Principal Consultant – EMT & Grid Integration

About Altagrid

Altagrid is an engineering and technical consulting firm supporting utility-scale battery energy storage and renewable energy projects in the United States.

Our work spans BESS electrical engineering, conceptual design, single-line diagrams, site layouts, power-system studies, EMT studies, and related engineering services for developers, utilities, EPC contractors, and equipment providers.

We are expanding our grid-integration and EMT capabilities and are looking for a senior engineer who can serve as both a trusted technical advisor to clients and a technical leader within Altagrid.

The Role

Altagrid is seeking a Principal Consultant – EMT & Grid Integration to lead client-facing delivery and technical oversight of electromagnetic transient studies for utility-scale BESS, solar, and other inverter-based resource projects.

This is not purely a simulation or modeling position.

The successful candidate will be expected to:

• Represent Altagrid confidently in technical discussions with sophisticated U.S. developers, utilities, OEMs, EPCs, and grid-integration teams.
• Provide independent technical review and QA/QC of EMT studies performed by Altagrid engineers and specialist consulting partners.
• Lead the development of Altagrid's internal EMT and grid-studies capability, including people, processes, software, models, standards, and technical methodologies.

The ideal candidate combines deep power-systems expertise with strong communication, consulting judgment, and project leadership.

Key Responsibilities

Client & Project Leadership

• Serve as Altagrid's primary technical representative for assigned EMT and grid-integration engagements.
• Lead technical meetings with clients, utilities, OEMs, EPCs, and other engineering stakeholders.
• Present study methodologies, assumptions, results, technical risks, and recommendations clearly and confidently.
• Respond to technical challenges and questions from sophisticated client engineering teams.
• Translate detailed simulation results into clear engineering conclusions and actionable recommendations.
• Manage study scope, priorities, technical deliverables, schedules, client comments, and open technical items.
• Identify potential scope changes, additional study requirements, and technical risks early.
• Support Altagrid leadership with technical input during proposals, scoping discussions, and client development.

EMT Technical Leadership

• Provide senior technical leadership for PSCAD/EMT studies involving utility-scale BESS, solar PV, and other inverter-based resources.
• Review network equivalents, model assumptions, control settings, system conditions, contingencies, fault scenarios, and study methodologies.
• Review and challenge consultant and internal-engineer assumptions before results are issued to clients.
• Perform or oversee studies involving areas such as:
• Inverter-based resource behavior
• Weak-grid performance
• Grid-following and grid-forming controls
• Fault ride-through
• Voltage and frequency response
• Control interactions
• Oscillatory behavior
• Plant controller performance
• Dynamic reactive-power performance
• System-strength sensitivities
• Multiple inverter / converter interactions
• BESS operating modes and charging/discharging conditions
• Review OEM PSCAD models and associated documentation.
• Evaluate whether models and simulation results are technically credible and appropriate for the intended study.
• Ensure conclusions are supported by study results and clearly documented.

QA/QC & Technical Governance

• Act as senior reviewer for EMT study reports and associated simulation models.
• Establish QA/QC requirements for Altagrid EMT studies.
• Independently stress-test assumptions, methodologies, modeling decisions, and conclusions.
• Identify technical gaps or inconsistencies before deliverables reach clients.
• Develop standardized:
• Study procedures
• Model-review checklists
• Assumption logs
• QA/QC processes
• Study-report templates
• Simulation naming and file-management conventions
• Internal technical review gates
• Help create repeatable and defensible engineering processes as Altagrid scales.

Build Altagrid's Internal EMT Capability

A major part of this role is building a sustainable internal engineering capability rather than relying indefinitely on external consultants.

The Principal Consultant will:

• Develop Altagrid's roadmap for internal EMT and grid-studies capability.
• Recommend and help implement required engineering software, licenses, computing infrastructure, and supporting tools.
• Help recruit, interview, and technically assess EMT and power-systems engineers.
• Train and mentor junior and mid-level engineers.
• Determine which studies should be performed internally versus by specialist partners.
• Transfer knowledge and methodologies from external consultants into Altagrid's internal organization.
• Develop technical libraries, reusable models, methodologies, and engineering standards.
• Build a team capable of independently executing increasingly complex EMT studies over time.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Systems Engineering, or a closely related field.
• Approximately 10**+ years of relevant power-systems experience**, with significant direct experience in grid integration and dynamic studies.
• Strong hands-on experience with PSCAD / EMTDC.
• Demonstrated experience performing or reviewing EMT studies for utility-scale renewable-energy or BESS projects.
• Strong understanding of inverter-based resources and power-electronic controls.
• Experience working with OEM dynamic and EMT models.
• Experience with utility-scale battery energy storage, solar PV, wind, HVDC, FACTS, or similar converter-based technologies.
• Strong understanding of transmission-system behavior, system strength, faults, controls, and grid-code requirements.
• Experience with RMS/dynamic simulation platforms such as PSS®E, PowerFactory, PSLF, or equivalent.
• Demonstrated ability to independently review another engineer's work and identify flawed assumptions, modeling gaps, or unsupported conclusions.
• Excellent spoken and written English.
• Strong presentation and client-management skills.
• Ability to explain complex engineering concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Comfortable working directly with U.S.-based clients.
• Ability to maintain regular working-hour overlap with U.S. Eastern Time.

Strongly Preferred

• PhD in Engineering
• Experience supporting projects in ERCOT, MISO, SPP, PJM, CAISO, WECC, or other North American power markets.
• Experience with utility or ISO/RTO EMT study requirements.
• Direct experience with utility-scale BESS projects.
• Experience interfacing with inverter OEMs and reviewing user-defined or black-box PSCAD models.
• Experience with grid-forming BESS or other grid-forming inverter technologies.
• Experience leading technical consulting engagements.
• Previous experience at a power-systems consultancy, renewable developer, utility, OEM, EPC, or independent engineering firm.
• Experience developing or managing engineering teams.
• Experience building study processes, templates, methodologies, or technical functions from the ground up.
• Familiarity with Python or other automation tools used for simulation execution, post-processing, or engineering analysis.

What Success Looks Like

Within the first several months, the successful candidate should be able to:

• Independently lead technical calls with Altagrid clients.
• Become a trusted technical counterpart to senior client grid-integration engineers.
• Review EMT studies and identify technical risks before submission.
• Establish a consistent QA/QC framework for Altagrid's EMT work.
• Improve the technical quality and clarity of studies delivered by external partners.