Independent Contractor Mep Electrical Design Engineer Jobs

Electrical Design Engineer — Mission Critical / Data Centers

• Licensure: Professional Engineer (PE) License Required
• Position Type: Full-Time | Exempt
• Practice Area: Mission Critical / Data Centers
• Reports To: Director of Electrical Engineering
• Travel: Up to 25% (site visits, commissioning support)

About the Company

We are a premier national engineering firm with global reach, recognized as one of the fastest-growing MEP engineering and commissioning firms in the industry, with over $400 billion in construction projects to our credit. We provide full-service, prime infrastructure MEP engineering and commissioning services across commercial, mission critical, government, transit, and industrial markets. Our clients span telecommunications, finance, insurance, healthcare, higher education, and government—and they come to us because we give them a competitive edge.

Our Mission Critical practice sits at the core of what we do. From initial planning and design through program management and commissioning, we own the full project value chain—delivering data center and critical facility projects that are reliable, efficient, and built to perform.

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced, PE-licensed Electrical Design Engineer to join our Mission Critical practice. In this role, you will serve as a technical leader on complex data center and mission critical facility projects—driving electrical design from concept through construction administration and commissioning support.

The ideal candidate brings deep, hands-on experience designing and delivering hyperscale, colocation, or enterprise data center builds and is comfortable operating at both the system design level and in the field during commissioning phases.

Core Responsibilities

Electrical Design & Engineering

• System Design: Lead electrical design for mission critical and data center projects including power distribution, standby generation, UPS systems, PDUs, switchgear, and low-voltage systems.
• Documentation: Develop and oversee production of construction documents: single-line diagrams, riser diagrams, panel schedules, equipment plans, and electrical details.
• Analysis: Perform load calculations, short-circuit studies, arc flash analysis, and voltage drop calculations.
• Infrastructure & Infrastructure Sizing: Design medium-voltage (MV) and high-voltage (HV) distribution systems, including utility coordination and service entrance configurations. Size and specify critical power infrastructure: generators (paralleled configurations), static and rotary UPS systems, automatic transfer switches (ATS/STS), and battery systems (VRLA, lithium-ion).
• Cross-Functional Coordination: Coordinate electrical design with mechanical, structural, and low-voltage disciplines to ensure fully integrated and constructible designs.
• Conceptual Planning: Develop basis-of-design narratives and conceptual design packages to support owner decision-making and project budgeting.

Project Leadership & Client Engagement

• Engineer of Record: Serve as Electrical Engineer of Record (EOR) on projects, affixing your PE seal to construction documents.
• Point of Contact: Act as the primary electrical engineering point of contact for clients, contractors, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) throughout the project lifecycle.
• Project Oversight: Lead design coordination meetings and review submittals, RFIs, and contractor shop drawings.
• Business Growth: Support business development through client presentations, proposal preparation, and technical scoping.

Commissioning & Construction Support

• Testing Collaboration: Collaborate with the in-house commissioning team during Integrated Systems Testing (IST) and Level 4/5 commissioning activities.
• Field Support: Conduct site visits during construction to observe installation quality and resolve design-related field conditions.
• Procedures & Closeout: Review and approve commissioning test procedures for critical electrical systems. Support owner's representative services and closeout documentation.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Licensure: Professional Engineer (PE) license — Electrical Engineering discipline (Multi-state registration is a strong plus).
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) from an ABET-accredited program.
• Experience: 7+ years of electrical engineering design experience, with a minimum of 4 years focused specifically on mission critical / data center projects.
• Project Scope: Demonstrated experience as Engineer of Record on data center or mission critical facilities of 1MW+ critical IT load.
• Software Proficiency: Skilled in electrical design and analysis software (SKM PowerTools, ETAP, or equivalent) along with working knowledge of AutoCAD and Revit MEP.
• Codes & Standards: Strong understanding of applicable codes and standards: NEC, NFPA 70E, IEEE, ASHRAE 90.4, Uptime Institute Tier standards, and TIA-942.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with hyperscale, wholesale colocation, or cloud provider data center builds (AWS, Azure, Google, Meta, or similar).
• Familiarity with Tier III / Tier IV redundancy design (2N power distribution, concurrent maintainability requirements).
• Experience with medium-voltage (15kV–35kV) switchgear and primary distribution design.
• Background in or exposure to commissioning (Level 1 through Level 5 testing protocols).
• LEED AP, RCDD, or CxA credentials.
• Experience with BIM coordination workflows in Revit and Navisworks.
• Willingness to obtain multi-state PE registration.

What We Offer

• A seat at the table on some of the most complex, high-profile data center builds in the country.
• A collaborative engineering culture with experienced MEP designers and commissioning professionals.
• Competitive base salary commensurate with experience and PE licensure.
• Comprehensive benefits including health, dental, vision, and 401(k) with company match.
• Continuing education support and PE maintenance reimbursement.
• Flexible hybrid work arrangements.