Protection & Control Specialist

Position Title: Protection & Control Specialist
Organization: Ten X Group
Work Arrangement: Full-time or project-based annual contract, subject to assignment
Location: Syria - As assigned, including fragile and complex operating environments

Reports To: Program Technical Lead / Lead Substation Engineer / Authorized Project Executive

Position Summary

The Protection & Control Specialist is responsible for the design, review, coordination, testing, and commissioning support of protection, control, automation, and associated secondary systems for high-voltage and extra-high-voltage transmission and substation infrastructure. The role covers line protection, transformer protection, busbar protection, bay control, tele-protection, disturbance recording, SCADA/RTU interfaces, interlocking philosophy, settings coordination, and energization readiness.

This position requires a technically strong specialist with direct experience in transmission and substation secondary systems and the ability to ensure that rehabilitated or newly installed assets are secure, selective, reliable, operable, and commissionable under utility-grade conditions.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

· Lead or support the development and review of protection philosophies and secondary system architectures for HV and EHV transmission and substation assets.

· Define and review protection schemes for transmission lines, transformers, busbars, feeders, shunt reactors, capacitor banks, and associated plant, as applicable.

· Develop or review single-line and three-line control and protection philosophies, interlocking logic, annunciation requirements, and bay control concepts.

· Establish coordination requirements for distance protection, differential protection, overcurrent and earth fault schemes, breaker failure protection, busbar protection, synchro-check, auto-reclose, and backup protection, as relevant to the assignment.

· Review relay application, settings philosophy, relay coordination studies, fault clearing logic, and selectivity requirements.

· Define tele-protection and communications interface requirements with telecom and OPGW teams to ensure dependable end-to-end system operation.

· Review RTU, substation automation system, SCADA, event logging, SOE, disturbance recording, and time synchronization requirements.

· Prepare or review technical specifications, cause-and-effect matrices, logic diagrams, signal lists, cable schedules, I/O lists, protection panels, marshalling interfaces, and FAT/SAT requirements.

· Support procurement, technical bid evaluation, vendor drawing review, settings validation, and contractor design review.

· Participate in factory witness testing, site testing, relay testing, loop checks, pre-commissioning, functional testing, and energization procedures.

· Identify and mitigate risks associated with misoperations, false trips, coordination gaps, interface failures, and incomplete commissioning.

· Support operational handover, as-built documentation, punch list closure, training requirements, and post-energization monitoring.

· Ensure that all secondary systems and protection outputs align with utility operational practice, grid code requirements where applicable, and asset safety and reliability objectives.

Minimum Required Education

· Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Engineering, or closely related discipline from an accredited institution.

Preferred Education

· Master’s degree in Power Systems, Power System Protection, Electrical Engineering, or related field.

· Specialized advanced training in protection systems, relay coordination, or substation automation is highly desirable.

Minimum Required Experience

· Minimum 8 years of directly relevant experience in power system protection and control engineering.

· Minimum 5 years of experience involving 132 kV, 220 kV, 230 kV, 400 kV, 66 kV, or equivalent HV/EHV systems.

· Demonstrated experience in transmission and substation protection systems design, review, testing, and/or commissioning.

· Demonstrated experience supporting live utility systems, brownfield rehabilitation, or operational asset upgrades.

Required Technical Experience

Candidates should demonstrate substantial experience in most of the following:

· Transmission line protection schemes

· Transformer protection systems

· Busbar protection and breaker failure schemes

· Differential, distance, overcurrent, earth fault, and backup protection

· Auto-reclose, synchro-check, intertrip, and interlocking logic

· Protection coordination and settings philosophy

· Numerical relays and modern digital protection platforms

· Control and relay panels, bay control units, and marshalling

· Substation automation systems and SCADA interface requirements

· Disturbance recording, event logging, and SOE systems

· Time synchronization systems such as GPS/PTP/IRIG-B or equivalent

· FAT, SAT, relay testing, loop checks, and commissioning procedures

· Brownfield retrofits and cutover planning for existing substations

Preferred Sector Experience

Strong preference will be given to candidates with experience in one or more of the following:

· National transmission system rehabilitation

· Emergency restoration or grid stabilization programs

· Brownfield substation or transmission asset rehabilitation

· Donor-funded, utility-funded, EPC, or owner’s engineer assignments

· Cross-border interconnection schemes

· Operational substations requiring staged cutovers and outage coordination

· Fragile, post-conflict, or security-constrained environments

Required Certifications / Licenses

At least one of the following is strongly preferred, and candidates with multiple credentials will be prioritized:

· Professional Engineer / Chartered Engineer / equivalent engineering licensure in a relevant jurisdiction

· Valid driver’s license and ability to travel to field locations as required

· Recognized electrical safety training relevant to commissioning or substation environments

Preferred Certifications

· Chartered Engineer (CEng), PE, EUR ING, or equivalent

· OEM relay training or equivalent protection platform certification

· Substation automation or IEC 61850 training

· Relay testing software / test set certification or advanced training

· OSHA, IOSH, NEBOSH, or equivalent safety certification

· PMP or equivalent project management certification

· HV switching awareness or operational safety certification is advantageous

Core Competencies

· Protection engineering rigor

· Fault analysis and selectivity judgment

· Secondary systems integration

· Commissioning discipline

· Technical QA/QC

· Root-cause analysis and troubleshooting

· Operational reliability mindset

· Detail orientation

· Clear technical reporting

· Interface coordination across engineering disciplines

Functional Skills

· Ability to define practical and selective protection schemes for complex HV systems

· Ability to identify and correct coordination risks before energization

· Ability to review protection logic, relay philosophies, and interface drawings in detail

· Ability to manage relay, panel, telecom, SCADA, and control interfaces without gaps

· Ability to support staged brownfield retrofits and live network cutovers

· Ability to witness and assess testing and commissioning results and determine technical readiness

· Ability to communicate clearly with utility operators, contractors, and commissioning teams

Language Requirements

· Professional fluency in English, written and spoken, is required.

· Arabic is highly desirable.

· Additional regional language capability is advantageous but not required.

Deliverables Typically Expected

· Protection philosophy documents

· Relay application and coordination inputs

· Protection and control design review comments

· Interlocking and control logic review memoranda

· Tele-protection interface requirements

· I/O lists, signal lists, and secondary system schedules

· FAT/SAT procedures and witness reports

· Commissioning checklists and functional test requirements

· Energization readiness assessments

· Post-fault or post-commissioning technical review reports

Job Types: Full-time, Contract
Contract length: 12 months

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Dubai: Reliably commute or willing to relocate with an employer-provided relocation package (Required)

Education:

• Bachelor's (Required)

Experience:

• power system protection : 8 years (Required)
• control engineering: 8 years (Required)
• 400 kV HV/EHV systems: 8 years (Required)

Location:

• Dubai (Preferred)

Willingness to travel:

• 75% (Required)

Work Location: In person