Lighting Designer

Lighting Designer II

Affiliated Engineers, Inc. (AEI) is a leading, multidisciplinary consulting engineering firm and collaborative community of over 900 employees who plan, design, and deliver high-performance, innovative, and holistic engineering solutions.

Recognized as a top engineering firm nationally, AEI is dedicated to enhancing the built environment through remarkable design and award-winning projects.

Pivotal Lighting Design is the lighting design studio within AEI. Pivotal provides architectural lighting design services specializing in AEI's core markets as well as project pursuits in areas such as exterior environments, civic, and corporate among others.

We have a great opportunity for you to join Pivotal in a Lighting Designer II role in our Chapel Hill, NC office.

Why We Need You:

In this role, you will be working with senior lighting designers, supporting the design and documentation process from concepts through construction. Job tasks will include development of presentation boards, luminaire schedules, and cut sheet catalogs, illumination and LPD calculations in AGi32 or similar software, research of lighting and lighting controls products, documentation of lighting layouts in Revit, construction submittal reviews, and project site visits.

Expertise of our most successful Lighting Designer:

• Bachelor's Degree in Architecture, Interior Design, Theatrical Lighting Design, or Architectural Engineering with 3-8 years of experience in the lighting industry.
• Fundamental knowledge of the design process, light sources and luminaire components, lighting controls, computer-generated lighting calculations, and photometry.
• Experienced with Microsoft Office products AutoCAD, Revit, Adobe Creative Suite (esp. InDesign and Photoshop), and Bluebeam Revu.
• Proficiency with AGi32, Lightstanza, or similar lighting calculation and rendering software.
• Certification by the NCQLP, or a similar credential, or the ability to obtain certification within one year.
• Additional experience with concept realization software is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to express conceptual ideas in a visual format.
• Familiarity with energy code compliance methodology and documentation tools.

Effective skills to help you flourish:

• Experience in combining personal judgment with a wide variety of data and information to perform and evaluate system calculations and design options.
• Solid interpersonal and communication skills.
• Communicates well with individuals at all levels in the organization and project partners.
• Ability to anticipate design work, and to delegate and balance work for others.
• Curiosity to continue the learning process by attending in-house seminars and continuing education opportunities outside the office.
• Strong spoken and written communications skills.
• Excellent organization and time management skills.
• Motivation focused on client outcomes.
• Ability to prioritize multiple tasks.
• Effective working individually and within team environments, both in-person and virtual.
• Participation in a lighting industry professional organization (e.g. IES, IALD, WILD, etc.)

When you work here, you can expect:

• A flexible, collaborative environment where your well-being matters—because your best work happens when you're supported.
• Real opportunities to grow—through mentorship, professional development programs, and exposure to high-impact projects across disciplines.
• To collaborate with inspiring teammates who challenge the status quo, foster innovation, and pave the way for future leaders.
• A benefits package that offers health, dental, vision, and retirement, a performance-based year-end bonus, and thoughtful perks tailored to your needs—whether that's a flexible work environment, wellness resources, or community-focused initiatives, we'll continue to invest in.

If this dynamic environment and the chance to contribute to transformative projects resonate with your ambitions, we would love to connect with you. Join us and make an impact!