Data Center Substation, Protection & Automation Engineer

Overview

Own the protection and automation architecture across Anthropic's US data center portfolio, from the utility point of interconnection through HV/MV substations, MV distribution, and LV switchgear.

What you'll do

• Own Anthropic's protection philosophy and basis of design across the electrical system, and maintain reference relay settings and protection one-line templates used by build partners.
• Specify protective relays and develop relay settings for transformer, feeder, bus, generator, motor, and arc-flash protection applications across major platforms (e.g., SEL, GE Multilin, ABB, Siemens, Schneider).
• Perform and critically review short-circuit, protective-device coordination, and arc-flash studies, and use findings to steer equipment selection, settings, and incident-energy mitigation.
• Implement automatic transfer, load-shed, and restoration schemes in protection and automation logic, ensuring they stay secure and coordinated under every credible contingency.
• Review protection and control design packages, relay settings calculations, and coordination studies from build partners and A/E firms against the basis of design, and drive closure on deviations and exceptions.
• Design the substation automation architecture for each site (IEC 61850 station and process bus, GOOSE messaging, RTUs/gateways, local HMI, sequence-of-events recording, time synchronization) and drive standardization across the portfolio.
• Integrate protective relays, meters, and switchgear controls into the electrical power monitoring system (EPMS) and substation SCADA, defining points lists and event/waveform capture.
• Help define network topology, redundancy, and cybersecurity boundaries between substation automation, EPMS, and the facility BMS/DCIM layer.
• Evaluate and qualify relay, RTU, gateway, and EPMS platforms on technical merit, and work with supply chain to build a diversified vendor base.
• Review HV/MV substation design packages, including single-line and three-line diagrams, bus configuration, general arrangement, equipment specifications, grounding-grid design, and control-building layout, to confirm the protection and control design is buildable and maintainable.
• Work with utilities, transmission owners, and ISOs/RTOs on interconnection protection requirements, including relay settings submittals, transfer-trip and communications-assisted schemes, POI study review, and ride-through and grid-code requirements.
• Review the protection and control interface for on-site generation and battery energy storage interconnections, including anti-islanding, synchronizing, and intertie protection.
• Support NERC PRC compliance for applicable facilities, including settings documentation, misoperation analysis, and periodic maintenance and testing basis.
• Develop relay test plans and factory and site acceptance test procedures, and witness FAT, relay secondary-injection testing, GOOSE messaging and end-to-end scheme testing, and integrated systems testing.
• Review the protection and control steps of energization and switching methods of procedure (MOPs), support first-energization of substations and MV distribution, and resolve protection and control issues found in the field.
• Lead root-cause analysis of protection operations and misoperations using relay event records, sequence-of-events data, and disturbance records, and feed findings back into settings and standards.
• Build and continuously improve internal protection and automation standards, including settings templates, scheme logic libraries, test procedures, and commissioning checklists.

What you'll need

• 10+ years of experience in power system protection engineering, substation automation, or substation design for utility, heavy-industrial, or mission-critical facilities.
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Deep, hands-on expertise applying and setting protective relays for transformers, feeders, buses, generators, and switchgear, and fluency in at least one major relay platform (e.g., SEL, GE Multilin, ABB, Siemens).
• Fluency in short-circuit, protective-device coordination, and arc-flash analysis, and comfort running or critically reviewing studies in tools such as SKM, ETAP, EasyPower, ASPEN, or CAPE.
• Hands-on experience integrating protective relays into substation automation or SCADA systems using DNP3, Modbus, or IEC 61850, and understanding of RTU/gateway and sequence-of-events architecture.
• Experience with utility interconnection protection, including relay settings submittals, transfer-trip or communications-assisted schemes, or point-of-interconnection protection requirements, from the utility or customer side.
• Ability to read, interpret, and mark up single-line and three-line diagrams, AC and DC schematics, relay panel drawings, and wiring diagrams.
• Experience developing relay test plans and witnessing factory acceptance testing, secondary-injection testing, or field commissioning of protection and control systems.
• Familiarity with codes and standards such as the IEEE C37 series, IEEE 1584, NFPA 70/70E, and (for utility-connected or bulk-electric-system facilities) NERC PRC reliability standards.
• Ability to communicate clearly with technical peers and non-specialist stakeholders.

Nice to have

• Professional Engineer (PE) licensure.
• HV/MV substation physical design experience, including general arrangement, bus configuration, power transformer and HV breaker specification, grounding-grid design per IEEE 80, insulation coordination, and control-building layout.
• Experience with protection and control for on-site generation (gas turbines, reciprocating engines, fuel cells) and battery energy storage systems, including anti-islanding, synchronizing, and microgrid transfer schemes.
• Background in data center, hyperscaler, or other high-availability electrical distribution, and familiarity with critical-power topologies (2N, N+1, distributed redundant).
• Experience owning NERC PRC compliance evidence for a generation or transmission asset, including settings basis documentation, misoperation reporting, and PRC-005 maintenance programs.
• Proficiency with vendor relay engineering tools (SEL AcSELerator, GE EnerVista, ABB PCM600, Siemens DIGSI) and IEC 61850 system configuration tools.
• Experience designing IEC 61850 station- or process-bus systems with GOOSE-based protection or interlocking schemes.
• Prior work at a utility, relay or switchgear manufacturer, protection-engineering consultancy, or hyperscaler serving large-load interconnections.

Details

• Location: Remote-Friendly, United States.
• Travel of roughly 20–35% for witnessing factory acceptance and relay testing, and supporting site energization and commissioning.
• Location-based hybrid policy: staff expected in an office at least 25% of the time; some roles may require more.
• Visa sponsorship is available for some roles and candidates.