Power Systems Automation Engineer

Job Description

MARA is seeking a Senior Power Systems Automation Engineer to design, implement, commission, and maintain power automation and SCADA systems across our data center, mining, generation, and utility-interconnected sites. These environments include large-scale electrical infrastructure such as substations, switchgear, meters, protective relays, RTACs, PLCs, generator controls, communication gateways, and energy management integrations.

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In this role, you will assess site requirements, define the appropriate control and monitoring architecture, evaluate and select hardware, coordinate installation, configure field communications, and commission reliable systems in production environments. You will also configure communication flows between site equipment, utilities, generation assets, third-party operators, and MARA’s internal energy management and operations platforms.

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The ideal candidate has a strong electrical engineering foundation, hands-on experience with power generation or utility-scale electrical systems, and practical expertise implementing SCADA, automation, telemetry, and industrial communication solutions in the field. This role requires someone who can move comfortably between engineering design, vendor coordination, site implementation, commissioning, troubleshooting, documentation, and long-term operational support.

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ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

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Site Assessment & Solution Design

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• Assess data center, mining, generation, and utility interconnection requirements to determine appropriate SCADA, automation, telemetry, and control solutions.
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• Design site-level power automation architectures for monitoring, control, dispatch, curtailment, generation coordination, alarm management, and operational visibility.
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• Develop designs that account for site electrical topology, utility requirements, generation assets, substations, switchgear, meters, relays, RTACs, PLCs, communication networks, and operator workflows.
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• Define device lists, point lists, control narratives, communication paths, failure modes, integration requirements, and commissioning criteria.
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• Evaluate tradeoffs across safety, reliability, maintainability, cost, vendor support, cybersecurity, field complexity, and long-term operability.
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• Collaborate with systems engineers, solution architects, electrical engineers, software engineers, and operations teams to align site designs with broader energy management and operational goals.
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Power Automation & SCADA Implementation

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• Design, configure, deploy, and maintain SCADA and power automation systems for site electrical infrastructure.
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• Evaluate and select hardware such as RTACs, RTUs, PLCs, protective relays, meters, gateways, network devices, HMIs, and related field equipment.
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• Configure and integrate intelligent electronic devices, including relays, meters, breakers, switchgear controls, generator controllers, and other site electrical assets.
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• Develop and maintain point databases, tag mappings, alarm definitions, control logic, device configurations, and telemetry models.
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• Coordinate with vendors, contractors, electricians, controls technicians, and site teams to support installation, checkout, and field implementation.
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• Ensure implemented systems are practical, supportable, and appropriate for real-world operating conditions at large electrical sites.
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Communication & EMS Integration

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• Configure reliable communication flows between site equipment, utility systems, generation assets, third-party operators, and internal energy management platforms.
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• Implement and maintain industrial communication protocols such as Modbus TCP/RTU, DNP3, IEC 61850, OPC UA, MQTT, or similar technologies.
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• Configure Modbus servers, protocol gateways, and data interfaces that expose validated site telemetry and control points to internal systems.
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• Ensure telemetry, control commands, alarms, and status points are mapped, validated, documented, and supportable.
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• Design communication architectures that support secure data exchange, resilient operations, observability, and maintainability.
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• Troubleshoot protocol, network, device communication, data quality, latency, and integration issues across field and enterprise systems.
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Commissioning, Reliability & Field Support

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• Plan and execute factory acceptance testing, site acceptance testing, commissioning, and validation for new or upgraded power automation systems.
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• Verify telemetry, control paths, alarms, interlocks, failover behavior, command permissions, operating procedures, and emergency states before production handoff.
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• Support ongoing maintenance, upgrades, troubleshooting, and root-cause analysis for SCADA and power control systems.
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• Develop redundancy, fail-safe, backup, and recovery approaches for critical control and monitoring functions.
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• Partner with operations teams to ensure systems are safe, reliable, understandable, and aligned with site operating requirements.
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• Travel to data center, mining, generation, substation, and utility-interconnected sites as needed for assessment, installation coordination, commissioning, troubleshooting, and maintenance.
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Documentation & Cross Functional Execution

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• Create and maintain documentation for SCADA architectures, communication diagrams, device configurations, point mappings, control narratives, test plans, runbooks, and maintenance procedures.
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• Communicate technical decisions, risks, dependencies, field constraints, and implementation status clearly to engineering and operational stakeholders.
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• Provide technical guidance to operators, technicians, and engineering partners on system behavior, troubleshooting, and operational best practices.
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• Review vendor proposals, drawings, submittals, and implementation plans for technical fit, reliability, maintainability, and integration impact.
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• Help establish repeatable standards for power automation, SCADA integration, commissioning, telemetry validation, and site handoff.
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QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

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• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, Power Systems, Controls Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
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• 6+ years of experience designing, implementing, commissioning, or maintaining SCADA, automation, controls, telemetry, or power monitoring systems in generation, utility, substation, data center, industrial, or large electrical infrastructure environments.
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• Hands-on experience with power generation, substations, switchgear, protective relays, meters, PLCs, RTUs, RTACs, communication gateways, or intelligent electronic devices.
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• Strong understanding of electrical power systems, including utility interconnections, generation assets, distribution equipment, telemetry, alarms, controls, and operational safety considerations.
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• Experience implementing industrial communication protocols such as Modbus TCP/RTU, DNP3, IEC 61850, OPC UA, MQTT, or similar technologies.
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• Experience configuring point databases, tag mappings, protocol servers, communication gateways, device settings, and control system interfaces.
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• Ability to assess site requirements and translate them into practical automation designs, implementation plans, and commissioning steps.
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• Experience coordinating field installation, vendor / contractor work, commissioning activities, and operational handoff.
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• Strong troubleshooting skills across electrical devices, controls hardware, SCADA systems, industrial networks, protocols, and data flows.
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• Familiarity with control system cybersecurity, network segmentation, remote access controls, and operational technology security practices.
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• Ability to work independently on complex technical problems while collaborating effectively across engineering, operations, networking, security, vendor, and site teams.
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• Strong documentation, communication, and project execution skills.
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• Willingness to travel to data center, mining, generation, substation, and utility-interconnected sites as required.
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PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

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• Experience with SEL RTACs, SEL relays, GE relays / devices, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories platforms, or similar utility-grade automation equipment.
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• Experience designing or maintaining SCADA systems for generation plants, substations, distributed energy resources, microgrids, data centers, or large industrial loads.
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• Experience integrating site control systems with energy management systems, curtailment systems, dispatch platforms, utility telemetry, or market-facing operational systems.
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• Experience with generator controls, paralleling switchgear, breakers, protective relay schemes, power meters, load control, or demand response systems.
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• Experience with HMI configuration, alarm management, historian integration, telemetry validation, and operator-facing control workflows.
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• Experience producing or reviewing electrical drawings, network diagrams, control narratives, sequence-of-operations documents, and commissioning test plans.
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• Familiarity with NERC CIP concepts, OT cybersecurity practices, industrial networking, VPNs, firewalls, serial-to-Ethernet gateways, and secure remote access patterns.
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• Professional Engineer license, Engineer-in-Training certification, or equivalent field experience in power systems, generation, controls, or automation engineering.
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• Knowledge of energy management, data centers, cryptocurrency mining, large-scale electrical infrastructure, or power market operations is a plus but not required.
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