$135,000–$160,000 Per Year
Analysis Skills, Analysis Software, Best Practices, Capacity Analysis, Communication Skills, Consulting, Customer Relations, Electrical Design, Electrical Engineering, Electrical Utility, Electricity, Engineering Consulting, Engineering Drawing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Mentoring, Process Improvement, Professional Engineer, Regulations, Relationship Management, Reliability Engineering, Sales Management, Systems Administration/Management, Systems Analysis, Technical Leadership, Technical/Engineering Design, Willing to Travel
Title: Senior Design Engineer – Electric Distribution
Location: Remote/Wheaton, IL
Hire Type: Direct Hire
Salary: $135K-$160K/YR
Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, 401(k) with company match, generous PTO, paid holidays, paid volunteer time off, continuing education reimbursement, and additional comprehensive benefits
Sterling Engineering is looking for a Senior Design Engineer – Electric Distribution to join a growing engineering consulting firm supporting electric utility infrastructure projects. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced electrical engineer who enjoys leading utility design projects, serving as a technical resource, mentoring junior engineers, and working directly with utility clients on critical grid modernization and infrastructure initiatives.
Job Summary:
The Senior Design Engineer will lead the design, analysis, and technical execution of electric distribution projects while serving as a client-facing engineering lead. This role is responsible for overseeing engineering deliverables, performing advanced power system studies, mentoring junior engineers, and ensuring projects are completed in accordance with utility standards, scope, schedule, and quality expectations.
Job Duties:
- Lead the design of overhead and underground electric distribution systems (4kV–34kV).
- Perform and review engineering studies including load flow, voltage drop, short circuit, and protection coordination analyses.
- Serve as the technical lead for electric distribution infrastructure projects.
- Interpret and apply utility standards, engineering specifications, and design criteria across multiple utility environments.
- Support distribution planning, capacity analysis, reliability improvements, and infrastructure modernization initiatives.
- Coordinate directly with utility clients, municipalities, field personnel, and internal engineering teams.
- Review engineering drawings and project deliverables for quality, constructability, and compliance.
- Mentor junior engineers and contribute to engineering standards, best practices, and technical development.
- Support continuous process improvements and technical excellence across the engineering team.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
- Professional Engineer (PE) license required (Illinois preferred).
- Minimum of 8 years of experience in electric utility, power delivery, or utility consulting.
- Strong experience designing overhead and underground electric distribution systems.
- Familiarity with utility engineering standards, particularly within Midwest investor-owned utility environments.
- Experience using power system analysis software such as CYME, Synergi, ETAP, or similar platforms.
- Proven client-facing experience with strong communication and relationship management skills.
- Experience supporting investor-owned utilities is preferred.
- Knowledge of distributed energy resources (DER), grid modernization initiatives, Illinois utility regulations, utility GIS systems, and work management platforms is a plus.
Additional Information:
- Primarily remote role with occasional travel to the Wheaton office and project sites as needed.
- Opportunity to lead high-profile electric distribution, grid modernization, and infrastructure improvement projects.
- Strong opportunity for technical leadership, client interaction, and long-term career growth within a growing engineering consulting organization.
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.
S
Sterling Engineering, Inc.
Sterling Engineering has been a trusted partner for engineering, project management, and staffing solutions for over five decades. We provide exceptional engineering/technical recruitment and engineering project services to clients nationwide:
- Engineering & Technical Recruitment - With our focus on engineering, technical, and IT, Sterling has the in-depth knowledge, industry expertise, and robust employee pipeline it takes to rapidly find talent for even the most difficult to fill positions. Sterling’s extensive recruitment methodology allows us to engage the most talented employees in the marketplace. We offer exciting work and career-building opportunities for our candidates, along with expert support at every step of the process.
- Engineering Project Services – Our experienced, multi-disciplined team of project managers, engineers, and designers, led by licensed Professional Engineers (PE), provide project management, engineering, design, and Commissioning, Qualification, and Validation (CQV) to manufacturing, OEM, and R&D customers. We work on complex, highly technical projects across a number of industry sectors, and our ability to scale and seamlessly integrate at multiple levels of your organization is what differentiates us.
Sterling offers a unique combination of engineering solutions and Best of Staffing level service to help our clients and talent achieve their goals.
500 to 999 employees
Staffing/Employment Agencies
http://www.sterling-engineering.com