Senior Power Automation Engineer - Data Center

About the role

As a Senior Data Center Automation Engineer, you will commission, maintain, and support real-time microgrid control and power management systems for hyperscale and colocation data center clients. At the center of these projects is a master controller — built on a real-time automation controller platform designed by ETAP — that coordinates the facility's power: minimizing utility import, exporting when advantageous, and riding through emergency events like a utility trip by islanding and keeping generators dispatchable through fast mode transitions. Our subject-matter experts design the control philosophy and logic. You own what happens after — taking the project from commissioning through energization, then operating, maintaining, and supporting the control platform across its lifecycle. You will be the person on site through integrated testing, in front of the client, the commissioning agent, and the utility, and the person they call when the platform needs attention afterward. You'll have direct proximity to the ETAP product and engineering teams behind the platform you deploy — something no third-party integrator can offer.

Location: Houston, Texas – Travel required up to 50% for first 2 years. Type: Hybrid

Responsibilities

• Lead on-site commissioning of microgrid control and power management systems through integrated systems testing, energization, and final acceptance
• Configure, test, and troubleshoot master controllers and field automation controllers (SEL RTAC, Orion LX, ETAP iCE) at the device and system level
• Interpret, test, validate, and modify existing IEC 61131-3 control logic (Structured Text, Function Block Diagram, Function Blocks) — diagnosing field behavior, isolating root cause, and translating findings into precise feedback for the design team
• Configure and verify communications across the control architecture: Modbus (TCP and serial), DNP3 (TCP and serial), and IEC 61850 GOOSE publisher/subscriber messaging
• Commission and validate multi-mode operation — economic dispatch / peak shaving / export, plus emergency islanding, ride-through, and resynchronization — verifying generator dispatch, load sharing, and transition behavior
• Operate competently within VLAN-segmented OT networks (configuring devices within an existing network design), including verifying GOOSE behavior across the architecture
• Serve as the primary on-site technical interface with clients, commissioning agents (CxA), general contractors, and utility (e.g., SoCal Edison, APS, ERCOT) representatives during witness testing and handover
• Develop and maintain HMI graphics for system visualization (supporting skill)
• Provide remote diagnostics, periodic support, and platform updates during the post-deployment maintenance phase, on an annual support basis
• Identify and escalate technical risks, scope boundaries, and schedule blockers proactively

Requirements

• Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering, Power Systems, or related field — or equivalent hands-on experience
• Working understanding of power system operation in islanded and grid-parallel modes — generator load sharing and synchronization, import/export control at the point of interconnection, frequency/voltage behavior during transitions, and load shedding fundamentals
• 5+ years of hands-on experience commissioning electrical SCADA, EPMS, power management, or microgrid control systems — or 3+ years with direct experience commissioning real-time power control schemes
• Hands-on experience configuring real-time automation controllers; SEL RTAC preferred (NovaTech Orion LX or comparable platforms considered)
• Working command of Modbus and DNP3 across both TCP and serial — point mapping, master/outstation configuration, and field troubleshooting
• Hands-on experience with IEC 61850 GOOSE — configuring and verifying publishers and subscribers
• Ability to read, test,