Relay Settings Engineer
Relay Settings Engineer
Position Overview
We are seeking a Relay Settings Engineer to support the development, calculation, implementation, and validation of protective relay settings for electric utility transmission and substation systems. This individual will perform system protection studies, develop relay settings and coordination packages, and provide technical support for the commissioning and operation of protection systems.
The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience with SEL relays, ASPEN OneLiner and/or ETAP, fault and coordination studies, and utility protection philosophies.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop, calculate, and review protective relay settings for transmission lines, substations, transformers, buses, breakers, and other high-voltage equipment.
- Perform short-circuit, fault, and protection coordination studies to ensure proper relay operation and system selectivity.
- Develop settings for protection schemes including:
- Line distance protection
- Line differential protection
- Transformer differential protection
- Bus differential protection
- Breaker failure protection
- Overcurrent and ground fault protection
- Directional overcurrent protection
- Under/overvoltage and frequency protection
- Configure and support protection devices, particularly SEL relays, using tools such as AcSELerator QuickSet.
- Utilize ASPEN OneLiner, ETAP, CAPE, EasyPower, or similar software for fault analysis and relay coordination studies.
- Review one-lines, three-lines, AC/DC schematics, protection and control drawings, and sequence-of-events information.
- Develop relay settings calculation packages and supporting engineering documentation.
- Perform coordination studies involving transmission, substation, and generation/interconnection protection systems.
- Support relay testing, commissioning, troubleshooting, and event analysis as needed.
- Analyze relay event records and fault data to determine protection system performance and identify potential misoperations.
- Coordinate with utility protection engineers, P&C design engineers, substation engineers, field technicians, and project managers.
- Ensure protection schemes and settings comply with applicable client standards, utility requirements, and industry practices.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
- Experience in relay settings, system protection, or protection and control engineering within the electric utility or power delivery industry.
- Working knowledge of protective relaying principles, short-circuit calculations, symmetrical components, and coordination studies.
- Experience with protective relays from manufacturers such as Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL), GE, Siemens, or ABB/Hitachi Energy.
- Experience with relay settings and modeling software such as ASPEN OneLiner, ETAP, CAPE, EasyPower, and/or AcSELerator QuickSet.
- Ability to read and interpret electrical one-line diagrams and protection and control schematics.
- Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and technical documentation skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- PE license or EIT certification.
- Experience supporting high-voltage transmission and substation systems.
- Experience developing settings for SEL-311, SEL-351, SEL-421, SEL-487E, SEL-487B, or similar protection platforms.
- Experience with transmission line protection, transformer protection, bus protection, and breaker failure schemes.
- Familiarity with utility protection standards and NERC-related protection requirements.
- Experience performing relay event analysis, misoperation investigations, and commissioning support.
Ideal Background
The strongest candidate will come from a utility, engineering consulting firm, or system protection group and have direct responsibility for developing relay settings rather than solely designing P&C drawings. Candidates with a combination of relay settings, fault studies, coordination, protection philosophy, and field/commissioning experience will be especially well suited for the role.
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