Senior Electrical Design Engineer

Specialized Recruiting Group - Charlotte, NC; Charlotte (NC); On-site; USD 110,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Specialized Recruiting Group - Charlotte, NC is seeking a Senior Electrical Engineer for a Charlotte-area manufacturer of custom industrial equipment. You will own electrical hardware design, create schematics and full drawing packages used by the shop to build each machine.

The role is senior in authority with eventual team growth, currently a one-person discipline. You will work with mechanical and controls engineers to ensure hardware and logic fit together, and you will update standards

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or electrical engineering technology with significant design experience.
• Hands-on experience creating electrical schematics and panel layouts built from drawings.

Responsibilities

• Design electrical hardware for machines: power distribution, protection, motor and control circuits.
• Create complete electrical drawing packages: schematics, panel layouts, wiring diagrams, BOMs.
• Size and select components: breakers, contactors, transformers, power supplies, enclosures.
• Build and maintain bills of materials for each panel and machine.
• Design panels to UL 508A, NFPA 79 and NEC.
• Support shop/assembly through build, testing and startup.

Skills

Hands-on electrical design

Drawing-package ownership

Electrical CAD

Industrial power knowledge

Independence

UL 508A & NFPA 79 familiarity

Education

Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or EE technology

Tools

EPLAN

AutoCAD Electrical

SolidWorks Electrical

Job description

Senior Electrical Engineer (Machine / Equipment Design)

Apply to become a Senior Electrical Engineer for a Charlotte-area manufacturer of custom industrial equipment. You will be the electrical design authority: you create the schematics, panel layouts and full drawing packages that the shop builds from.

This is a senior role in authority, responsibility and ownership, and today it is a one-person discipline. You will do the design work yourself, from first concept to released drawings, with no team to delegate to yet. The company's five-year plan is to double engineering and add staff and junior electrical engineers under this role, so the person hired will help build that team.

*This is an electrical hardware design role, NOT a PLC programming or controls role.

What you'll do

• Design the electrical hardware for each machine: power distribution, circuit protection, motor circuits and control circuits.
• Create complete electrical drawing packages: schematics, panel layouts, wiring and interconnect diagrams, terminal and wire lists.
• Size and select components, including breakers, contactors, motor starters, transformers, power supplies, terminals and enclosures.
• Build and maintain bills of material for every panel and machine.
• Design industrial control panels to UL 508A, NFPA 79 and NEC.
• Support the panel shop and assembly floor through build, checkout, testing and startup, and fold redlines back into the drawings.
• Work with mechanical engineering and the company's controls engineer, who handles PLC programming, so the hardware and the logic fit together.
• During slower periods (typically two or three a year), improve design standards, update existing designs and document processes.

What you bring

• Hands-on electrical hardware design. You have personally created electrical schematics and panel layouts that were built from, not only reviewed, revised or troubleshot them.
• Drawing-package ownership. You have taken designs from concept to released drawings and bills of material, as the responsible designer.
• Electrical CAD. Daily use of EPLAN, AutoCAD Electrical or SolidWorks Electrical. (EPLAN training is provided if you come from another platform).
• Industrial power and panels. Working knowledge of AC power distribution, motor circuits and panel design to UL 508A, NFPA 79 and NEC.
• Experience and education. Either a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or electrical engineering technology with significant design experience, or roughly 10 to 15 years of hands‑on electrical design and field experience. What you have built matters more than where you learned it.
• Independence. You are comfortable being the only electrical engineer: setting priorities, making design calls and owning the results.

Nice to have

• Experience with vacuum furnaces, industrial heating or other thermal processing equipment.
• EPLAN Electric P8 experience.
• Heavy power work: switchgear, power distribution or utility and grid equipment.
• Background designing custom industrial machinery or capital equipment, built to order.
• Interest in design standards and process improvement, and in mentoring future engineers.

Is this role right for you?

This role is a strong match if your recent work sounds like this:

• "I designed the schematics and panel layout for that machine, and the shop built it from my drawings."
• "I sized the breakers, contactors and wire, and built the bill of material."
• "I own the electrical drawing package, from first revision to as-built."

This role is probably not the right fit if your experience is mainly:

• PLC and HMI programming, SCADA, or controls integration
• Commissioning, I/O checkout and startup support
• Maintenance, troubleshooting or field service
• Building automation, industrial data or IIoT

Those are valuable skills, and controls experience on top of strong hardware design is a plus. But the core of this job is designing the electrical hardware and producing the drawings. If you have mostly read and revised other people's schematics rather than created them, this is not the right role.

Why this opportunity

• Real ownership. Your designs go straight to the shop floor. You set the electrical standard for every machine the company builds.
• A team to build. Each engineering discipline will grow to a senior engineer, a staff engineer (about 4 to 8 years) and a junior engineer (0 to 3 years). This role leads electrical.
• Steady work. Engineering workload is consistent year-round. Slower stretches, usually two or three a year, go to design improvements, standards and process documentation.
• A collaborative, hands-on team. Engineering leadership comes from a hands‑on technical background and keeps an open door.
• Investment in you. The company trains on its tools, including EPLAN, and supports your growth into team leadership.

Location and logistics

• Location: On-site in SW Charlotte
• Type: Full-time, direct hire.
• Compensation: $110-130k base salary plus benefits.
• Relocation: Financial assistance negotiable based on total compensation package.
• Work authorization: Must be authorized to work in the United States. U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents (Green Card holders) preferred.