Senior Protection Engineer

Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) is a Private Limited Liability Company incorporated in March 2001 under the Companies Act (Cap 106) of the Laws of Uganda and in conformity with the Electricity Act (Cap 157). The
Company started operations on 1st April 2001 and is wholly owned by the Government of the Republic of Uganda, with its Head Office located in Kampala. The mandate of the Company is to establish, acquire, maintain and operate electricity
generation facilities as well as promote research and development in the electricity generation sector while running the Company on sound business principles.
WE ARE HIRING
The Company seeks a competent, professional, experienced and dynamic
individual to fill the following vacant position:
Job Title: Senior Protection Engineer (1)
Nature of Contract: Full-time
Duty station: Head Office with frequent travel to the UEGCL Power Plants.
Job Purpose.
The Senior Protection Engineer shall be responsible for providing company-
wide technical leadership, specialist support and engineering assurance
in electrical protection systems across all UEGCL power generation plants,
including generator protection, excitation/protection coordination, plant-grid
interface protection and associated protection control systems.
Duties and responsibilities.
1. Develop, review and/or maintain UEGCL’s protection philosophy,
standards, procedures and technical requirements, benchmarked
against applicable Grid Code requirements, OEM recommendations and
relevant IEC, IEEE and CIGRE standards and industry best practice.
2. Calculate, review and submit to the Manager Asset Management, for
approval, all protection schemes across all UEGCL Power Plants. Ensure
that approved protection settings remain current, correct, version-
controlled and properly implemented across all UEGCL power plants.
3. Review and provide technical assurance of the coordination between
generator protection systems, excitation/AVR control functions, under-
and over-excitation limiters, generator capability curves and applicable
operating limits to ensure generating units remain adequately protected
under normal and abnormal grid conditions.
4. Coordinate and/or oversee protection coordination, discrimination and
relevant power-system studies for UEGCL’s plants and grid connections to
ensure appropriate protection coordination, discrimination and selectivity
of primary and backup protection systems.
5. Develop and provide guidance on protection testing and maintenance
requirements, including periodic testing intervals and test methodologies.
6. Lead protection testing, commissioning, troubleshooting and periodic
assessment of protection systems, including numerical protection relays/
IEDs, associated trip logic, communication interfaces and protection-
related control functions.
7. Review protection performance, test results, relay records, fault reports,
disturbance/oscillography data, Sequence of Events (SOE), SCADA
trends and relevant System Operator/network disturbance data, and
recommend corrective actions.
8. Coordinate with C&I/SCADA teams to ensure correct integration of
protection IEDs with plant control and monitoring systems, including
alarms, trips, event records, time synchronisation, communication links
and disturbance-data retrieval.
9. Provide specialist protection engineering input and technical oversight
for protection systems during the design, procurement, installation,
commissioning, modification, rehabilitation and maintenance of UEGCL
power plants.
10. Establish and maintain a controlled protection-settings and
configuration-management system/database covering approved setting
files, calculations, relay configurations, drawings, change justifications,
version control, approvals, test and commissioning records, rollback
arrangements and associated protection records.
11. Provide technical guidance on the assessment of the condition, reliability
and performance of protection equipment, including numerical relays,
CTs, VTs, trip circuits, DC systems and associated protection interface and
recommend appropriate interventions.
12. Coordinate with UETCL/System Operator and other stakeholders on
plant-grid protection interfaces, protection coordination, operating limits
and changes in grid configuration or fault levels that may affect UEGCL
generating assets.
13. Investigate protection trips, maloperations, abnormal events and failures;
lead or provide specialist input to root-cause analyses; and define, track
and verify corrective and preventive actions.
14. Review protection aspects of technical specifications, technical
evaluation of tender documents, contractor submissions, design
drawings, acceptance testing and commissioning procedures for
protection equipment and services.
15. Develop and maintain lifecycle plans for critical protection systems, taking
into consideration asset condition, technology obsolescence, spares
availability, cybersecurity, OEM support and operational risk, including
digital protection-system obsolescence, communication architecture,
cybersecurity, OEM support and operational risk.
16. Prepare periodic company-wide protection-system health and risk
reports highlighting protection-setting deficiencies, equipment condition,
outstanding corrective actions, compliance gaps and emerging risks for
management attention.
17. Provide technical guidance and mentorship to engineers and technicians
undertaking protection activities across UEGCL plants.
18. Ensure compliance with UEGCL procedures, applicable Grid Code
requirements, electrical safety requirements, OEM recommendations and
relevant IEC, IEEE and CIGRE standards and guidelines.
Qualifications.
• An upper Second Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical/Power Engineering or
related field.
• Masters in Electrical Power Systems Engineering or a related field is an
added advantage
• Registered Engineer with the Engineers Registration Board (ERB) is a must
• Membership of UIPE or equivalent professional body.
Experience.
• Minimum six (6) years’ relevant experience in power-system protection
engineering within power utility, OEM or engineering consultancy
environments,
• Demonstrable experience in protection scheme calculations, relay settings
and configuration, protection coordination, testing and commissioning. in
a Generating Power Plant.
• Demonstrated experience in testing: protection relays, current
transformers, voltage instrument transformers, switchgear, surge
arrestors, earthing systems and energy meters.
• Conversant with protection test tools/equipment e.g. Omicron protection
test set.
Desirable Competencies
• Power system protection and relay coordination.
• Numerical protection relays /IEDs, relay configuration software and
protection testing equipment.
• Fault and disturbance analysis.
• Electrical safety and risk management.
• Technical report writing and problem solving.
• Leadership, mentoring and stakeholder management.
• Ability to specify replacement/spare parts.
• Excellent analytical skills.
• A sound knowledge regarding safety measures
• Excellent troubleshooting and problem-solving abilities
• Ability to work under pressure and be on call at any time
• Good leadership, communication and motivation skills
• Ability to work in and/or lead a team
• Must be highly organized, systematic and precise in work
How to apply
All interested persons with requisite qualifications are invited to address
their applications with copies of certified academic documents, professional
qualifications and a detailed Curriculum Vitae indicating two referees and
their full addresses to:
Chief Human Resource Officer,
Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL)
Block C, Victoria Office Park, Okot – Kiwanuka Close, Bukoto
P.O. Box 75831 Kampala.
Applications should be submitted electronically as one attachment only in
portable document format (PDF), indicating the name and position applied
for in the subject line to the email address: jobs@uegcl.go.ug
Please note:
i) Only online applications will be considered.
ii) Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
iii) Shortlisted candidates will be required to present original copies of
certified academic documents during interviews.
iv) Applications without authenticated academic transcripts will not be
considered.
v) Contracts will be issued in line with the Ministry of Public Service Guidelines.
UEGCL offers equal opportunities for both male and female applicants.
For any inquiries, please contact the Human Resource team by email at
jobs@uegcl.go.ug or on Telephone No: 0312372165
Deadline for submission is Monday 5th October 2026.