Job Description Summary

We'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