Job Description & Details
This is a solid entry-level gig for an engineer looking to break into the power delivery sector with a hands-on utility design role. You'll spend your time figuring out where power infrastructure needs to go, balancing regulatory constraints with actual grid reliability in the Walled Lake area. It's a structured environment where you won't be thrown into the deep end immediately, making it a great stepping stone if you have a technical degree and want to build real-world utility experience.
What You'll Actually Be Doing
You'll be knee-deep in work package development for overhead lines, underground residential distribution systems, and cable/conduit setups. Your day-to-day will bounce between desktop engineering, running design calculations, doing field engineering to scope out project requirements, and playing detective to spot conflicting utilities before they become a nightmare on site. After construction wraps up, you'll also pitch in on post-construction reviews to make sure everything was built to spec. It's routine engineering work, meaning you'll follow established procedures, but it lays down the foundational mechanics of how power gets delivered.
The Core Tech Stack
Since this is an electric distribution design role, you need a firm grasp of fundamental electrical engineering principles, power systems theory, and basic utility design standards. While the JD doesn't mandate specific software like AutoCAD or GIS, you can bet you'll be living inside drafting and mapping tools to draw up overhead and underground work packages. More than any single tool, your biggest asset here will be your ability to run engineering calculations for load, sizing, and routing while keeping environmental and economic trade-offs in mind.
Interview Expectations
When you sit down with the hiring manager, expect them to test your foundational knowledge of power systems, likely asking you to explain the key differences and design challenges between overhead versus underground distribution systems. They want to hear how you think about safety, thermal ratings, and fault protection without overcomplicating things. Another favorite for this level is asking you to walk through a scenario where you spot a utility conflict in the field and how you'd resolve it; they are secretly testing your common sense, communication skills, and ability to follow standard operating procedures when a wrench gets thrown into the design.
Application Advice
To get past the ATS, make sure your resume explicitly features your Bachelor's degree, any coursework or capstone projects related to power systems, and keywords like 'electric distribution', 'work package development', and 'field engineering'. Keep the formatting clean and highlight any internships or labs where you dealt with electrical design calculations or utility infrastructure. Show them you understand the regulatory and reliability balancing act of power delivery, and you'll easily stand out as a prepared candidate for this ramp-up role.