Senior Engineer, Digital Substations
About The Position
National Grid is seeking a Senior Engineer to support New England Electric Digital Substations. The role is hybrid and can be based in Northboro, Massachusetts, or Millbury, Massachusetts. Senior Engineers help ensure the reliability, safety, and efficiency of electric transmission and distribution systems. In this Digital Substation role, the engineer develops standards, designs and integrates protection, control, and communications systems, manages asset strategies, and supports advanced digital technology deployment. The position collaborates with engineering, operations, IT/OT, and project teams to support modern substation construction, maintenance, and operation, grid modernization, and regulatory compliance. The Senior Engineer will lead the technical development, application, and evolution of IEC 61850 standards and provide technical leadership on IEC 61850-based substation projects. The role develops and maintains digital substation reference architectures and design guidance, leads configuration development and testing in a digital substation simulator or lab, participates in industry organizations, mentors technical staff, and supports emergency response and system events involving digital substation, protection, control, and communications systems.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Electrical Engineering Technology from an ABET-accredited institution.
- At least 5 years of relevant engineering experience in electric utility, asset management, power systems, or device manufacturing environments. A master’s degree in a related engineering discipline may be considered in lieu of one year of experience.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Visio.
- Experience with electric power facilities.
- Effective communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences, including strong verbal, written, and presentation skills, and leadership capabilities.
- Valid driver’s license and a safe driving record meeting National Grid’s Safe Driver policy, to support travel across the U.S. service territory as required.
- Ability to work without a need for current or future visa sponsorship.
Nice To Haves
- Working knowledge of IEC 61850 and associated standards, as well as applicable IEEE/ANSI standards, NESC, and National Electrical Code requirements.
- Engineer-in-Training (EIT) certification or Professional Engineer (PE) license.
- Familiarity with MicroStation and experience with electrical panel and/or cabinet design, construction, and assembly.
- Experience with protective relay settings, including parameter configuration and/or relay logic development.
- Experience with protection and control systems and troubleshooting.
Responsibilities
- Lead the technical development, application, and evolution of IEC 61850 standards, promoting consistent implementation across protection, control, SCADA, and substation networking systems in collaboration with internal stakeholders.
- Provide technical leadership for IEC 61850-based substation projects in the capital work plan, including design development, testing strategies, risk mitigation, and issue resolution throughout the project lifecycle.
- Develop and maintain digital substation reference architectures, configurations, and design guidance, including station and process bus, time synchronization, interoperability, and cybersecurity considerations.
- Lead configuration development and coordinate testing in the digital substation simulator or lab, supporting factory acceptance tests, interoperability testing, proof-of-concept evaluations, and complex troubleshooting.
- Represent National Grid in industry organizations and working groups, contributing to industry standards, best practices, and emerging digital substation technologies.
- Provide technical guidance, mentoring, and knowledge sharing to engineers and technical staff.
- Support emergency response and system events involving digital substation, protection, control, and communications systems; coordinate with operations, maintenance, and system control teams to investigate anomalies and support testing and restoration.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
