Senior Distribution Designer

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, switch gear, 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,…