Lead IEC 61850 Test Engineer

Posted 2 Days Ago
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Stafford, Staffordshire, England, GBR
In-Office
Entry level
Energy • Manufacturing • Solar • Renewable Energy
GE Vernova is accelerating the path to more reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy.
The Role
Lead testing and validation for IEC 61850 communication and substation automation systems. Develop test strategies, plans, cases, reports, automated scripts, and regression suites; investigate defects using AI-powered anomaly detection and NLP-based log analysis; maintain test environments; validate compliance; and collaborate with developers, customers, certification bodies, and standards organizations to improve product quality and testing processes.
Summary Generated by Built In
Job Description SummaryWe're looking for a Lead IEC 61850 Test Engineer to help drive the testing, validation, and continuous improvement of our communication and substation automation solutions.
This is a great opportunity for someone with a strong foundation in IEC 61850, utility communication protocols, or software/systems testing, who is looking to grow into a role with real technical ownership and industry influence. You'll lead the development and execution of test strategies for IED communications and telecoms systems, integrating AI-driven test automation and predictive analytics to enhance regression efficiency, accelerate defect identification, and ensure the highest standards of reliability in complex IEC 61850 environments. You will work alongside developers, stakeholders, and customers to ensure our solutions are reliable, compliant, and built to the highest standard.
We know great candidates come from a variety of backgrounds — if you have strong testing fundamentals and are excited to build deeper expertise in IEC 61850 and substation automation, we'd love to hear from you, even if you don't check every box below.

Job Description

What You'll Be Doing

  • Develop and maintain test plans, test cases, and test reports aligned with product and customer requirements 

  • Plan and execute new feature, regression, manual, and AI automated testing for software and communication systems 

  • Validate software and system behavior against specifications and compliance requirements 

  • Identify using AI-powered anomaly detection, investigate, and track defects and inconsistencies using standard bug tracking tools 

  • Collaborate closely with developers to troubleshoot issues and improve overall product quality 

  • Build and maintain automated test scripts using AI-assisted coding tools like GitHub and Copilot to speed up the development of test scripts, contributing to the evolution of our regression test suites 

  • Set up and maintain testing tools and environments

  • Review logs and test outputs to spot issues and recommend improvements using Natural Language Processing (NLP) or pattern recognition to aggregate thousands of log lines into actionable summaries, significantly reducing the time spent on root-cause analysis 

  • Help keep test tracking and reporting accurate and current 

  • Support testing of telecoms systems — a valuable part of the role we can help you grow into if it's new to you 

  • Liaise with customers, certification bodies, and standards organizations on validation and compliance activities 

  • Represent the business at relevant industry and standards forums, where opportunities arise 

  • Contribute ideas to improve our testing standards and processes 

What We're Looking For

We're flexible on exact background — what matters most is strong testing experience and a genuine interest in communication systems and substation automation. Ideally you'll bring some combination of the following: 

  • A degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Computer Engineering, Power Systems, or a related field — or equivalent hands-on experience 

  • Familiarity with SCADA and communication protocols 

  • Some exposure to power system protection and/or IEC 61850 (deep expertise not required from day one — we support continued learning) 

  • A general understanding of networking concepts, such as TCP/IP 

  • Basic familiarity with XML 

  • Experience in client/server environments 

  • Any exposure to multi-user, stress, or load testing is a plus, but not essential 

  • A solid grounding in software or communications testing, with good analytical and debugging instincts 

  • Comfort writing test scripts and applying structured testing approaches 

  • Experience with test automation tools, or a strong interest in developing these skills 

Don't have direct IEC 61850 experience? If you have strong testing fundamentals and communication systems knowledge, we're happy to support your development in this specialist area.

Who You Are

You're likely someone who:

  • Pays close attention to detail and takes pride in quality work

  • Brings a proactive, can-do attitude to problem-solving

  • Manages multiple priorities well and stays organised under pressure

  • Is curious and enjoys continuously learning new tools, technologies, and standards

  • Works well with others, both internally and with external partners

  • Is comfortable balancing hands-on technical work with a broader view of product quality

Why Join Us?

  • Work on advanced, real-world digital substation and communication technologies

  • Take a lead role in shaping testing strategy and quality practices

  • Build deep expertise in a specialist, in-demand technical field

  • Collaborate with experts across engineering, telecoms, and international standards bodies

  • Grow your career in a role that offers real influence and technical depth

  • Be supported in developing new skills — we don't expect you to know everything on day one

Our Culture

Every action shapes our future. That’s why our north star is a culture of impact, where everyone is empowered to thrive and achieve.

Addressing the urgent need to build a more sustainable electric power system while improving the trajectory of climate change emissions are global priorities, and we take our responsibility seriously. That is our mission at GE Vernova: continuing to electrify to thrive and decarbonize the world. We play a significant role in leading a new era of energy.

Our technology helps generate approximately twenty-five percent of the world’s electricity today, and we are working to power the rest. If we want the future of energy to be different, then join us and be the difference. Together, we are the Energy of Change!

We're determined to be the best place to grow

We believe that strong careers are built on a variety of experiences, strong connections, and continuous development. We’re committed to providing you the tools to navigate and shape a strong career journey that aligns with a healthy work-life balance. No two careers are the same, and yours should reflect your personal and professional goals. Your people leader and trusted mentors will support you through navigating your journey.

We also prioritize fair pay, performance-based rewards, and wellbeing programs for you and your family. With opportunities to move across teams and functions, your career can keep evolving while sustainability stays at the core of everything we do.

Inclusion & Diversity

We are passionate about creating an inclusive work environment. By valuing the ideas and contributions of a diverse workforce we help inspire others to grow, succeed, and raise the bar for everyone.

As an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer, GE Vernova is committed to support disadvantaged groups whilst providing equal opportunities for both GE Vernova associates and applicants alike.

Join us at GE Vernova where results can be achieved by embracing a community of belonging.

Additional Information

Relocation Assistance Provided: No

Skills Required

  • Degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Computer Engineering, Power Systems, or a related field, or equivalent hands-on experience
  • Strong software or communications testing experience
  • Familiarity with SCADA and communication protocols
  • Exposure to power system protection and/or IEC 61850
  • Understanding of networking concepts such as TCP/IP
  • Basic familiarity with XML
  • Experience in client/server environments
  • Analytical and debugging skills
  • Ability to write test scripts and apply structured testing approaches
  • Experience with test automation tools or strong interest in developing automation skills
  • Exposure to multi-user, stress, or load testing

GE Vernova Compensation & Benefits Highlights

The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about GE Vernova and has not been reviewed or approved by GE Vernova.

  • Retirement Support The 401(k) plan includes company matching contributions and additional company retirement contributions, with access to Fidelity resources and financial planning consultants. Feedback suggests this structure supports long-term savings beyond a basic match.
  • Parental & Family Support Paid parental leave is available with flexible, continuous or non-continuous usage, and is complemented by adoption resources and Work/Life Connections guidance. Maternity leave is described as extended relative to typical workplace norms.
  • Leave & Time Off Breadth Time-off programs include 12 paid holidays, permissive time off for many salaried roles, and dedicated personal, illness, and caregiving time for U.S. new hires. Some hourly roles start with a defined PTO bank, while other roles may offer unlimited time off.

GE Vernova Insights

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The Company
HQ: Cambridge, MA
75,000 Employees
Year Founded: 2024

What We Do

GE Vernova is a planned purpose-built company on a mission to electrify the planet while simultaneously working to decarbonize it. If we want our energy future to be different…we must be different. Our mission is embedded in our name. We retain our treasured legacy, “GE,” in our name as an enduring and hard-earned badge of quality and ingenuity. “Ver” / “verde” signal Earth’s verdant and lush ecosystems. “Nova,” from the Latin “novus,” nods to a new, innovative era of lower carbon energy that GE Vernova will help deliver. GE Vernova brings together GE’s portfolio of energy businesses including Power, Wind, Electrification and Digital businesses. With focus, GE Vernova is accelerating the path to more reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy, while helping our customers power economies and deliver the electricity that is vital to health, safety, security, and improved quality of life. Together, we have The Energy to Change the World.

Why Work With Us

Join our team, to evolve and grow, surrounded by some of the brightest minds in the industry who help you get better every day. You’ll get the chance to rewrite the rules, work on cutting-edge technology, and be part of a global team for positive change.

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