Senior Substation Protection Engineer Jobs in Chicago, IL

K&A Power Group is a privately held company, providing comprehensive consulting, engineering and design, program/project management, construction management, and support services to power utility and industrial clients. Specializing in substation, transmission, distribution, distributed energy resources, and EPC services, we excel in solving complex challenges with precision-driven solutions. We pride ourselves on employing top talent, fostering a culture of excellence, and building meaningful relationships with clients and employees.

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We are seeking a highly motivated and skilled Senior Substation Engineer to join our team at K&A Engineering in Oakbrook, IL. In this role, you will have the opportunity to work on exciting and challenging projects that make a real impact in the energy and utility sectors. Youll be part of a dynamic, people-focused team where your expertise, ideas, and contributions will be valued and celebrated.

Role Expectations:

• Perform detailed review of all existing protection schemes present in the subject area to incorporate into new design. Special areas of focus are anti-islanding schemes, generator intertie settings, SPS schemes, etc. (anything outside of normal). Basically, the goal is to ensure that we dont remove required protections already in place or at least be aware of how things work today before we modify existing schemes.
• Lead overall protection design for all capital projects and define relay protection functionality/scheme in accordance with client standards
• Review contractor provided relay settings, logic diagrams (including Goose messaging diagrams), and operational descriptions for all capital projects
• Review/perform area relay coordination and determine what level of area coordination is required/needed (based on changes in fault duty and overall system performance due to the project changes)
• Review contractor provided relay settings for all temporary builds and construction sequence steps including mobile settings
• Review/provide input to Customers Aspen model changes as required for individual capital projects
• Provide design support during implementation/testing and commissioning of the above the items
• Provide feedback to Customer on existing TM standards and help refine the Customers design practices
• Ensure all as-built documentation gets filed appropriately in the plant filing location at Customer
• Lead overall automation and integration design for all capital projects
• Review/design SCADA point indexes
• Review contractor provided HMI screens/settings for all capital projects
• Review/design Protection settings and settings basis
• Review/design IED Data Maps
• Review/create substation level operational descriptions (HMI operation, relay front panel operation, etc.)
• Review automated maintenance data gathering (Digital Substation Data) point lists
• Track all required licenses/firewalls and key automation and integration deliverables needed for project implementation
• Provide design support during implementation/testing and commissioning of the above items
• Perform constructability review and ensure adequate automation and integration coverage is available for each outage step (SCADA etc.)

What were looking for:

• Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) with a strong background and knowledge of all utilities engineering disciplines
• 6+ years or more of relay/protection settings engineering experience
• Proficient in Microsoft Project, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
• Proven experience in Substation Design should include general arrangement, electrical equipment plans, elevation and section views, Equipment cable trays, cable design, conduit fill calcs, rigid bus calcs
• Professional level skills in MicroStation, AutoCAD
• PE requested

Pay Range $100,000$130,000/annually

Why Join K&A?
People-First Culture: We put our people at the center of everything we do, creating an environment where your professional and personal growth is a top priority.
Innovation & Learning: We encourage continuous learning and invest in your development through training, mentorship, and hands-on experience.
Collaborative Team Environment: We believe in the power of collaboration and working together to achieve the best outcomes for our clients and employees.
Recognition & Growth: Weve earned our reputation through uncompromising precision and a commitment to excellence. As an agile and fast-growing company, we offer plenty of opportunities for your career advancement and growth.
Competitive Compensation & Benefits: We offer a comprehensive benefits package for eligible classified employees, including but not limited to:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• FSA, HSA, and Dependent Care Spending Account
• 401K (Traditional and Roth with Company Match)
• Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA)
• Paid Parental Leave
• Paid Holidays and Flexible PTO
• Tuition Reimbursement, Parking and Transit Reimbursement, and Pet Insurance
• Long-Term Disability, Short-Term Disability, and Life Insurance
• EAP (Employee Assistance Program)

Check out our career page for more information!

The salary range for this role considers a wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions, including but not limited to technical ability, experience and training, licenses and certifications, and other related skillsets. The disclosed range is an estimate and has not been adjusted for the applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled.