Electrical Design Engineer

Title: Electrical Design Engineer

Type: Full Time (Onsite)

Location: Chandler, AZ

This is a hands-on engineering role with approximately 70% office-based design work and 30% Panel shop and Testing support, ensuring designs transition successfully from design to production.

Job Responsibilities/Duties:

• Lead the electrical design and development of low-voltage and medium-voltage switchgear, switchboards, and power distribution equipment, from initial customer requirements through manufacturing release and project completion.
• Develop and review electrical system documentation, including single-line diagrams, three-line diagrams, control schematics, wiring diagrams, interconnection drawings, and other electrical design documentation required for manufacturing and customer approval.
• Select and specify major electrical components, including circuit breakers, protective devices, bus systems, metering, transformers, control power equipment, and related components, based on project requirements and applicable electrical standards.
• Ensure equipment designs comply with applicable industry standards and codes, including UL 891, NFPA 70 (NEC), and applicable IEEE C37 standards, as required by the product and application.
• Determine appropriate equipment voltage ratings, continuous-current ratings, interrupting ratings, and short-circuit withstand ratings based on system requirements and available fault-current information.
• Develop and review grounding and bonding requirements for switchgear and switchboard assemblies in accordance with applicable NEC, UL, IEEE, and customer requirements.
• Develop electrical protection strategies and coordinate the application of circuit breakers, protective relays, trip units, fuses, and other protective devices to provide appropriate system protection and coordination.
• Design and review control and interlock schemes, including electrical and mechanical interlocks, permissives, trip circuits, emergency power-off (EPO), alarms, status indication, and other control functions.
• Engineer and integrate automatic and manual transfer schemes, including transfer switches and breaker-based transfer systems, where required by the application.
• Develop and review auxiliary power systems, including AC and DC control power, control power transformers, battery systems, panelboards, receptacles, lighting, heaters, and other auxiliary electrical loads incorporated into equipment designs.
• Coordinate electrical interfaces with PLC/control systems, building management systems (Client), generator controls, UPS systems, HVAC equipment, fire alarm systems, and other external systems as required by the project.
• Review customer specifications, drawings, and technical requirements to identify design requirements, exceptions, potential conflicts, and compliance concerns before equipment is released for manufacturing.
• Provide technical leadership during customer drawing reviews, design reviews, and engineering discussions, and communicate technical solutions clearly to customers, project managers, vendors, and internal teams.
• Create, review, and maintain accurate Bills of Materials (BOMs), ensuring electrical components and quantities are consistent with approved drawings, engineering requirements, and manufacturing needs.
• Work closely with Mechanical Engineering, Project Management, Procurement, Production, and Quality to resolve technical issues and ensure projects are successfully transitioned from engineering into manufacturing.
• Provide engineering support to manufacturing by resolving design questions, component substitutions, wiring issues, assembly concerns, and nonconformances encountered during production.
• Evaluate alternate components and manufacturers when necessary due to availability, lead time, cost, obsolescence, or customer requirements, while maintaining electrical performance, safety, and regulatory compliance.
• Support and participate in First Article Inspections (FAI), Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), functional testing, and other product verification activities.
• Provide technical support for commissioning, startup, and field troubleshooting, including investigation and resolution of electrical equipment issues when required.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from an accredited college or university, or equivalent combination of education and directly relevant electrical power distribution experience.
• Strong understanding of three-phase power distribution systems, including voltage, current, power, power factor, grounding, and system configuration.
• Demonstrated knowledge of short-circuit current, interrupting ratings, short-time withstand ratings, and equipment application requirements.
• Experience selecting and applying low-voltage power circuit breakers, molded-case circuit breakers, insulated-case circuit breakers, protective devices, metering equipment, control power components, and related switchgear components.
• Experience developing or reviewing control circuits, breaker interlocks, transfer schemes, permissives, trip circuits, alarms, and equipment status/indication circuits.
• Experience developing, reviewing, and maintaining Bills of Materials (BOMs) and ensuring consistency between engineering drawings, component selections, and manufacturing requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot electrical equipment and resolve technical issues encountered during manufacturing, testing, commissioning, or field operation.

Preferred Qualification

• Experience with equipment utilizing major circuit breaker manufacturers such as ABB, Client, Schneider Electric/Square D, and Siemens.
• Experience with automatic transfer systems, generator paralleling or generator distribution systems, UPS systems, and redundant power distribution architectures.
• Familiarity with protective relays, power meters, communication networks, and intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) used in modern switchgear and power distribution systems.
• Experience with electrical communication protocols such as Modbus RTU/TCP, Ethernet/IP, BACnet, or other industrial communication protocols used for equipment monitoring and system integration.
• Experience supporting UL/NRTL certification, product testing, Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), or other regulatory compliance activities.
• Familiarity with AutoCAD, AutoCAD Electrical, or similar electrical drafting/design software.
• Previous experience providing technical leadership, design reviews, engineering standardization, or mentorship within an electrical engineering team.