Senior Protection Expert / Deputy NAM Commissioning Leader

Job Description Summary

The Senior Protection Expert serves as the technical authority for protection engineering and acts as the deputy to the NAM regional commissioning leader, supporting leadership, decision-making, and execution of protection-related activities. The role ensures the reliability, safety, and compliance of protection systems while providing technical guidance to the team and stepping in on behalf of the manager when required.

Job Description

Protection Engineering Leadership

• Lead the design, review, coordination, and optimization of electrical protection systems for transmission, distribution, or generation assets.
• Provide expert support for protection studies, relay coordination, fault analysis, settings calculation, and disturbance analysis.
• Ensure protection schemes comply with applicable standards, grid codes, company policies, and project requirements.
• Review and approve protection philosophies, schemes, settings, logic diagrams, and technical documentation.
• Support commissioning, testing, troubleshooting, and performance improvement of protection systems.

• Act as deputy to NAM Regional Commissioning manager and represent the function in meetings, reviews, and decision-making forums when needed. Act on behalf of NAM Regional commissioning leader during absence or as assigned.
• Support planning, prioritization, and execution of departmental objectives and operational activities.
• Coordinate team activities and help ensure timely delivery of projects, studies, and technical support.
• Assist in supervising engineers and specialists, providing technical direction and mentoring.
• Support reporting, resource planning, workload management, and escalation handling. Escalate major risks, technical deviations, and operational concerns as appropriate.
• Provide technical approval/recommendations on protection studies, settings, and engineering deliverables within delegated authority.

• Establish and maintain best practices, technical standards, and protection engineering procedures.
• Drive quality assurance in protection design reviews, calculations, and implementation.
• Investigate major protection incidents, misoperations, and system disturbances, identifying root causes and corrective actions.
• Support audits, compliance checks, and risk assessments related to protection systems.

• Collaborate with operations, maintenance, engineering, commissioning, project management, and external stakeholders.
• Interface with OEMs, EPCs, consultants, utilities, and regulatory bodies on technical matters.
• Provide technical input for bids, proposals, project specifications, and procurement evaluations.

• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers in protection philosophy, studies, and practical application.
• Deliver technical training and support capability development within the team.
• Promote continuous improvement, lessons learned, and innovation in protection engineering practices.

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field. Advanced degree is a plus.
• Minimum 8-15+ years of experience in electrical protection engineering.
• Strong experience in protection design, relay settings, fault studies, and disturbance analysis.
• Experience in utility, power generation, transmission, distribution, or industrial power systems. Including deep knowledge of protection principles for HV/MV/LV systems.
• Previous experience in technical leadership or team coordination.

• Experience acting in a deputy, lead, or supervisory capacity is an advantage.
• Expertise in protection relays and schemes such as: Overcurrent and earth fault protection, Distance protection, Differential protection, Busbar protection, Transformer and generator protection, Line protection and backup schemes
• Familiarity with protection study software and power system analysis tools.
• Strong understanding of grid codes, IEC/IEEE standards, and utility practices.
• Ability to review single-line diagrams, logic diagrams, relay settings, and test procedures.
• Knowledge of SCADA, automation, communication protocols, and substation systems is an advantage.
• Strong technical leadership and decision-making ability
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills
• Effective communication and stakeholder management
• Ability to coordinate teams and priorities under pressure
• Coaching and mentoring capability
• High level of accountability and professional judgment