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Power Grid Automation Engineer III
$120k - 130k per year + Comprehensive Medical, Dental, Vision; 401k Match; Profit Sharing
Energy Management & Grid Resiliency
US
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Permanent
Hybrid

Power Grid Automation Engineer — Electrical Equipment OEM

Chicago, IL (preferred) | Remote USA considered

Travel: ~25–50% (customer sites + factory acceptance tests)

The Company

Our client has been innovating in power grid infrastructure since 1905 — and over 120 years, they've grown into a global leader in engineered electrical grid solutions with roughly $1B in revenue and a reputation for product quality and customer service that's hard-earned.

What sets them apart internally: they build an entrepreneurial environment where engineering voice matters and individual expertise compounds into shared outcomes. They're not a company where you execute someone else's roadmap. The expectation is that highly skilled people show up, take initiative, and thrive — and the culture is built around making that possible.

On the infrastructure side, the in-house test lab alone — 500kV AC withstand, 1300kV BIL — signals the level of technical seriousness they operate at. And the tailwinds are real: data center load growth, grid modernization, and electrification demand are putting their core product portfolio directly in front of one of the strongest infrastructure cycles in decades.

If you want to work somewhere stable enough to invest in your development, technically serious enough to keep you challenged, and positioned well enough that the work you do actually matters to the grid — this is worth a conversation.

The Role

The Power Grid Automation Engineer III is the technical owner of distribution automation projects — from proposal through field commissioning — without hand-holding from above. You'll design logic, program relays and controllers, test systems, and interface directly with customers before and after the sale.

This isn't a support role dressed up as an engineering title. The expectation is that you can independently manage a full technical deliverable, communicate at a high level with customers and technology partners, and develop templated software solutions that scale across the product portfolio.

Mentorship responsibility is real here too — you'll be helping bring newer automation engineers up to speed on both the technical and customer-facing sides of the work.

What You'll Own

  • End-to-end technical delivery on power grid automation projects — proposal through site acceptance
  • Protective relay logic design for SEL, ABB, Hitachi, Siemens, and/or GE platforms
  • Pre- and post-sales technical support across sales, marketing, production engineering, and customers
  • Development of flexible, reusable software templates deployable across product configurations
  • Technical relationship management with key technology partners
  • On-site commissioning, customer training, and installation support
  • Industry engagement — conferences, white papers, and customer co-authored publications

Who You Are

  • BSEE required; 4–6 years of progressive power systems engineering experience
  • Solid working knowledge of protective relaying and protection design — SEL, ABB, Hitachi, Siemens, or GE platforms; hands-on programming experience a plus but not required
  • Command of three-phase power systems fundamentals: symmetrical components, load flow, overcurrent protection
  • Experience with communications: fiber optic, radio, cellular — standards and application
  • Comfortable independently owning technical deliverables without supervisor involvement
  • Willing and able to travel up to 50%, including occasional weekends

Ideal backgrounds include:

  • Utility or co-op protection and automation engineering
  • Power distribution OEM with direct customer-facing technical responsibility
  • EPC or system integrator experience with relay-based protection and SCADA integration

This role is not a fit if:

  • You've never touched protective relaying or power systems protection design in a hands-on capacity
  • You're looking for a desk-only role — field commissioning and customer site work are part of the job

Why Join

  • Own the work — Manage technical deliverables from start to finish with real autonomy
  • Serious infrastructure — 500kV AC withstand, 1300kV BIL in-house lab; the test capability is the real deal
  • Private company, long-term thinking — No quarterly earnings pressure, no strategy pivots every 18 months
  • Stability meets tailwinds — 120 years in operation, positioned directly in front of grid modernization and data center load growth

Relocation support considered for the right candidate.

Keywords: power grid automation, distribution automation, protective relay, protection design, SEL relay, ABB relay, GE relay, Siemens relay, switchgear automation, SCADA, three-phase power systems, overcurrent protection, symmetrical components, fault isolation, FLISR, fiber optic communications, grid modernization, substation automation, IED, commissioning engineer, power systems engineer, T&D engineer, utility automation, smart grid, distribution engineer, remote power systems jobs, Bolingbrook IL engineering jobs

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