Protection & Controls Design Supervisor

About the Role

The Protection & Control Design Supervisor reports to the Senior Program Manager of Power Delivery and serves as a working supervisor responsible for performing and supervising protection and control design assignments associated with transmission, distribution, substation, and generation interconnection projects.

Responsibilities

• Prepare complete protection and control design packages, including preliminary, conceptual, and construction deliverables, as well as supporting calculations.
• Prepare detailed protection and control drawings such as one-line diagrams, three-line diagrams, AC/DC schematics, elementary diagrams, wiring diagrams, panel layouts, cable schedules, and termination details.
• Interpret verbal or written direction, client standards, engineering studies, and project requirements to initiate preliminary designs.
• Develop and review protection schemes, relay settings, coordination studies, logic equations, and settings calculations for transmission, distribution, substation, and generation interconnection projects.
• Check detailed sketches, calculations, and drawings for project applicability and optimal construction.
• Verify accuracy, completeness, consistency, and legibility of drawings prepared by others.
• Identify design improvements, standardization, and cost reductions.
• Interface with other departments concerning design improvement, cost savings, and project questions.
• Confirm specification and code compliance, equipment compatibility, protection philosophy, and client requirements.
• Ensure accuracy of completed drawings before final release and verify they meet company and industry standards.
• Assist with proposal compilation using computer-aided design equipment and/or graphic tools to prepare high-level layouts and sketches.
• Utilize 2D or 3D computer-aided design software to create protection, control, metering, SCADA, communications, and substation automation drawings.
• Create technical specifications and bills of material, and review vendor drawings and technical submittals to facilitate procurement, fabrication, installation, testing, and commissioning.
• Utilize engineering sketches, specifications, relay manuals, and supporting documents in designing, detailing, documenting, and verifying system configurations.
• Coordinate protection and control interfaces with substation, transmission, distribution, telecommunications, SCADA, system planning, and project personnel.
• Support field walkdowns, site investigations, data collection, and existing condition assessments.
• Analyze proposed changes for interface conflicts, outage impacts, or constructability problems and recommend solutions or alternate design options.
• Provide technical support during construction, testing, commissioning, cutover, energization, troubleshooting, and project closeout.
• Support analysis of relay operations, system events, and misoperations, and recommend corrective actions or design improvements.
• Complete man-hour estimates for discipline-specific scope of work.
• Interact and communicate effectively with clients, utilities, subcontractors, vendors, and other consultants.
• Track and maintain awareness of overall scope, schedule, and budget for assigned projects.
• Develop detailed design schedules in coordination with the scheduler/planner, engineering, and project management personnel.
• Analyze, evaluate, and distribute a complex design workload to staff by judging job requirements, priority, complexity, and staff competency levels.
• Comply with all company and client health, safety, security, and environmental (HSSE) standards and applicable regulations; actively participate in hazard identification and report unsafe acts, conditions, or incidents.
• Provide advice and assistance on work techniques, best practices, and subject matter expertise to co-workers and subordinates.
• Set direction, priorities, and allocate resources within a group or project; define job roles, determine work to be completed, make assignments, establish deadlines, and set work quality expectations.
• Responsible for hiring staff, performance evaluations, salary decisions, and resolving routine grievances and complaints; may initiate disciplinary actions.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Engineering Technology, or a related discipline.
• Minimum of 5 years of protection and control engineering or design experience.
• Experience supporting transmission, distribution, substation, and/or generation interconnection projects.
• Experience preparing and reviewing protection and control drawings and complete design packages.
• Working knowledge of protective relaying, control systems, substation equipment, and power system protection principles.
• AutoCAD and/or MicroStation software experience.
• Microsoft Office software experience preferred.
• Protective relay and analysis software experience preferred.
• Experience with SCADA, RTUs, substation communications, IEC 61850, and automation preferred.
• Prior experience as a Design Checker or technical lead on multi-discipline power delivery projects preferred.
• Field experience supporting construction, testing, commissioning, or energization activities preferred.
• Supervisory, mentoring, or large project lead experience preferred.

Skills

• Ability to find solutions for or proactively deal with work-related problems.
• Ability to comprehend instructions and request clarification as necessary.
• Ability to work in a team-oriented environment.
• Ability to make decisions or take actions to solve problems or reach goals.
• Ability to accept responsibility and account for actions.
• Ability to read and understand drawing markups, engineering drawings, relay schematics, technical specifications, and utility standards.