Substation Automation Engineer - Grid Modernization

Black & Veatch

Burlington, MA

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JOB DETAILS

SALARY

$114,933–$237,640 Per Year

SKILLS

Access Control, Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D), Applications Security, Architectural Services, Authentication, Automation, Automation Engineering, Background Investigation, Best Practices, Budgeting, Construction, Consulting, Control Systems, Credit Union, Data Modeling, Data Sets, Dental Insurance, Design Document, Detail Oriented, Disability Insurance, Documentation, EEO Regulations, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Hardware Architecture, Hardware Virtualization, High Availability, Human Machine Interface (HMI), Hypervisors, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers), ISA Standards, Identify Issues, Insurance, International Classification of Diseases (ICD), International Electro-Technical Commission (IEC), Internet Security, Interoperability, K Virtual Machine (KVM), Legal, Multicast, Network Architecture/Engineering, Network Traffic Analysis, Onboarding, Physical Demands, Production Support, Production Systems, Professional Engineer, Publications, Purchasing/Procurement, QoS (Quality of Service), Red Hat Linux Operating System, Regulations, Regulatory Compliance, Reimbursement, Security Architecture, Standards Development, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), System Architecture, Team Player, Technical Leadership, Technical Support, Timing Verification, VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network), VMWare, VMWare ESX/ESXi, VMWare vCenter, Vehicle Fleets, Virtualization, Virtualization Software, Wireless Multimedia Messaging Service

LOCATION

Burlington, MA

POSTED

Today

Together, we own our company, our future, and our shared success.

As an employee-owned company, our people are Black & Veatch. We put them at the center of everything we do and empower them to grow, explore new possibilities and use their diverse talents and perspectives to solve humanity's biggest challenges in an ever-evolving world. With over 100 years of innovation in sustainable infrastructure and our expertise in engineering, procurement, consulting and construction, together we are building a world of difference.

Company : Black & Veatch Corporation

Req Id : 114564

Opportunity Type : Staff

Relocation eligible : Yes

Full time/Part time : Full-Time

Project Only Hire : No

Visa Sponsorship Available: No

Why Black & Veatch

Black & Veatch allows you to lend your talent and perspective to humanity's biggest challenges in a flexible environment where you are empowered to grow and explore new possibilities. We offer competitive compensation; 401K match and benefits that start day one.

Our hybrid environment allows you to balance your work and personal life. At Black & Veatch, you own your career with purpose and meaning. You are empowered to grow and explore new possibilities at every step of your career journey. Bring your big ideas knowing you are safe to be who you are and speak up with concerns or questions and put your diverse talents and perspectives to use.

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The Opportunity

In this role, you may have the opportunity to:

Lead the transition of IEC 61850-based digital and virtual substations from pilot to production, shaping real-world grid modernization outcomes.
Design and standardize secure, vendor-agnostic substation automation architectures that improve resilience, flexibility, and scalability.
Serve as a technical leader and subject-matter expert, influencing system architecture, best practices, and emerging standards.
Collaborate with utilities, technology partners, and industry groups (including vPAC Alliance) to help define the future of protection, automation, and control.

Candidates located near any Black & Veatch U.S. Regional Office (bv.com/offices) may be considered, with preference for the following locations - Boston (MA), Chicago (IL), Denver (CO), Minneapolis (MN), Irvine (CA), or Walnut Creek (CA).

The Team

Black & Veatch is expanding its Power SCADA team to support a strategic grid modernization initiative focused on IEC 61850-based substation automation and virtual substation technologies. As a founding member of the Virtual Protection, Automation, and Control (vPAC) Alliance, Black & Veatch is collaborating with industry leaders to advance open, secure, and vendor-agnostic digital substation solutions that replace traditional, hardware-intensive architectures with virtualized, software-defined platforms. Following successful pilot efforts, BV is now transitioning virtual substations into production environments. This role is being created to bring in experienced SCADA professionals who can help design, implement, standardize, and support production-ready Power SCADA solutions that enable resilient, flexible, and future-ready grid infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities

IEC 61850 Engineering & Modeling

Develop SCL engineering artifacts including ICD, CID, and SCD files, datasets, logical node mappings, reporting and control blocks, and GOOSE publications and subscriptions.
Configure and validate MMS, GOOSE, and SV messaging for protection, automation, monitoring, and SCADA applications.

Substation Networking & Time Synchronization

Design and document station-bus and process-bus network architectures using PRP/HSR, VLANs, QoS, multicast management, and traffic segmentation practices.
Design deterministic real-time networking paths for time-sensitive protection and automation applications, incorporating latency budgeting, PTP timing performance, and behaviors defined for substation-class devices meeting IEC 61850-3 and IEEE 1613 environmental and EMC requirements.
Diagnose and optimize real-time network behavior through traffic-capture analysis, timing-accuracy evaluation, and system-level tuning techniques for time-critical digital-substation workloads.
Develop PTP-based time-synchronization architectures including grandmaster, boundary, and transparent clock configurations and incorporate timing considerations into the system design.

Protection, Automation & SCADA Integration

Integrate multi-vendor IEDs with protection settings and logic, coordinating measurements, controls, alarms, and event data with SCADA and HMI systems.
Apply IEC 61850 data-modeling concepts to confirm interoperability across mixed fleets of protection and control devices.

Cybersecurity & System Hardening

Incorporate cybersecurity principles into system architecture, including authentication, role-based access control, network segmentation, secure communications, and device hardening.
Apply cyber-informed engineering principles by identifying high-consequence functions and integrating protective measures directly into system architecture, embedding security decisions from the earliest stages of engineering rather than treating them as add-on controls.

Virtualization of Substation Functions

Develop and configure virtualized protection, HMI, gateway/RTU, and related substation applications on platforms including VMware ESXi with vCenter, vSAN, and NSX; Red Hat KVM or OpenShift Virtualization; and SEAPATH's real-time, high-availability hypervisor platform designed to run virtualized protection, automation, and control workloads with deterministic performance and PTP-synchronized operation on industrial servers meeting IEC 61850-3 and IEEE 1613 criteria.

Industry Engagement & Technical Leadership

Contribute to, or develop toward contributing to, IEEE and IEC standards and collaborative initiatives related to IEC 61850, digital substations, time synchronization, and cybersecurity.
Support participation in technical bodies and industry groups such as IEC, IEEE, CIGRE, ISA99, and vPAC Alliance workstreams.
Support the advancement and practical application of virtualized protection, automation, and control concepts in alignment with the architectural direction established by the vPAC Alliance.

Project Delivery & Collaboration

Produce engineering documentation including network specifications, SCL models, timing plans, interface definitions, and system diagrams used across design, laboratory validation, and field implementation.
Collaborate with project managers, technical leads, clients, and vendors to align designs with project goals, operational requirements, and industry best practices.

Preferred Qualifications

Familiarity with cybersecurity frameworks for operational technology environments, including secure communications and system-hardening practices.
Interest or participation in IEEE and IEC standards development related to IEC 61850, time synchronization, digital substations, and cybersecurity.
Experience deploying or supporting virtualized protection, automation, and control applications on VMware ESXi/vCenter/vSAN/NSX, Red Hat KVM or OpenShift Virtualization, and SEAPATH's real-time, high-availability hypervisor platform for vPAC workloads.
Experience deploying virtualized substation workloads on industrial servers certified to IEC 618503 and IEEE 1613 environmental and EMC requirements.
Familiarity with vPAC architectural principles and emerging practices for hosting protection, automation, and control systems on virtualized platforms.
Interest in or experience with virtualized protection, automation, and control concepts.
Professional Engineer (PE) License.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering from either a recognized accredited program in their home country or the country in which the professional is practicing.
Minimum of 5 years related work experience.
All applicants must be able to complete pre-employment onboarding requirements (if selected) which may include any/all of the following: criminal/civil background check, drug screen, and motor vehicle records search, in compliance with any applicable laws and regulations.

Certifications

Professional Engineer (PE) license preferred

Work Environment/Physical Demands

This position would require working in a typical office environment. The position may entail prolonged periods of sitting and computer use, and the professional would ideally be able to maintain focus and attention to detail throughout the workday. The position may also be require physical tasks during site visits, including crouching, grasping, and standing/walking for extended periods of time.
Hybrid or flexible work options may be offered after the first 90 days of employment based upon manager discretion, job performance and work assignments.

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Salary Plan

ENG: Engineering

Job Grade

016

Black & Veatch endeavors to make accessible to any and all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process because of a disability, please contact the Employee Relations Department at +1- or via our accommodations request form. This contact information is for disability accommodation requests only; you may not use this contact information to inquire about the status of applications. General inquiries about the status of applications will not be returned. This job posting will remain open until a suitable candidate(s) has been identified.

Black & Veatch is committed to being an employer of choice by creating a valuable work experience that keeps our people engaged, productive, safe and healthy.

Our comprehensive benefits portfolio is a key component of this commitment and offers and array of health care benefits including but not limited to medical, dental and vision insurances along with disability and a robust wellness program.

To support a healthy work-life balance, we offer flexible work schedules, paid vacation and holiday time, sick time and dependent sick time.

A variety of additional benefits are available to our professionals, including a company matched 401k plan, adoption reimbursement, vendor discounts, an employment referral program, AD&D insurance, pre-taxed accounts, voluntary legal plan and the B&V Credit Union. Professionals may also be eligible for a performance-based bonus program.

We are proud to be a 100 percent ESOP-owned company. As employee-owners, our professionals are empowered to drive not only their personal growth, but the company's long-term achievements - and they share in the financial rewards of that success through stock ownership.

By valuing diverse voices and perspectives, we cultivate an authentically inclusive environment for professionals and are able to provide innovative and effective solutions for clients.

BVH, Inc., its subsidiaries and its affiliated companies, complies with all Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws and regulations. Black & Veatch does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender Identity and expression, disability, veteran status, pregnancy status or other status protected by law.

For our EEO Policy Statement, please click here.

Notice to External Search Firms: Black & Veatch does not accept unsolicited resumes and will not be obligated to pay a placement fee for unsolicited resumes. Black & Veatch Talent Acquisition engages with search firms directly for hiring needs.

In accordance with local law, the following Annual compensation range is applicable for the job and location associated with this requisition: $114,933.00 - $237,640.00

About the Company

Black & Veatch

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