Senior HV Protection and Control Engineer in Manchester

Remote working with visits to site as required.

The Role:

As a Senior HV Protection & Control Engineer within the Asset Integrity Management (AIM) Team and reporting directly to the Global Head of Engineering, you will act as the technical authority for protection, control, and secondary systems across offshore and onshore OFTO transmission assets. The role ensures protection integrity, Grid Code compliance, and effective fault response throughout the asset lifecycle. You will lead protection engineering activities, approve protection philosophies and settings, support HV operations, and provide expert input during faults, outages, and system events.

Key skills, knowledge and experience:

• Perform protection coordination studies, relay setting reviews, discrimination assessments, and secondary system checks.
• Review CT/VT performance, inter-tripping schemes, GOOSE messaging, interlocking logic, and protection interface signals.
• Ensure protection schemes maintain sensitivity, selectivity, stability, and security.
• Support the maintenance and testing of protection systems including secondary injection, functional checks, tripping logic, and scheme validation.
• Maintain governance of protection configuration, documentation, and change control.

Testing, Commissioning & Operational Readiness:

• Develop and deliver protection testing programmes: secondary injection, primary injection where required, functional and logic tests, end to end checks and breaker performance verification.
• Support energisation activities, operational readiness checks and controlled switching operations in collaboration with SAPs and Operations.
• Analyse test data and implement corrective actions to maintain protection reliability and compliance.

Fault Investigation & Operational Support:

• Lead analysis of protection relay event logs, SER/SOE data, disturbance records, and tripping sequences.
• Support HV switching activities, energisation plans, operational readiness checks, and post-fault restoration.
• Review circuit-breaker timing tests, contact resistance tests, tripping coil performance, auxiliary supply health, and protection-related diagnostics.
• Provide engineering support to operations and SAPs during incidents, defects, or abnormal conditions.
• Maintain protection portfolios, relay setting databases, secondary wiring schematics, and testing records.
• Review defects, alarms, and equipment behaviour to identify developing issues in protection or control systems.
• Liaise with our SAP’s, HV control centre & NESO on protection interfaces, alarms, inter-tripping signals, and telemetry anomalies.
• Support outage planning and operational risk reviews.

Engineering Assurance & Compliance:

• Provide protection and control engineering input into condition assessments, RCA investigations, and technical reviews.
• Contribute to optimisation of protection maintenance strategies and improvement of testing methodologies.
• Contribute to asset condition assessments, technical reviews, audits and external client assurance processes.
• Maintain accurate configuration records, documentation and evidence packs for regulatory or client submissions.
• Support development of advanced protection schemes, digital substation solutions (IEC 61850), and integration with SCADA/OT systems.
• Contribute to engineering advisory work for future offshore wind, interconnector, or grid compliance projects.
• Share lessons learned and support team capability development.
• Ensure compliance with applicable standards - IEC 61850 (digital substations), ENA TS, relevant Grid Code requirements, ISO 9001/14001/45001, ISO 55000 asset management.

Skills and Experience:

• Degree qualified in Electrical Engineering or equivalent.
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) or working towards is preferred.
• Extensive experience in HV protection and control within transmission, OFTO, or offshore wind environment.
• Proficient with relay families (Siemens, ABB, GE, Schneider) and test systems (Omicron CMC, Test Universe; DIGSI, SIGRA or equivalents).
• Knowledge of Grid Code, ENA standards, and HV safety rules. BP141 / TP141 authorisation desirable.
• Confident acting as a senior protection authority supporting live HV operations on systems up to 400kV.
• Possibility of offshore work (if desired). Willingness to obtain GWO qualification and ability to pass offshore medical for offshore site visits and familiarity.

Competitive benefits tailored to the division. Opportunities for career growth and visibility across the organisation. A supportive, inclusive culture that values your ideas and contributions. Work that truly makes a difference in safety, innovation, and global capability.

About Us:

James Fisher is a global engineering services company operating across Energy, Defence, and Maritime Transport. With a strong heritage in maritime operations, we now deliver innovative solutions in challenging environments. Our One James Fisher strategy is focused on building a unified, sustainable business within the Blue Economy, driving progress through technology, expertise, and collaboration. With two centuries of maritime shipping and innovation, James Fisher is a trusted partner in the safe and efficient movement of the world’s critical resources. As a market leader in ship-to-ship transfer and coastal shipping, we help customers protect people, cargo and infrastructure while shaping the future of global maritime transport.

If this sounds like the ideal next step in your career, then click ‘apply’ now! Due to the volume of applications, we receive for our vacancies, on occasion applications may close before the deadline, so please apply early to avoid disappointment. James Fisher and Sons are committed to taking positive action on diversity and strongly encourage applications for candidates from all backgrounds. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and recognise that our success depends on our talented and diverse workforce.