatch, and protection trips.
Correlate HIL results with the PSCAD offline model; track which differences come from model reduction and which reveal real control issues.
Run regression testing on every MGC and OEM firmware release before it reaches site, and keep a traceable record of test results.
Commissioning and field support: Turn EMT and HIL test cases into commissioning and acceptance test plans for the pilot and later sites.
Support energization, bring-up, and acceptance testing on site; capture field data and use it to recalibrate models.
Troubleshoot field events by reproducing them in PSCAD or on the HIL bench.
OEM engagement and collaboration: Act as the technical point of contact with OEMs and the EMT study consultant on model quality, study assumptions, and results; review external study reports critically.
Feed EMT and HIL findings into the MGC and EMS functional specs, the control philosophy, and design reviews and FMEA.
Work closely with the controls and automation engineer, protection engineers, and the MGC and EMS vendors so nothing tested falls into a gap between vendors.