The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) is responsible for the safe, reliable, and economic planning and operation of the Alberta Interconnected Electric System. The AESO strives to foster an inclusive, diverse and equitable workplace where people feel respected and welcomed for who they are, together we deliver high performance and innovative results. Help power Alberta’s future through technical leadership on critical transmission infrastructure projects.

Reporting to the Manager, Project Engineering, the Lead Engineer, System Protection & Controls serves as AESO’s senior technical expert for protection, control, and reliability engineering across Alberta’s electricity system. Working closely with internal teams, utilities, generators, regulators, and industry partners, you will provide technical leadership, influence strategic decisions, and help shape the future of Alberta’s electricity system. You will collaborate across AESO, including Connection Projects, System Projects, Operational Engineering, Operational Planning, and Power System Modelling, to advance strategic organizational and industry initiatives.

This full time opportunity offers a competitive salary, paid vacation and flex time, health and dental benefits, mental health support, a defined contribution pension plan, and learning and development opportunities as part of your overall compensation package. We support a hybrid work environment, where the team is in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Mondays and Fridays are flexible for where you work best.

Lead technically complex projects with province-wide impact. Contribute directly to Alberta’s energy transition and grid modernization initiatives. Serve as the senior technical expert on system protection, control, coordination, and reliability matters.

Lead technical reviews of transmission, generation, distribution, and large-load interconnection projects,



providing technical recommendations on protection schemes and coordination practices proposed by interconnected entities. Develop and maintain protection philosophies, engineering practices, standards, and technical requirements. Lead complex protection and coordination studies involving transmission lines, transformers, buses, reactors, capacitor banks, HVDC facilities, renewable generation, and inverter-based resources, and evaluate protection system performance under contingency conditions, emerging reliability risks, and abnormal operating scenarios.

Conduct technical investigations of protection system and disturbance events to identify root causes and recommend reliability improvements. Support the development, implementation, audit readiness, and compliance of AESO Technical Rules, Alberta Reliability Standards, NERC requirements, and other regulatory obligations related to Protection and Control, including the review of rule waivers, variances, and compliance matters. Provide engineering expertise to support connection projects, system planning, operational engineering, and strategic initiatives across AESO.

Lead and participate in industry working groups, standards committees, and stakeholder engagements to advance protection, control, and reliability practices. Mentor engineers and provide technical oversight, coaching, and review of engineering studies, technical reports, and recommendations. Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from an accredited institution and registration as a Professional Engineer (P.Minimum 12 years of progressive engineering experience in the electric utility industry with a focus on Protection & Controls.





Strong experience conducting protection system studies, coordination reviews, performance assessments, and complex reliability initiatives. Demonstrated success leading complex technical initiatives, multidisciplinary engineering teams, and strategic reliability programs.

Experience with Alberta Reliability Standards, ISO Rules, NERC reliability requirements, compliance activities, and regulatory frameworks. Expertise in protection coordination studies, remedial action schemes (RAS), anti-islanding, synch-check, power swing and out-of-step protection, effective grounding, and protection system performance analysis.

Experience with inverter-based resources, renewable generation integration, HVDC systems, digital substations, facility modelling, Project Development Update Processes (PDUPs), and Real-Time Digital Simulation (RTDS) tools. D. in Electrical Power Systems Engineering or a related discipline, and experience developing technical standards, engineering policies, and regulatory documentation, are considered assets. Enjoy applying deep technical expertise to real-world challenges that impact Alberta’s electricity system.

Value collaboration and influencing outcomes across technical, regulatory, and operational stakeholders. Take pride in mentoring others and advancing engineering excellence. Embrace innovation and continuous learning in an evolving energy landscape.

The Alberta Electric System

Operator, and its members, officers, employees and agents (collectively, the “AESO”) is committed to protecting personal information provided to it. When you submit your personal information to the AESO for the purpose of pursuing employment with the AESO, the collection, use and disclosure of personal information is in accordance with the provisions of the Protection of Privacy Act (POPA) of Alberta. This collection of personal information for the purposes of a check will be conducted in accordance with Section 4 of POPA. #

📌 Lead Engineer, System Protection & Controls (Calgary)
🏢 AESO
📍 Calgary