Senior Distribution Designer

Locations: Denver, CO or San Diego, CA

Position Summary

RDQ is seeking a Senior Distribution Designer to support design and Owner’s Engineering services for electric utility overhead and underground distribution projects and programs.

This position provides design review, constructability assessment, field coordination, and technical support on behalf of utility and infrastructure clients. You will work closely with engineers, utility personnel, contractors, consultants, and project managers to help ensure distribution designs are practical, constructible, and consistent with project requirements and utility standards.

The ideal candidate has significant hands-on experience designing and reviewing overhead and underground electric distribution systems and understands how designs translate into field construction and utility operations.

Key Responsibilities

Owner’s Engineering and Design Review

• Support the owner’s technical team on overhead and underground distribution projects.
• Review engineering and design packages prepared by consultants, contractors, and other third parties, including drawings, material lists, equipment selections, and construction packages.
• Assess designs for compliance with utility standards and project requirements, identifying design conflicts, constructability concerns, and potential field issues.
• Track design comments and coordinate their resolution with engineers, contractors, and utility personnel.
• Participate in design and constructability reviews at key project milestones.
• Provide practical recommendations based on distribution design and field experience.

Distribution Design

Prepare, review, and support designs involving:

• Overhead and underground primary and secondary distribution systems, medium-voltage feeders, and substation feeder getaways.
• Overhead pole designs using a variety of materials, including pole-line layouts, framing, and structure configurations.
• Crossarms, insulators, conductors, line hardware, and overhead transformers, switches, fuses, and protective equipment.
• Conductor sizing, phasing, and reconductoring, along with pole replacements, relocations, and line rebuilds.
• Guying, anchoring, pole loading, joint-use and third-party attachments, and clearance and spacing requirements.
• Underground cable and conduit systems, duct banks, and direct-buried systems.
• Manholes, vaults, handholes, pad-mounted transformers, switchgear, and sectionalizing and protective equipment.
• Risers and overhead-to-underground transitions.
• Commercial and industrial services, along with overhead and underground residential distribution.

Design and Civil Coordination

• Review cable routing, conduit configurations, equipment locations, vault layouts, and utility crossings.
• Coordinate electrical requirements with civil drawings and site development.
• Review utility records, GIS information, surveys, and existing conditions to identify potential conflicts with other underground utilities.
• Support coordination of easements, rights-of-way, permitting, and access requirements.
• Evaluate designs for equipment access, operation, maintenance, and replacement.
• Review plans and profiles for constructability and consistency with utility requirements.

Construction and Field Support

• Support construction teams in resolving design and field issues, including unforeseen underground conditions and utility conflicts.
• Review requests for information (RFIs), submittals, proposed substitutions, and field changes.
• Participate in preconstruction meetings and field walks.
• Perform field observations and document discrepancies between design and installed conditions.
• Review contractor redlines and as-built drawings.
• Assist with project punch lists, closeout, and turnover documentation.

Project Coordination

• Coordinate with electrical and civil engineers, designers, project managers, utility personnel, contractors, and equipment suppliers.
• Participate in client and project coordination meetings.
• Communicate design issues and recommended solutions clearly to the project team.
• Support the development of design standards, checklists, and quality-control processes.
• Provide guidance and mentoring to junior designers and drafters.
• Assist project managers with design scope, schedule, and technical coordination.

Qualifications

Required

• Associate degree, technical degree, drafting/design certification, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant utility experience.
• Five or more years of electric utility distribution design experience, with demonstrated experience in both overhead and underground distribution.
• Experience developing or reviewing overhead and underground distribution construction packages.
• Working knowledge of underground cable, conduit, duct bank, vault, manhole, transformer, switchgear, and related distribution systems.
• Ability to read and interpret utility standards, drawings, specifications, surveys, and construction documents.
• Experience coordinating electrical distribution designs with civil infrastructure and existing utilities.
• Working knowledge of applicable utility standards and code requirements (GO and NESC).
• Familiarity with utility GIS, mapping, drafting, or work-management systems.
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills, with the ability to work effectively with engineers, utility personnel, contractors, and field crews.

Preferred

• Eight or more years of utility distribution design or construction experience.
• Experience working directly for or supporting investor-owned, municipal, or cooperative electric utilities.
• Experience with underground conversion, system-hardening, reliability, or capacity-expansion programs.
• Experience with substation feeder getaway projects.
• Experience performing field investigations and constructability reviews.
• Familiarity with AutoCAD, MicroStation, GIS, Pull Planner, CYMCAP, or similar utility design platforms.
• Experience providing technical oversight or Owner’s Engineering support.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $100,000 - $130,000 / year (dependent on experience, skills, and qualifications)

RDQ cares about its people more than anything. We believe that when our people thrive, so does our company. We want you to flourish both in and out of work. Because of this, RDQ offers competitive compensation and a benefits package which includes:

• Health Insurance
• Dental and Vision Coverage
• Life, Short-Term, and Long-Term Disability Insurance
• 401(k) Retirement Savings & Profit-Sharing
• Continuing Education, Training, & Coaching Opportunities

Equal Opportunity Employer

Diversity is one of our core values. RDQ is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, military or veteran status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other applicable status protected by state or local law.

Additional Information

• Work Authorization: We value and honor your time; please note that at this point in time, RDQ will not sponsor applicants for work authorization.
• Drug-Free Workplace: We maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing.

Physical Expectations of Role

The job requires the ability to sit for extended periods at a computer workstation, as well as attend occasional client meetings and site visits. The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

*Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.