Lighting & Controls Solutions Specialist

Why Join Willdan?

Willdan Performance Engineering partners with public and private sector clients to deliver energy efficiency, decarbonization, and infrastructure modernization solutions. Our multidisciplinary teams integrate engineering, design, technology, and implementation to produce measurable performance outcomes. This role offers the opportunity to serve as a technical leader within Willdan's growing lighting and controls practice, contributing to high-impact projects while mentoring staff and advancing design excellence across the organization.

Summary

Willdan Performance Engineering is seeking a Lighting & Controls Solution Specialist to provide advanced technical expertise in lighting systems, networked lighting controls, and building automation system (BAS) integration. This position is designed for a highly experienced technical contributor who can immediately support project delivery, guide design development, mentor junior engineers, and serve as a trusted internal resource across performance engineering teams. This is not a personnel management role, but requires leadership presence, mentorship capability, and strong cross-functional collaboration.

Success in this position includes delivering accurate, defensible lighting and controls designs; leading high-quality field audits with rigorous QA/QC processes; developing practical procurement and deployment strategies; providing effective mentorship and technical leadership; producing high-quality documentation and estimates; and fostering strong collaboration across internal teams and external partners.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lighting Design & Engineering
  • Lead and support development of interior and exterior lighting designs for retrofit and new construction projects.
  • Develop, review, and validate photometric analyses, lighting calculations, and performance models.
  • Support fixture selection, lumen packages, optics, and application strategies aligned with IES guidance and energy codes.
  • Review audit findings and existing conditions to inform defensible retrofit solutions.
• Field Audit Leadership & Deployment
  • Lead and conduct on-site lighting and controls audits across a variety of facility types, including municipal, commercial, and institutional environments.
  • Develop and standardize audit deployment strategies, including field data collection protocols, scope sequencing, and resource allocation planning.
  • Establish and implement QA/QC processes for audit deliverables, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and defensibility of field data and energy savings assumptions.
  • Train and supervise field staff conducting lighting audits, providing technical oversight and quality review of collected data.
  • Regional and occasional national travel required to support field audit activities and client engagements; overnight travel expected.
• Controls & Networked Systems
  • Design and specify lighting control systems including Networked Lighting Control Systems (NLCs), standalone controls, room-based controls, sensor strategies, and daylighting integration.
  • Support integration of lighting controls with Building Automation Systems (BAS), BACnet or equivalent protocols, and demand response/load management strategies.
  • Contribute to commissioning approaches and functional performance validation.
• Technical Leadership & Mentorship
  • Provide technical mentorship and guidance to junior engineers and designers.
  • Serve as subject matter resource for internal project teams.
  • Support skill development in lighting calculations, controls design, and system application.
  • Participate in design reviews, standards development, and quality assurance efforts.
• Estimating & Technical Documentation
  • Develop and review project estimates including equipment, controls, and labor assumptions.
  • Prepare basis-of-design (BoD) narratives and technical scopes.
  • Support preparation and review of drawings, specifications, and submittals.
  • Contribute to energy savings calculations and incentive documentation.
• Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
  • Support performance engineering teams across HVAC, electrification, and building systems.
  • Ensure lighting and controls solutions integrate effectively into holistic facility performance strategies.
  • Provide technical input during concept, design, and implementation phases.
  • Support construction administration tasks such as developing scopes of work for RFPs, translating design intent to actionable guidance for construction/installation teams, responding to field RFIs, troubleshooting and performance verification through closeout.
• Procurement Strategy
  • Support development of procurement strategies for lighting and controls equipment, including vendor evaluation, product standardization, and competitive specification development.
  • Assist in evaluating product submittals, managing approved material lists (AML), and ensuring selected equipment meets design intent, code compliance, and long-term performance objectives.
  • Coordinate with project development and business development teams to align procurement timelines with project award, design, and construction schedules.

Job Requirements / Qualifications

• Required
  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Lighting Design, Architecture, or related technical discipline.
  • 5+ years of experience in lighting and controls systems, or related building systems engineering.
  • Demonstrated expertise in interior and exterior lighting applications, photometric analysis, networked lighting controls, and BAS/controls integration concepts.
  • Experience preparing technical documentation and construction deliverables.
  • Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Preferred
  • Proficiency with lighting design software (AGi32, DIALux, Visual, or similar).
  • Familiarity with energy codes and standards (Title 24, IECC, ASHRAE 90.1, IES).
  • Experience with commissioning or controls functional testing.
  • Exposure to ESPC, design-build, or performance contracting environments.
  • Lighting certifications (CLD, LC, etc.) a plus.
  • Experience leading field audits and developing audit deployment or QA/QC frameworks.
  • Ability and willingness to travel regionally and nationally as project needs require (about 20% travel required).

EEO Non-Discrimination and ADA Reasonable Accommodation Statement Willdan is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants are considered for all positions without regard to race, religious creed, color, age marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, religion, military service or veteran status, disability, medical condition, childbirth and related medical conditions, genetic testing, reproductive status or any other classification protected by federal, state or local laws and ordinances. Willdan does not discriminate on the basis of physical or mental disability where the essential functions of the job can be reasonably accommodated. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify us.

Willdan Energy Solutions participates in E-Verify.