What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Protection & Controls Engineer — East position at Ziggurat Automation Inc.?
Protection & Relay Engineering
Every multi-vendor Tier III/IV data center protection system we deliver requires an engineer who owns the full P&C scope — coordination studies, relay settings, automation logic, and commissioning — under one accountability. This role exists because splitting that scope across firms creates handoff gaps that surface as retests during witness testing. Our East Coast pipeline serves the Virginia, North Carolina, and Southeast data center corridors — the densest concentration of hyperscale construction in the country. The work spans the same multi-vendor protection architecture: 2(N 1) medium-voltage with IEC 61850 GOOSE, staged commissioning on live critical infrastructure.
What You Own
Vendor Platforms
SEL Woodward CAT (Caterpillar) ABB
Software Tools
AcSELerator QuickSet AcSELerator RTAC SEL Architect ETAP
Protocols
IEC 61850 GOOSE DNP3 Modbus TCP IRIG-B
Standards
NFPA 70E IEEE 242 (Buff Book) IEEE 1584 IEC 61850 IEC 62439-3 (PRP/HSR)
Test Phases
Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) Site Acceptance Test (SAT) Secondary injection testing Functional performance testing Witness testing
What Success Looks Like
First 90 Days
Travel 30–50% during commissioning phases, project-dependent. East Coast sites primarily (VA, NC, GA, TN).
Site Hours Standard office hours for design; site hours during commissioning (early starts, occasional weekends near milestones)
Customer-Facing Direct interface with prime contractor project managers and commissioning leads; owner witness testing coordinators during acceptance
Documentation Heavy — settings packages, coordination studies, trip scheme logic diagrams, commissioning procedures, as-built documentation
Field Safety NFPA 70E compliance required — arc-flash PPE for medium-voltage switchgear, approach boundaries, LOTO procedures
Why Ziggurat
1
Screen
Background review against role requirements — vendor platform experience, relevant certifications, project types, and standards familiarity. Quick assessment of baseline alignment before investing either party's time.
Resume review 15-min intro call
2
Technical Review
Deeper evaluation of technical depth. We review sample work — relay settings files, protection study reports, commissioning test procedures, or SCADA configuration packages — depending on the role. If samples aren't shareable, we discuss specific project scenarios in detail.
Async work-sample review or 45-min technical call
3
Interview
Scenario-based conversation with the principal engineer. Real project situations: how you'd approach a coordination study for a complex switchgear lineup, sequence a commissioning plan across multiple vendor platforms, or troubleshoot a protection scheme failure during site acceptance testing.
60-min video call with founder
4
Exercise / Artifact Review
A practical evaluation matched to the role. Engineering roles receive a take-home exercise — review and mark up a set of relay settings, identify gaps in a protection study, or develop a test procedure for a specific scheme. Field-focused roles walk through a commissioning package or test report they've delivered, explaining their methodology and decisions.
Take-home exercise (2–4 hrs) or artifact walkthrough (60 min)
5
Final Conversation
Role scope, current project pipeline, working arrangements, and compensation. This is a two-way conversation — we want to confirm the role fits your goals, not just the other way around.
30-min call
This role supports our protection studies , relay programming , testing commissioning and end to end service scopes.
Questions about this role? Email us at careers@zigguratautomation.com
Not ready to apply?
Stay on our radar — we'll reach out when a role matches your background.
General interest Protection & Relay EngineeringPower System Studies & DesignCommissioning & Field ExecutionIntegration & ControlsProject & Deployment Management
Let's Talk Engineering
Send your background.
First step: a 15-minute call with the principal engineer.
Apply See All Roles
- Charlotte, NC (Hybrid)
- ZA-33002
- Charlotte, NC (Hybrid)
- Hybrid
- Compensation discussed during final conversation
Every multi-vendor Tier III/IV data center protection system we deliver requires an engineer who owns the full P&C scope — coordination studies, relay settings, automation logic, and commissioning — under one accountability. This role exists because splitting that scope across firms creates handoff gaps that surface as retests during witness testing. Our East Coast pipeline serves the Virginia, North Carolina, and Southeast data center corridors — the densest concentration of hyperscale construction in the country. The work spans the same multi-vendor protection architecture: 2(N 1) medium-voltage with IEC 61850 GOOSE, staged commissioning on live critical infrastructure.
What You Own
- Protection coordination studies for 2(N 1) medium-voltage distribution per IEEE 242
- SEL-751/700G relay settings packages with trip scheme logic diagrams
- Woodward easYgen 3400/LS-6 generator controller programming and Modbus integration
- IEC 61850 GOOSE configuration for zone-selective interlocking across PRP networks
- SEL RTAC-3530 automation logic: mode transitions, load shed/add sequencing, SOE concentration
- Commissioning procedures and witness test support through owner acceptance
- As-built documentation packages for turnover to operations
Vendor Platforms
SEL Woodward CAT (Caterpillar) ABB
Software Tools
AcSELerator QuickSet AcSELerator RTAC SEL Architect ETAP
Protocols
IEC 61850 GOOSE DNP3 Modbus TCP IRIG-B
Standards
NFPA 70E IEEE 242 (Buff Book) IEEE 1584 IEC 61850 IEC 62439-3 (PRP/HSR)
Test Phases
Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) Site Acceptance Test (SAT) Secondary injection testing Functional performance testing Witness testing
What Success Looks Like
First 90 Days
- Onboarded into an active East Coast project — reviewed protection philosophy, existing settings, and one-line diagrams
- Delivered first relay settings package (SEL-751 or SEL-700G) through internal review
- Participated in site commissioning or witness testing on a current project
- Owning a full protection scope end-to-end on an East Coast data center project
- Leading witness testing sessions with prime contractor and owner representatives
- Contributing to IEC 61850 GOOSE or RTAC automation logic on at least one project
- 7 years protection & controls engineering for medium-voltage power systems
- SEL relay programming experience (QuickSet, 751/700G families) with delivered settings packages
- Protection coordination study experience per IEEE 242 — time-current curves, relay coordination
- Secondary injection testing with Omicron or Doble test sets — trip timing, coordination validation
- Commissioning experience on energized critical facilities (data centers, substations, or industrial power)
- Working knowledge of NFPA 70E arc-flash safety and energized work practices
- IEC 61850 GOOSE configuration experience — SCL files, publish/subscribe, multi-vendor interoperability
- Woodward generator controller programming (easYgen 3400, LS-6, DTSC-200)
- SEL RTAC-3530 automation logic (IEC 61131-3 Structured Text)
- NETA Level III or IV certification
- Arc-flash study experience per IEEE 1584
Travel 30–50% during commissioning phases, project-dependent. East Coast sites primarily (VA, NC, GA, TN).
Site Hours Standard office hours for design; site hours during commissioning (early starts, occasional weekends near milestones)
Customer-Facing Direct interface with prime contractor project managers and commissioning leads; owner witness testing coordinators during acceptance
Documentation Heavy — settings packages, coordination studies, trip scheme logic diagrams, commissioning procedures, as-built documentation
Field Safety NFPA 70E compliance required — arc-flash PPE for medium-voltage switchgear, approach boundaries, LOTO procedures
Why Ziggurat
- Own the full scope — protection studies, relay programming, and commissioning under one accountability, not task fragments divided across firms
- Work across 8 manufacturer platforms (SEL, Woodward, CAT, ABB, Eaton, Cisco, EIG, UPS OEM), not inside one vendor ecosystem
- Anchor a growing East Coast practice serving the densest hyperscale corridor in the country — your projects shape the regional pipeline
- Direct access to the principal engineer — your technical judgment shapes project outcomes, decisions happen in conversations
1
Screen
Background review against role requirements — vendor platform experience, relevant certifications, project types, and standards familiarity. Quick assessment of baseline alignment before investing either party's time.
Resume review 15-min intro call
2
Technical Review
Deeper evaluation of technical depth. We review sample work — relay settings files, protection study reports, commissioning test procedures, or SCADA configuration packages — depending on the role. If samples aren't shareable, we discuss specific project scenarios in detail.
Async work-sample review or 45-min technical call
3
Interview
Scenario-based conversation with the principal engineer. Real project situations: how you'd approach a coordination study for a complex switchgear lineup, sequence a commissioning plan across multiple vendor platforms, or troubleshoot a protection scheme failure during site acceptance testing.
60-min video call with founder
4
Exercise / Artifact Review
A practical evaluation matched to the role. Engineering roles receive a take-home exercise — review and mark up a set of relay settings, identify gaps in a protection study, or develop a test procedure for a specific scheme. Field-focused roles walk through a commissioning package or test report they've delivered, explaining their methodology and decisions.
Take-home exercise (2–4 hrs) or artifact walkthrough (60 min)
5
Final Conversation
Role scope, current project pipeline, working arrangements, and compensation. This is a two-way conversation — we want to confirm the role fits your goals, not just the other way around.
30-min call
This role supports our protection studies , relay programming , testing commissioning and end to end service scopes.
Questions about this role? Email us at careers@zigguratautomation.com
Not ready to apply?
Stay on our radar — we'll reach out when a role matches your background.
General interest Protection & Relay EngineeringPower System Studies & DesignCommissioning & Field ExecutionIntegration & ControlsProject & Deployment Management
Let's Talk Engineering
Send your background.
First step: a 15-minute call with the principal engineer.
Apply See All Roles