Electrical Distribution Design Team Lead

Job Title: Electrical Distribution Design Team LeadJob Description

We are seeking an experienced Electrical Distribution Design Team Lead with expertise in electrical distribution design within a utility environment. The ideal candidate will have demonstrated leadership abilities and a strong understanding of electric distribution systems, design standards, and work management processes. This role involves supervising and providing technical leadership to dispersed groups of designers responsible for planning and designing low-voltage electric distribution projects. The Team Lead will coordinate workloads, direct design activities, provide technical oversight, and ensure projects are delivered safely, accurately, efficiently, and within established schedules and standards.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and direction for electrical distribution design activities, including planning, prioritization, budgeting support, and coordination of distribution capital projects and construction/operations support.
• Lead the design and development of overhead and underground electrical distribution systems, ensuring compliance with industry standards, client specifications, utility requirements, safety standards, and applicable regulations.
• Direct and coordinate the work of designers and technical staff, assigning, prioritizing, and monitoring workloads to support project schedules, budgets, customer commitments, system reliability, and overall delivery expectations.
• Coordinate with clients, project managers, planners, construction and operations personnel, and internal team members to establish project requirements, resolve technical issues, communicate progress, and ensure customer expectations are met.
• Review and oversee detailed design documentation, including drawings, specifications, work order packages, calculations, and supporting documentation, ensuring accuracy, completeness, consistency, and compliance with established design and quality standards.
• Perform and review engineering functions and calculations related to electric distribution design, including voltage drop, flicker, pole loading, guying, cable pulling, transformer sizing, and other system analyses.
• Complete field site assessments, asset assessments, and feasibility studies for overhead and underground electric distribution equipment and proposed projects.
• Provide technical leadership, subject matter expertise, and QA/QC oversight for team designs, analyses, and work order packages prior to client approval.
• Mentor and retain a highly skilled and motivated design team by providing technical guidance, coaching, training, career development, and support through established skill-based programs and other training resources.
• Promote employee engagement, continuous learning, and development while establishing clear expectations for performance, quality, productivity, safety, and professional growth.
• Ensure effective and efficient utilization of design resources, with emphasis on safety, timeliness, cost containment, customer satisfaction, system reliability, quality, and optimal asset utilization.
• Establish team goals, objectives, and performance expectations that align with organizational strategies and initiatives, and provide ongoing feedback and direction to employees.
• Identify, develop, and implement process improvements, technical standards, and best practices that improve workflow efficiency, reduce waste and costs, strengthen quality, and improve overall project delivery.
• Maintain organized project files, design records, and supporting documentation to ensure information is accurate, accessible, and readily available for reference and audit purposes.
• Support client and public communication related to upcoming project work, helping minimize disruption, address concerns, and maintain positive customer and community relationships.
• Participate in organizational efforts to improve safety, streamline processes, reduce costs, and enhance customer service.
• Share responsibility for after-hours on-call support and assist with storm restoration efforts, including troubleshooting and prioritizing outages, mobilizing design resources, supporting field crews, performing visual inspections, and helping ensure public and employee safety.
• Maintain a safe working environment and promote a strong safety culture by ensuring employees understand and follow applicable safety policies, procedures, and field requirements.

Essential Skills

• Direct experience in utility design, particularly in LVD distribution infrastructure.
• Minimum of five years of experience in distribution design.
• Experience leading projects or teams, managing at least three designers or engineers.
• Proficiency in electrical engineering, including pole inspection, pole replacement, electrical demand, and transformer work.
• Familiarity with GIS, permitting, and the National Electric Safety Code (NESC).
• Experience with QA/Quality Assurance or QC/Quality Control.
• Ability to mentor and train new employees and write process standards.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• An Electrical Engineer degree is highly preferred, but extensive experience in the field is also valuable.
• Experience with utility companies such as Consumers Energy, DTE, AEP, and others in the Midwest region.
• Experience working with electric utility consulting firms is beneficial.

Work Environment

This role is connected to the Utility Energy Division and involves working closely with the utility industry. The department has experienced significant growth, providing opportunities for career advancement. The work environment includes collaboration with various stakeholders and emphasizes safety, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. Employees have the chance to grow their knowledge of the industry and work towards professional development certifications such as the FE exam and PE license. The role requires participation in after-hours support and storm restoration efforts.

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Taylor, MI.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $30.00 - $40.00/hr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: • Medical, dental & vision • Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital • 401(k) Retirement Plan - Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available • Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) • Short and long-term disability • Health Spending Account (HSA) • Transportation benefits • Employee Assistance Program • Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a hybrid position in Taylor,MI.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Aug 31, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.