Substation Automation Engineer

MISSION TAR’s mission is to power intelligence for the world. We are building the world’s first off-grid power plant for data centers powered by renewable technologies. We firmly believe AI should be built in the US for the benefit of all people. For that, power must be fast, clean and scalable. We are singularly focused on delivering GW-scale power faster than anyone has ever done, by rethinking every layer of the stack. To deliver on this vision, TAR manufactures, deploys and operates off-grid energy assets with a renewable backbone. We vertically integrate to solve every bottleneck, from racking systems to power electronics to dispatch algorithms to on-site construction. Leave your mark by powering the future of civilisation-scale energy infrastructure. We hire people who care deeply about this problem space. If that is you, please apply! COMPANY We are a team of seasoned operators run by founders who previously scaled a company to over 80 people and $350M in annual sales. We know how to operate and we move fast. We are working directly with one of the largest compute providers to make our vision come true and plan to deploy 5GWs by 2028. TAR is both a hardware and software company, we are building out massive, critical, physical infrastructure. We operate on… - High ownership. High Agency. Own project end-to-end. Great people don’t need to be managed. - Speed. We achieve great things on incredible timelines. We always push ourselves to go faster. - First principles. No ego. No hierarchy. Challenge every assumption. - Passion. Solving the energy problem is one of the largest challenges that faces the world now and in the future. We put in long hours and hard work to solve this. ABOUT THE ROLE As OT Engineer, you build the network that runs the island, and the standard that makes the next island faster. You configure the microgrid controller and SCADA to spec, design the OT network and communications architecture underneath them, integrate every vendor's equipment into one coherent point database, verify all of it point by point before the plant carries load, and then keep it running for the life of the site. When the island transitions modes at 3 a.m. with a data center on the other side of the bus, it works because you tested it. RESPONSIBILITIES - Define and implement the OT communications strategy. Make decisions on (PRP/HSR, MRP, RSTP), VLAN segmentation and QoS, and time synchronization (PTP, IRIG-B, NTP). - Engineer every communication path against its latency budget. Know which functions should be on Modbus, IEC 61850 GOOSE, and which belong on a hardwired contact. Make sure Fast load shed and unplanned-island responses are fast. - Own multi-vendor protocol integration. Interface control documents and point lists for PV inverters, BESS PCS and BMS, gensets, switchgear, relays, metering, etc. - Ensure Cybersecurity during the design phase and during operation. - Commission it, then own it, and lead the workstream. Provide the technical direction that OEM and integrator controls teams build against. QUALIFICATIONS - BSEE, controls engineering, or related STEM discipline. Equivalent field experience considered. - 4+ years of IT/Network Engineering experience. - 2+ years in industrial or utility controls in energy, utilities, or generation environments, with hands-on ownership of SCADA systems, RTU and gateway configuration, and the networks underneath them in an energized environment. - Protocol fluency at the packet level, not the datasheet level: Modbus, DNP3, IEC 61850 MMS and GOOSE. Deep experience with Wireshark, Triangle MicroWorks, ASE-2000, IEDScout. - Hardened industrial networking: managed switching, fiber and loss budgets, ring and parallel redundancy, VLAN and QoS design, precision time distribution. - Experience delivering telemetry and remote monitoring at scale, and integrating RTUs, substations, and field devices into a coherent operational picture. - Able to read a one-line, a three-line, and an AC/DC schematic, and to say out loud what a mismapped control point will physically do to a breaker. NICE TO HAVE - Direct islanded, off-grid, or BTM microgrid commissioning experience. - DERMS or distributed energy resource coordination, and renewable plus BESS integration projects. - Hardware-in-the-loop validation of microgrid or inverter controls. - Historian and time-series depth (AVEVA PI, Canary, Ignition), including one-way OT-to-cloud data architecture. - Data center facility controls exposure: BMS, DCIM, or hyperscale commissioning. - OT cyber security programme experience, or GICSP, ISA/IEC 62443, or comparable credentials. - Test-like-you-fly culture (Tesla Energy, Fluence, SEL, Emerson, or comparable) where validation rigor is the norm. SALARY AND BENEFITS - Up to $15K relocation bonus - Unlimited PTO - Health, Dental, Vision insurance - $1K monthly stipend for meals