Job Description – Electrical Protection Engineer (Protection & Relay Specialist)
Location: Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Project: ADNOC Refining – Specialist Electrical Services for Critical Equipment
Industry: Oil & Gas / Refinery / Power Utilities
Job Purpose
We are seeking an experienced Electrical Protection Engineer (Protection & Relay Specialist) to support electrical protection systems across ADNOC Refining facilities. The successful candidate will be responsible for the assessment, testing, troubleshooting, maintenance, and optimization of protection relays and power system protection schemes to ensure the safe, reliable, and uninterrupted operation of refinery electrical networks. The role also includes incident investigations, fault analysis, and providing technical recommendations to improve system reliability.
Key Responsibilities
- Perform testing, commissioning, maintenance, and troubleshooting of HV, MV, LV, and EHV protection relay systems.
- Configure, calibrate, and maintain protection relays from manufacturers such as ABB, Siemens, GE, MiCOM, or equivalent.
- Carry out protection coordination studies, relay setting calculations, and verification of protection schemes.
- Analyze electrical faults, relay operations, disturbances, and power system events using relay event records and disturbance analysis software.
- Perform Root Cause Analysis (RCA) for electrical incidents, relay misoperations, blackouts, and network disturbances, and recommend corrective and preventive actions.
- Conduct preventive maintenance, health assessments, condition monitoring, and periodic testing of protection systems in accordance with IEEE, IEC, and OEM requirements.
- Review relay event records, disturbance recorder files, and fault data using software such as SIGRA, COMTRADE, or equivalent.
- Support shutdown, turnaround, and emergency maintenance activities involving protection systems.
- Review relay spare inventories and recommend replacement of obsolete or end-of-life components.
- Prepare technical reports, relay test reports, incident investigation reports, and engineering recommendations.
- Coordinate with Operations, Maintenance, and Engineering teams to improve electrical system reliability and availability.
- Ensure compliance with ADNOC standards, IEC, IEEE, OEM requirements, and HSE procedures.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering.
- Minimum 15 years of experience in electrical protection systems within oil & gas, refinery, petrochemical, power generation, or utility transmission industries.
- Hands-on experience with numerical protection relays including ABB, Siemens, GE, MiCOM, or equivalent.
- Strong knowledge of:
- Protection relays and relay coordination
- Power system protection schemes
- Fault analysis and disturbance analysis
- Relay settings and testing
- CT/VT circuits
- HV/MV/LV/EHV substations
- Electrical network protection philosophy
- Experience using relay analysis software such as SIGRA, COMTRADE, or equivalent.
- Knowledge of IEC, IEEE, and ADNOC electrical standards.
- Familiarity with SAP PM/EAM or equivalent maintenance management systems is preferred.
- Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, report writing, and communication skills.
Preferred Experience
- Experience supporting ADNOC, major oil & gas operators, or utility transmission companies.
- Experience in refinery electrical networks, substations, and critical process facilities.
- Experience in incident investigation, electrical reliability improvement, and protection system audits.
- Exposure to shutdowns, brownfield projects, and operational support for critical electrical assets.
Competencies
- Electrical Protection Engineering
- Relay Testing & Commissioning
- Protection Coordination Studies
- Fault & Disturbance Analysis
- Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
- Substation Protection Systems
- Technical Reporting
- HSE Compliance
- Problem Solving & Decision Making
- Teamwork & Stakeholder Coordination
