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Electrical Engineer

Industrial Electrical Enclosures — Design & Engineering

Location: Itasca, IL (Onsite)

Compensation: $85k to $105k base, based on experience

Reports to: Engineering Manager

Team: No direct reports currently. This is the first dedicated Electrical Engineer hire for the department, with the expectation that the team grows around this seat as the business scales.

Required

• 3-5+ years of experience as an Electrical Engineer in a construction or industrial/manufacturing setting, not a software or controls-programming-focused background
• Working knowledge of panel scheduling, feeder calculations, and one-line diagram development for commercial/industrial electrical enclosures
• Demonstrated ability to take a design from concept through customer approval, including drawings, bills of material (BOMs), and release documentation
• Strong communication skills, written and verbal, with the confidence to work directly with customers, sales, and other engineers regularly
• Proficiency in AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or equivalent 3D modeling software, and the ability to read blueprints and electrical schematics
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent hands-on experience

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with UL 508A requirements and NEC code application
• Experience with SKM Power Tools, ETAP, or similar power system study software
• Exposure to PLC/controls platforms such as Allen-Bradley or Siemens, even if not a core function of prior roles
• Background specific to enclosures, e-houses, power skids, or modular building manufacturing
• Familiarity with project management tools such as Microsoft Project or Procore

The Opportunity

Our client is a 120+ year manufacturer of industrial enclosures, e-houses, power skids, and modular buildings, serving data center, utility, telecom, oil and gas, mining, and water customers around the world. Demand for enclosures has picked up sharply, and the company has opened a new facility to keep pace. This role is being created to build out a dedicated electrical engineering function that has historically been handled informally, and it will be the first person hired specifically for the job.

That makes this a rare kind of seat: real ownership over the engineering side of enclosure design from day one, with a growing pipeline of work behind it and a direct line to the Engineering Manager. There is no team to inherit and no backlog of politics to navigate. There is a genuine opportunity to shape how the function gets built as the company continues to add headcount around this role.

What You'll Do

• Design & Documentation: Develop one-line diagrams, panel schedules, and complete drawing packages for commercial and industrial electrical enclosures.
• Feeder Calcs & Component Selection: Complete feeder calculations and specify wire size and electrical accessories needed to manufacture the engineered solution.
• Own Projects End-to-End: Manage individual projects and designs against pre-defined milestones and published schedules, with a focus on on-time delivery.
• Customer-Facing Engineering: Participate in design review meetings, refine designs based on feedback, and ensure customer approval drawings are complete and submitted on schedule.
• Cross-Functional Communication: Act as the liaison between engineering and manufacturing, purchasing, and sales, working through design questions and issues as they come up.
• Release & Handoff: Release drawings, BOMs, and supporting documentation to meet production schedule requirements.
• Continuous Improvement: Bring ideas for improving designs, processes, and documentation as the department is built out.

Working Conditions

• Time will be split between design/desk work and the manufacturing floor. On the floor, expect exposure to standard manufacturing conditions (noise, moving parts, artificial lighting) and a requirement to wear PPE (safety glasses, steel-toed shoes).
• The pace is fast, and mandatory overtime may occasionally be required to meet production schedules.

Why This Role Is Different

Most Electrical Engineer openings ask someone to fit into an existing team and existing standards. This one is the opposite: there is no team yet, and no fixed way things have always been done in this specific seat. The person who takes this role will help define what "good" looks like for electrical design here, working closely with an Engineering Manager who is building the function intentionally rather than reactively. For someone who wants ownership and a real hand in shaping a growing department, rather than a slot to fill on an already-established team, this is a meaningfully different kind of opportunity.

The Culture

This is a company where people stay. Tenure runs long, and leadership has built an environment where employees are genuinely valued and invested in rather than cycled through. That stability is real, and it comes with an honest expectation that whoever joins is building a career chapter here, not passing through on the way to somewhere else. At the same time, this specific hire exists because leadership wants fresh engineering rigor brought into a growing part of the business, not because they want someone to simply maintain the status quo.