Distribution Portfolio Engineer

Location: Akron, OH

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Environment: On-Site / Field-Based

Travel: Periodic travel to project and utility locations as required

About Us

CARIAN is a purpose-driven, woman-owned consulting and advisory firm dedicated exclusively to the power sector. We partner with leading electric and gas utilities to provide strategic advisory and disciplined execution across program management, business intelligence, and field execution oversight. Guided by integrity, trust, excellence, and accountability, our team helps deliver complex capital programs and build the resilient energy infrastructure that communities depend on.

Position Overview

CARIAN is seeking a Distribution Portfolio Engineer to support the development, planning, and management of electric distribution capital investment portfolios for a major utility client in Akron, Ohio.

This role will work at the intersection of distribution engineering, capital planning, project development, portfolio management, and data analysis. The Distribution Portfolio Engineer will collaborate with utility stakeholders, engineering teams, project managers, operations, and other functional groups to identify capital needs, develop project concepts, evaluate priorities, and build integrated long-range investment plans.

The ideal candidate brings a strong engineering foundation, an understanding of electric utility infrastructure, and the ability to translate technical needs into coordinated, executable capital plans.

Key Responsibilities

• Work directly with utility stakeholders, engineering teams, project sponsors, project managers, and leadership to develop and maintain long-range distribution capital portfolios.
• Support development and implementation of the utility’s five-year capital plan.
• Coordinate across multiple operating companies and functional organizations to identify immediate, near-term, and long-term distribution capital needs.
• Evaluate project needs, priorities, timing, feasibility, dependencies, and funding requirements to support development of an integrated capital portfolio.
• Identify opportunities to bundle, sequence, coordinate, or optimize projects to improve execution and maximize the value of capital investments.
• Support development of project concepts, preliminary scopes, estimates, schedules, and funding requirements.
• Review proposed projects to confirm that appropriate justification, scope, engineering information, and supporting data are available for portfolio decision-making.
• Support distribution equipment planning, including transformers, feeders, substations, system improvements, reliability investments, capacity needs, asset replacement, and long-range equipment requirements.
• Coordinate with engineering, procurement, operations, project management, and other stakeholders to identify equipment constraints, project dependencies, resource limitations, and execution risks.
• Review engineering estimates and project information for completeness, accuracy, and alignment with proposed project scope.
• Analyze portfolio and project data to identify gaps, inconsistencies, trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
• Support data-quality initiatives and alignment of project, engineering, financial, and portfolio information across systems and processes.
• Develop and improve processes, templates, standards, tracking tools, and governance practices that increase consistency and efficiency across the distribution portfolio.
• Support project readiness and release processes by reviewing project information and confirming required inputs are complete and accurate.
• Provide knowledge transfer and support to utility personnel as new portfolio-planning processes, tools, and capabilities are implemented.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from an accredited four-year college or university.
• 3 years of relevant experience in electric utility engineering, planning, project development, capital planning, or a related technical environment.
• Working knowledge of electric utility infrastructure and capital project development.
• Ability to evaluate technical project information and translate engineering needs into actionable project and portfolio requirements.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• High attention to detail and commitment to accuracy.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with strong professional judgment and stakeholder-management capabilities.
• Ability to coordinate effectively across multiple engineering, project management, operations, and business organizations.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively in a client-facing environment.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and other standard business and project-management applications.

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Preferred Experience

• Experience supporting electric distribution planning, engineering, or capital programs.
• Experience with distribution substations, transformers, feeders, reliability improvements, capacity projects, system upgrades, or asset-replacement programs.
• Experience developing or supporting multi-year utility capital plans or project portfolios.
• Experience with project scoping, conceptual estimating, scheduling, project prioritization, or investment planning.
• Familiarity with utility project, financial, engineering, asset-management, or portfolio-management systems.
• Experience working across multiple utility operating companies, business units, or stakeholder organizations.

Why CARIAN

Purpose-driven work – Help deliver infrastructure that powers communities.

Industry reputation – Trusted by leading utilities for our reliability and results.

Career growth – Opportunities to lead major programs and mentor high-performing teams.

Collaborative culture – Join a team that values delivery excellence and long-term relationships.

Competitive total rewards – Strong compensation, full benefits, 401(k) match, and meaningful work.

Equal Employment Opportunity

CARIAN is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We hire and develop talent based on qualifications, performance, and business needs. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. As a women-owned firm dedicated to the power sector, we are committed to building a team that reflects professionalism, expertise, and integrity at every level.