Solar Civil Project Engineer — Equity & Hands-on Impact

PLANTED; Oakland (CA); On-site; USD 115,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity / Stock options

Company holidays

Paid time off (PTO)

In-office lunches

Job summary

Planted seeks a Civil Project Engineer to own civil design for solar projects from distributed generation to utility scale. You will review EOR designs, assess topography, and coordinate with surveyors, permitting authorities, and customers to ensure constructible, safe, and cost-effective deployments.

The role emphasizes hands-on execution with autonomy and cross-functional collaboration. Located in the SF Bay Area or willing to relocate for 100% in-person work, the position offers a

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in civil engineering or related discipline.
• Experience with site civil design, land development, or construction—preferably within the utility-scale or commercial solar industry.
• Strong ability to read and interpret civil construction drawings, topographic maps, and grading plans.
• Ability to use design software to optimize site layouts based on geotechnical inputs.
• Experience estimating civil construction costs, including roads, fencing, grading, clearing and grubbing, and trenching.

Responsibilities

• Review and validate site civil designs provided by customers' Engineers of Record (EOR) to ensure they are fully constructible.
• Analyze site topography to identify potential problem areas within the solar design and determine if any site grading is required.
• Review, confirm, and provide design input for all temporary and permanent access roads, equipment pathways, and material laydown/staging areas.
• Travel to project sites to perform constructability assessments, verifying that proposed civil designs align with actual conditions.
• Manage and coordinate with external surveying and mapping subcontractors for topographic surveys and DEMs.
• Act as the primary civil engineering liaison among customers, external firms, and permitting authorities for stormwater and SWPPP compliance.
• Advise on site vegetation requirements, pre-construction clearing and seeding, and site stabilization.
• Collaborate with engineering teammates to produce holistic site designs.
• Champion improvements of the Planted system through feedback on hardware and software products.
• Manage time efficiently across multiple projects.
• Ensure compliance with safety standards, practices, and codes.

Skills

Project management

Communication

Hands-on engineer

Problem solving

Field operations safety

Education

Bachelor's degree in civil engineering

Related discipline

Tools

Civil3D

SolidWorks

GIS

DEM data

Job description

Planted seeks a Civil Project Engineer to own civil design for solar projects from distributed generation to utility scale. You will review EOR designs, assess topography, and coordinate with surveyors, permitting authorities, and customers to ensure constructible, safe, and cost-effective deployments.

The role emphasizes hands-on execution with autonomy and cross-functional collaboration. Located in the SF Bay Area or willing to relocate for 100% in-person work, the position offers a