Associate Director – Protection & Control (P&C) Substations

At AECOM, we’re delivering a better world.

We believe infrastructure creates opportunity for everyone. Whether it’s improving your commute, keeping the lights on, providing access to clean water or transforming skylines, our work helps people and communities thrive.

Our clients trust us to bring together the best people, ideas, technical expertise and digital solutions to our work in transportation, buildings, water, the environment and new energy. We’re one global team – 47,000 strong – driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world.

We are seeking an experienced Associate Director – Protection & Control (P&C) to join our Transmission & Distribution team, supporting the delivery of high-voltage substation infrastructure projects.

In this role, you will combine hands-on technical expertise with engineering leadership, contributing directly to the design and review of protection and control systems while overseeing engineering teams delivering secondary systems for HV substations.

You will support projects from concept development through detailed design, testing, and construction support, ensuring safe, reliable, and efficient substation operation while maintaining high engineering standards across the team.

 

Key Responsibilities

Technical Expertise & Engineering Design

• Lead and contribute to the design and engineering of protection and control systems for HV substations, including protection schemes, control systems, and substation automation.

• Define protection philosophies, control architectures, and communication interfaces in accordance with project requirements and applicable standards.

• Lead and review detailed secondary engineering deliverables, including:

o Protection and control schematics

o Interlocking and control logic diagrams

o Relay configuration and functional design specifications

o Protection coordination and relay settings philosophy

• Perform or review protection coordination studies and relay settings, ensuring proper selectivity and fault clearance strategies.

• Ensure proper integration of protection systems, SCADA interfaces, communication networks, and primary equipment.

• Provide technical support during construction, testing, and commissioning, including review of relay settings, logic implementation, and functional testing procedures.

 

Team Leadership & Engineering Oversight

 

• Lead and mentor protection and control engineering teams, supporting professional development and technical knowledge sharing.

• Provide technical oversight of engineering deliverables, ensuring quality, consistency, and compliance with project specifications and standards.

• Coordinate engineering activities across primary, civil, system studies, and commissioning teams to ensure effective multidisciplinary integration.

• Interface with clients, project managers, contractors, and equipment vendors to ensure technical alignment and successful project delivery.

• Support development of technical procedures, engineering standards, and best practices within the organization.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering

 

Experience

• Typically 12-15+ years of experience in protection and control engineering for HV substations

• Proven experience delivering secondary systems across multiple project phases (concept, design, commissioning)

• Experience providing technical leadership and mentoring within engineering teams

 

Technical Skills

Strong expertise in:

• Protection and control system design for HV substations (line, transformer, busbar and feeder protection schemes)

• Substation automation and SCADA integration

• Protection coordination and relay settings philosophy

• Control logic, interlocking schemes, and communication networks

• Integration of protection systems with primary equipment and system studies

 

Experience with engineering tools and platforms such as:

• AutoCAD

• Protection relay configuration and analysis tools

 

Soft Skills

• Strong analytical and technical decision-making capabilities

• Ability to combine hands-on engineering with team leadership

• Excellent communication and stakeholder coordination skills

 

Nice to Have

• Experience working on UK transmission or distribution substation projects

• Exposure to National Grid standards and protection philosophies

• Experience with IEC 61850 substation automation systems

• Experience configuring protection relays such as ABB, GE, Siemens, or SEL

• Commissioning and field testing experience

• Chartered Engineer (CEng) or equivalent professional certification