WHAT DOES AN ELECTRICAL DESIGNER DO?
Published: Dec 27, 2024 - The Electrical Designer specializes in engineering and designing distribution transformers, ensuring adherence to both national and international standards as well as customer specifications. Collaborates with clients to refine technical parameters and optimize design solutions for both technical excellence and cost-effectiveness. Manages projects, selects components, and consults across engineering teams to guarantee suitability and efficiency of design applications.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Electrical Designer
1. Senior Electrical Designer Duties
- Field Surveying: Perform field surveys including sketches and data collection of existing electrical systems and be able to document in an organized manner.
- Design Understanding: Read and understand design drawings and technical specifications to support the preparation of project deliverables such as calculations, specifications, and engineering evaluations.
- Drawing Production: Produce high quality engineering drawings for electric distribution systems under the guidance of senior electrical engineers.
- Design Execution: Execute designs following the electrical design criteria for the project as well as defined design standards, guidelines, specifications, codes, and regulations.
- System Design: Produce designs and drawings for electrical systems, i.e. electrical equipment layout, single line, embedded conduit, cable tray, heat trace, interconnecting wiring, lighting and grounding drawings, motor control centers schematic diagrams, emergency power generation, UPS, photovoltaic, fire alarm, security, and CCTV systems.
- Problem Evaluation: Evaluate and resolve problems by reviewing multiple sources of information and coordinating design criteria with other disciplines.
- Project Management: Manage projects for budget and schedule.
- Client Interface: Interface with clients, the design team, and the contractors to complete projects from start to finish.
- Design Service: Provide effective, accurate and efficient Electrical Engineering design services to all projects.
2. Senior Electrical Designer Details
- Budget Management: Deliver electrical engineering scope of project to agreed lump sum budget
- Drawing Verification: Verify other engineers’ drawings, providing constructive feedback, showing rigor and comparison against calculations, analysis, industry standards, Client standards and best practice
- System Design: Design systems and products, providing best practice solutions into Switchgear/ Transformer/ Instrumentation/ MCC/ Motors/ F&G/ ESD/LV /HV
- Hazardous Area Design: Design electrical equipment in hazardous areas
- Design Control: Log and control the Electrical design
- 3D Modeling: Carry out 3D modelling & design activities of electrical systems & supports in accordance with industry standards, codes, and client specifications
- Equipment Design Assistance: Assist with the development of equipment package designs
- Material Preparation: Prepare & check materials take-offs and bill of materials
- Technical Support: Provide technical input during pricing and detailed engineering of projects
- Specification Understanding: Read and understand design specifications and technical drawings
- Drafting Oversight: Provide drafting tasks related to allocated projects, highlighting to Management any identified variations to plan
- Design Coordination: Conduct and coordinate detailed design work and provide project guidance to junior drafting staff.
3. Electrical CAD Designer Responsibilities
- Drawing Interpretation: Receive and interpret drawings, rough sketches, or verbal descriptions from the Engineering team to create new electrical drawings.
- Schematic Creation: Create schematics based upon interpretations, using best practices methodology in work.
- Feedback Integration: Review schematics with the Engineer and solicit feedback regarding additional changes that are needed to support the project.
- Efficiency Improvement: Identify ways in which to make schematics more efficient or to enhance the performance of equipment.
- Model Preparation: Prepare final models for delivery to the customer or to the Production team.
- Production Support: Respond to requests from Production regarding clarifications or modifications to drawings based upon red marks.
- Documentation Finalization: Prepare final documentation of drawings as part of the project closeout.
- Quality Verification: Verify that completed work meets the project specifications and quality standards.
4. Electrical Designer Accountabilities
- Electrical Design: Electrical designing, engineering, and the technical documentation of distribution transformers according to national and international technical standards and customer requirements.
- Customer Collaboration: Performing the designs & meetings with the customer technical parameters for products and creating design documentation in accordance with agreed objectives.
- Design Optimization: Optimization of design solutions to the best of technical and commercial aspects.
- Problem Solving: Identifying problems and providing solutions.
- Design Auditing: Preparing audits of electrical design for other team members.
- Component Selection: Selecting all additional devices and transformer accessories according to customer specification.
- Project Management: Managing & controlling assigned projects and targets.
- Engineering Consultation: Consult with other engineering groups to ensure that specified engineering criteria are suitable for the proposed application, and recommend revisions.
- Meeting Participation: Participation in technical meetings and design reviews.
5. Senior Electrical Designer Functions
- Regulation Compliance: Generate electrical installation deliverables in compliance with the latest edition of BS 7671 IEE Wiring Regulations and various Infrastructure Client specifications.
- Project Support: Support effective delivery of projects to time, quality, and cost targets together with the ability to multi-task and prioritize.
- Documentation Production: Produce documentation in accordance with defined standards/quality requirements.
- Design Liaison: Liaise with Main Design Contractor and site subcontractors on the electrical design and draughting.
- Performance Improvement: Lead the improvement of performance by seeking, reviewing and applying, where appropriate, innovative solutions.
- Interdisciplinary Interface: Interface with other disciplines such as Mechanical (HVAC/Plumbing) and Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) group.
- Solution Development: Expected to propose solutions, prove concepts, evaluate new technologies and design trade-offs.
- System Development: Create, and develop analog and digital systems with an emphasis on microprocessor designs.
- Design Analysis: Execute design analysis, including worst-case analysis, reliability analysis, and circuit simulations.
- Testing Coordination: Coordinate EMI/RFI testing, environmental testing, and validation testing.