Senior Control Engineer Jobs in USA with Visa Sponsorship
Senior Control Engineer roles qualify as specialty occupations under the H-1B visa, making them strong candidates for employer sponsorship. Demand spans industrial automation, oil and gas, and utilities sectors. With an engineering degree and PLC or SCADA experience, you have the credentials most sponsoring employers require. For detailed occupation requirements, see the O*NET profile.
Find Senior Control Engineer JobsOverview
Showing 5 of 704+ Senior Control Engineer jobs
See all 704+ Senior Control Engineer Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Senior Control Engineer roles.
Get Access To All JobsJob Title: Senior Engineer – Protection & Control
Location: Rochester, NY; or Binghamton, NY.
Work type: Office (on-site)
The salary range for this position is dependent upon experience, ranging from $96,400 to $120,500.
What We Offer:
- Competitive benefits and growth opportunities
- Generous performance‑based bonuses
- 12% 401(k) match
- Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
- Tuition reimbursement
- Professional development and clear career‑advancement pathways
Job Summary
This role is responsible for researching industry best practices to create Protection and Control standards. Responsibilities also include development of new engineering processes and tools, evaluating new P&C technologies, and writing industry white papers.
System scope includes transmission, substation, and distribution. Service companies include Central Maine Power, New York State Electric & Gas, Rochester Gas & Electric, and United Illuminating.
Responsibilities:
- General responsibilities include assisting in the development of P&C engineering standards, relay setting file templates, and engineering tools.
- Conducts engineering analysis, researching industry papers and manuals.
- As a senior engineer, this position grants autonomy to propose solutions to open-ended challenges but requires the engineer to work mostly autonomously.
- The senior engineer is expected to lead engineering projects and facilitate meetings with other P&C engineers, other departments, contractors, and vendors.
- Authoring engineering standards and presenting to technical and non-technical audiences.
- Participate in the evaluation of new vendors and technologies.
- Engineers in the Philosophy and Standards group often are requested to work on special one-off projects. Past examples include overhauling arc flash calculation methods, evaluating the feasibility of distribution switching stations, evaluating new substation designs.
- Active projects include engineering AVANGRID’s first IEC 61850 Process Bus Substation, evaluating Virtualized Protection Relays, expanding relaying laboratories (including use of an RTDS), conducting studies, updating engineering standards, creating internal engineering training courses, and writing conference papers.
Required Qualifications:
Education & Experience Required:
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or equal and greater than 5 (five) years of experience in electrical substations, transmission systems, distribution systems operations up to 345kV, or protection and control design and construction.
- Due to the open-ended nature of the department’s responsibilities, an intuitive understanding of electrical engineering fundamentals is required. This includes transformer basics, reactive power, power flow, electrical losses, and digital logic.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering preferred.
- Professional Engineering (PE) license preferred.
- Experience with SEL, GE, and Siemens relays.
Experience or knowledge in the following areas is preferred: IEC 61850 (GOOSE Data Models, Sampled Values, MMS), networking, real time digital simulators (RTDS), virtualized protection relays, and centralized substation protection.
Behavioral Competencies:
- Develop self & others
- Empower to grow
- Collaborate and share
- Be a role model
- Focus to achieve results
- Be agile
Mobility Information
Please note that any applicant who is not a citizen of the country of the vacancy will be subject to compliance with the applicable immigration requirements to legally work in that country.
At Avangrid we provide fair and equal employment and advancement opportunities for all employees and candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, protected veteran status or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law.
If you are an individual with a disability or a disabled veteran who is unable to use our online tool to search for or to apply for jobs, you may request a reasonable accommodation by contacting our People and Organization department at careers@avangrid.com.
Avangrid employees may be assigned a system emergency role and in the event of a system emergency, may be required to work outside of their regular schedule/job duties. This is applicable to employees that will work in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York within Avangrid Network and Corporate functions. This does not include those that will work for Avangrid Power.
Avangrid employees may also be assigned a NERC Reliability Standards compliance role supporting Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) and/or Operations and Planning (O&P) responsibilities. This is applicable to employees that will work in electric transmission, operations, and cyber security business areas in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York within Avangrid Network and Corporate business areas. NERC Reliability Standards compliance roles and responsibilities may include additional access protections, training, audit engagement, and required evidence retention, and will be communicated by the employee’s management.
Job Posting End Date:
December-31-2026
Job Title: Senior Engineer – Protection & Control
Location: Rochester, NY; or Binghamton, NY.
Work type: Office (on-site)
The salary range for this position is dependent upon experience, ranging from $96,400 to $120,500.
What We Offer:
- Competitive benefits and growth opportunities
- Generous performance‑based bonuses
- 12% 401(k) match
- Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
- Tuition reimbursement
- Professional development and clear career‑advancement pathways
Job Summary
This role is responsible for researching industry best practices to create Protection and Control standards. Responsibilities also include development of new engineering processes and tools, evaluating new P&C technologies, and writing industry white papers.
System scope includes transmission, substation, and distribution. Service companies include Central Maine Power, New York State Electric & Gas, Rochester Gas & Electric, and United Illuminating.
Responsibilities:
- General responsibilities include assisting in the development of P&C engineering standards, relay setting file templates, and engineering tools.
- Conducts engineering analysis, researching industry papers and manuals.
- As a senior engineer, this position grants autonomy to propose solutions to open-ended challenges but requires the engineer to work mostly autonomously.
- The senior engineer is expected to lead engineering projects and facilitate meetings with other P&C engineers, other departments, contractors, and vendors.
- Authoring engineering standards and presenting to technical and non-technical audiences.
- Participate in the evaluation of new vendors and technologies.
- Engineers in the Philosophy and Standards group often are requested to work on special one-off projects. Past examples include overhauling arc flash calculation methods, evaluating the feasibility of distribution switching stations, evaluating new substation designs.
- Active projects include engineering AVANGRID’s first IEC 61850 Process Bus Substation, evaluating Virtualized Protection Relays, expanding relaying laboratories (including use of an RTDS), conducting studies, updating engineering standards, creating internal engineering training courses, and writing conference papers.
Required Qualifications:
Education & Experience Required:
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or equal and greater than 5 (five) years of experience in electrical substations, transmission systems, distribution systems operations up to 345kV, or protection and control design and construction.
- Due to the open-ended nature of the department’s responsibilities, an intuitive understanding of electrical engineering fundamentals is required. This includes transformer basics, reactive power, power flow, electrical losses, and digital logic.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering preferred.
- Professional Engineering (PE) license preferred.
- Experience with SEL, GE, and Siemens relays.
Experience or knowledge in the following areas is preferred: IEC 61850 (GOOSE Data Models, Sampled Values, MMS), networking, real time digital simulators (RTDS), virtualized protection relays, and centralized substation protection.
Behavioral Competencies:
- Develop self & others
- Empower to grow
- Collaborate and share
- Be a role model
- Focus to achieve results
- Be agile
Mobility Information
Please note that any applicant who is not a citizen of the country of the vacancy will be subject to compliance with the applicable immigration requirements to legally work in that country.
At Avangrid we provide fair and equal employment and advancement opportunities for all employees and candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, protected veteran status or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law.
If you are an individual with a disability or a disabled veteran who is unable to use our online tool to search for or to apply for jobs, you may request a reasonable accommodation by contacting our People and Organization department at careers@avangrid.com.
Avangrid employees may be assigned a system emergency role and in the event of a system emergency, may be required to work outside of their regular schedule/job duties. This is applicable to employees that will work in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York within Avangrid Network and Corporate functions. This does not include those that will work for Avangrid Power.
Avangrid employees may also be assigned a NERC Reliability Standards compliance role supporting Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) and/or Operations and Planning (O&P) responsibilities. This is applicable to employees that will work in electric transmission, operations, and cyber security business areas in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York within Avangrid Network and Corporate business areas. NERC Reliability Standards compliance roles and responsibilities may include additional access protections, training, audit engagement, and required evidence retention, and will be communicated by the employee’s management.
Job Posting End Date:
December-31-2026
See all 704+ Senior Control Engineer Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Senior Control Engineer roles.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Visa Sponsorship as a Senior Control Engineer
Map your credentials to specialty occupation
Pull the O*NET profile for Control Engineers and confirm your degree field directly corresponds to the role. H-1B specialty occupation requires a bachelor's in a directly related field, so a general engineering degree paired with a controls-specific master's strengthens the case.
Target industries with active LCA filings
Oil and gas, utilities, semiconductor fabs, and large industrial manufacturers file LCAs for control engineering roles far more consistently than small automation shops. Prioritize employers whose operations depend on continuous process control, since those companies treat sponsorship as a standard hiring cost.
Search verified sponsors on Migrate Mate
Use Migrate Mate to find U.S. employers with verified LCA sponsorship history for engineering roles searchable by city and industry. This cuts the guesswork of cold-applying to companies that have never sponsored before.
Benchmark your prevailing wage tier before negotiating
Run your target location and job title through the OFLC Wage Search before accepting any offer. The LCA locks in the wage level, so knowing whether you're being offered a Level I or Level III rate lets you negotiate before the employer files, not after.
Clarify sponsorship scope in the offer stage
Ask the hiring manager whether the company covers H-1B filing fees directly, since employers are legally required to pay certain petition costs. Get confirmation on premium processing coverage too, because control engineering projects often have start-date constraints that make a 15-business-day USCIS adjudication window critical.
Prepare a project-based portfolio for RFE defense
If USCIS issues a Request for Evidence challenging specialty occupation, your strongest defense is project documentation showing degree-level engineering judgment: PID loop tuning decisions, control narrative authorship, or HAZOP participation. Gather these artifacts before your employer files, not after the RFE arrives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Senior Control Engineer role qualify as a specialty occupation for H-1B?
Yes. USCIS recognizes control engineering as a specialty occupation because the role normally requires at least a bachelor's degree in electrical, mechanical, chemical, or systems engineering. Roles involving PLC programming, SCADA integration, or DCS configuration in regulated industries like utilities or oil and gas have a strong track record of H-1B approval because the degree-to-role connection is well-established.
What degree do I need for a sponsored Senior Control Engineer position?
Most employers and USCIS expect a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, or a closely related field. A general engineering technology degree can work if your coursework included controls-specific subjects like instrumentation, process dynamics, or automation systems. A master's in controls or mechatronics adds weight if your undergraduate degree is in a less directly related field.
Which visa types are available for Senior Control Engineers seeking sponsorship?
H-1B is the primary path and fits most control engineers with a U.S. job offer, though it's subject to an annual cap and selection process. Canadian and Mexican nationals can pursue TN visa status under the USMCA engineer category with far less process overhead. Australian nationals can apply for the E-3 visa, which carries a separate cap and has never been exhausted. All three require the employer to verify the role meets specialty occupation criteria.
How do I find Senior Control Engineer jobs with visa sponsorship?
Migrate Mate lists U.S. employers with verified LCA sponsorship history for engineering roles, searchable by location and role type. Focus on companies in process-heavy industries like chemicals, power generation, and semiconductors, since those sectors routinely sponsor control engineers and treat the LCA filing as a routine HR step rather than an exception.
Can I switch employers while on H-1B as a Senior Control Engineer?
Yes. Because control engineering is a specialty occupation, a new employer can file an H-1B transfer petition on your behalf and you can start working once that petition is filed, without waiting for USCIS approval. The key practical issue for control engineers is project continuity: some employers include language in offer letters about site-specific security clearances or client access requirements that can complicate the transition timeline, so clarify those terms before your current employer's petition lapses.
What is the prevailing wage requirement for sponsored Senior Control Engineer jobs?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.