Protection & Control Engineer

Job Title: Protection and Control EngineerJob Description

This role focuses on providing expert quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) for protection and control engineering designs associated with high-voltage transmission and distribution substations. The Protection and Control Engineer reviews and validates designs, drawings, and specifications to ensure they meet client standards, industry best practices, and reliability requirements. This position offers the opportunity to support a large utility, contribute to a growing substation and protection and control team, and engage in either part-time or long-term consulting work in a fully remote environment.

Responsibilities

• Perform QA/QC reviews of control and relay panel layouts, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and compliance with applicable standards and specifications.

• Assemble and verify specifications for control and relay panels, confirming that all required components and details are properly documented.

• Conduct QA/QC of design specifications, including verification of the overall bill of materials for protection and control systems.

• Review and validate the design and sizing of auxiliary systems, including AC and DC load centers, batteries, and chargers, to ensure reliable and efficient operation.

• Perform QA/QC on the design and sizing of conduit, cable, and backup generators to confirm proper capacity, routing, and integration with the overall substation design.

• Review junior engineers' protection and control designs to ensure they meet client standards and specifications, providing feedback and guidance where improvements are needed.

• Identify gaps or weaknesses in client protection schemes and recommend improvements to enhance system reliability and safety.

• Document all QA/QC reviews thoroughly, maintain accurate and organized record documents, and communicate findings and recommendations clearly to the project team.

• Provide QA/QC for the engineering design and review of protection and control systems for transmission and distribution substations, typically in the 69 kV to 500 kV range.

• Review and validate protection schemes, including one-line diagrams, three-line diagrams, control schematics, and wiring diagrams, ensuring consistency and correctness across all documents.

• Verify that protection and control drawings properly interface with the physical layout and design of substations, coordinating with other design disciplines as needed.

• Support a large utility client by delivering high-quality QA reviews and contributing to the overall performance and reliability of their substation protection and control systems.

Essential Skills

• At least 5 years of experience in protection and control engineering, with a focus on substation applications.

• A minimum of 1 year of experience performing QA reviews of protection and control designs.

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering.

• Strong knowledge of protection and control schemes for transmission and distribution substations, typically from 69 kV to 500 kV.

• Proficiency in reviewing and interpreting one-line diagrams, three-line diagrams, control schematics, and wiring diagrams.

• Experience with control and relay panel layouts, including specification and documentation of required components.

• Experience with substation utility design, including integration of protection and control systems with physical substation layouts.

• Demonstrated experience in quality assurance and quality control processes within an engineering environment.

• Ability to identify design gaps and protection issues and provide clear, actionable recommendations.

• Capability to document QA/QC reviews accurately and maintain organized record documents.

• Ability to meet background check, drug test, and motor vehicle record (MVR) requirements as applicable.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience working with relay protection schemes and associated substation equipment.

• Familiarity with designing and reviewing auxiliary systems such as AC/DC load centers, batteries, and chargers.

• Experience reviewing the design and sizing of conduit, cable, and backup generators for substation applications.

• background in utility design projects, particularly those involving large transmission and distribution substations.

• Strong attention to detail and a methodical approach to QA/QC review processes.

• Effective written and verbal communication skills for collaborating with engineers and documenting review outcomes.

• Ability to work independently in a consulting capacity, managing workload and deadlines in a remote environment.

• Interest in long-term engagement with a growing substation and protection and control team with a stable workload.

Work Environment

This is a fully remote role with no field work required. You will collaborate closely with a substation and protection and control engineering team using Microsoft Teams and other digital collaboration tools. Work is performed in a professional home office or remote setting, focusing on design review, documentation, and virtual coordination with team members and stakeholders. The position offers flexibility to support either part-time or long-term consulting arrangements, while contributing to a large utility's substation protection and control projects for the foreseeable future.

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Homestead, PA.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $50.00 - $75.00/hr.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: - Medical, dental & vision - Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital - 401(k) Retirement Plan - Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available - Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) - Short and long-term disability - Health Spending Account (HSA) - Transportation benefits - Employee Assistance Program - Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a fully remote position.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on May 22, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 30,000 consultants and more than 4,500 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email [email protected] for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.