Lead Protection & Control Engineer - OT Security

About us

National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) sits at the heart of the UK’s energy system. The reliability, safety and resilience of our transmission network is critical to daily life, and protecting it against cyber threats is a core priority.

We are seeking a Lead OT Security Engineer to take ownership of cybersecurity for our Protection & Control (P&C) and substation automation environments. This role is intentionally suited to someone with a strong electrical or power systems engineering background who is passionate about developing deeper expertise in OT cybersecurity.

Job Purpose

As our network evolves, so too does the need to protect it from emerging cyber threats. We are looking for a Lead OT Security Engineer to strengthen cybersecurity across our Protection & Control (P&C) and substation environments.

This role is ideally suited to someone with a strong electrical or power systems engineering background — particularly within substations or P&C — who is looking to apply or develop their expertise in OT cybersecurity.

You will act as a subject matter expert at system level, helping us understand risk across substation environments, improve cyber resilience, and shape how we invest in protecting critical national infrastructure

What you'll do

• Act as the technical lead for OT cybersecurity within substation and Protection & Control environments, ensuring secure-by-design delivery of engineering solutions
• Lead assessments of substation and P&C systems to identify cyber and engineering risks, working with teams to define practical, real-world improvements
• Own and develop the cyber assessment framework for P&C, including metrics, assurance and regulatory reporting
• Work closely with design, protection engineering, commissioning, operations and IT teams to embed security across the full engineering lifecycle
• Provide expertise across substation automation and control systems, including protection relays, engineering workstations, gateways and OT networks (including IEC 61850 environments)
• Identify gaps in current cyber resilience and define clear, achievable remediation strategies
• Develop and maintain key assurance artefacts such as security cases, risk registers and compliance evidence
• Act as business lead on cyber resilience projects (including Ofgem-funded programmes), ensuring outcomes are practical, effective and adopted by the business
• Coach and support engineers in building consistent OT security practices across programmes
• Engage with internal stakeholders, suppliers and industry bodies to continuously improve our cyber capability

About you

• A degree (or equivalent experience) in Electrical/Power Engineering, Systems Engineering, Control & Instrumentation or a related technical discipline
• Essential: demonstrable experience in substation and/or power systems engineering within a regulated CNI environment
• Strong understanding of Protection & Control, substation automation or similar engineering systems
• Awareness of OT environments within critical infrastructure, with an interest in applying or developing cybersecurity knowledge
• Understanding of UK regulatory and industrial frameworks, and the ability to apply them pragmatically in safety-critical environments
• Experience working across multi-disciplinary teams, with strong stakeholder and supplier management skills
• Experience in electricity transmission, distribution or generation is highly desirable, including knowledge of substation asset lifecycles, outage planning and engineering change

Desirable (not essential)

• Exposure to OT/ICS cybersecurity concepts or standards (e.g. IEC 61850, ISA/IEC 62443)
• Cyber security certifications (e.g. CISSP, CISM, GICSP) or willingness to work towards them

Not sure you meet every requirement? Please don’t let that stop you. If this role excites you and you can bring strong engineering experience from a regulated CNI environment with a passion for OT cybersecurity, we’d love to hear from you. We’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, and we encourage you to apply even if your experience doesn’t match every point listed above.

What you'll get

• Salary £60,000 - £77,000 pa + £3,000 pa Market Supplement + Benefits package (depending on experience)
• Training and Development. 
• 37 hours Mon – Fri (Location - Variable/Flexible (Permanent/Full time with hybrid working)
• 26 days annual leave plus 8 statutory days.
• Enhanced parental leave.
• Generous contributory pension scheme - we will double-match your contribution to a maximum. company contribution of 12%. Totalling 18%.
• Statutory Bank Holiday swapping – if you wish to change them for another day
• The option to buy additional or sell holiday days.
• Financial support to help cover the cost of professional membership subscriptions, course fees, books, exam fees and time off for study leave – relevant to your role. 
• Access to flexible benefits such as a share incentive plan, salary sacrifice car and technology schemes, support via employee assistance lines and matched charity giving to name a few. 
• Family care benefits including a back-up care service for when your usual care arrangements fall through (six paid days each year as standard with the option to purchase further days).  
• Access to numerous apps which support health, fitness and wellbeing. 

More Information

The closing date for this vacancy is 9th June. However, we encourage candidates to submit their applications as early as possible and not to wait until the published closing date. National Grid’s recruitment periods can and may vary. We reserve the right to remove this advert or close it to further applications at any point during the recruitment process.

DE & I statement:

At National Grid, we work towards the highest standards in everything we do, including how we support, value, and develop our people. Our aim is to encourage and support employees to thrive and be the best they can be. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organisation and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds, offering flexible and tailored support, at home and in the office.

Our goal is to drive, develop, and operate our business in a way that results in a more inclusive culture. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, the innovation from diverse teams & perspectives, and business need. We are committed to building a workforce that can represent the communities we serve and have a working environment in which each individual feels valued, respected, fairly treated, and able to reach their full potential.

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