systems test engineer

software engineer

principal software engineer

firmware engineer

product specialist

Itron

A typical day at Itron involved coordinating across engineering, product, and customer teams to ensure timely delivery of smart grid and IoT solutions. My mornings usually started with cross-functional standups or status syncs across multiple time zones. I’d then review project dashboards, address blockers, and align stakeholders on key milestones—whether we were in design, development, or deployment. A large portion of my day was spent translating technical requirements into executable roadmaps and ensuring compliance with utility standards.
I learned how to lead highly technical programs within a highly regulated, mission-critical environment. I gained deep insight into smart energy infrastructure, utility-grade communication networks, and the importance of interoperability in energy systems. I also enhanced my skills in stakeholder management, risk mitigation, and agile program delivery at scale.
Management at Itron fosters autonomy while maintaining accountability. I appreciated the transparency and the emphasis on outcomes over processes. As a TPM, I had the freedom to propose and implement improvements in execution strategy, and management was generally supportive of innovation as long as it aligned with customer and regulatory expectations.
Itron has a collaborative and purpose-driven culture. The mission of enabling resourceful energy use is reflected in our work. Colleagues are intelligent, technically competent, and passionate about sustainability and public infrastructure. The environment encourages knowledge sharing and cross-functional respect, especially between engineering and program teams.
Aligning multi-disciplinary teams across hardware, firmware, cloud, and field services under tight deadlines could be challenging, particularly with evolving technology standards.
The most enjoyable part was seeing the direct impact of our work on communities—deploying smart metering infrastructure that enabled utilities to reduce outages, improve efficiency, and empower customers with data.

A typical day for me was to first make sure I had my badge for work, because that was the only way to enter the building. Next I would clock myself in then head over to my desk and turn on my computer and phone. Next I would try and eat my breakfast before any incoming calls started to come in because we were not allowed to make any outgoing calls until 8:00am and I had to be there at  7:00am. So after 8:00am I started making outbound calls trying to set up as many Appointments as I could everyday. Besides setting up Appointments I had to deal with some upset customers also everyday and I always handled the call the best I could until it was just to much and what I mean by to much is when a customer starts to use profanity and gets ignorant and not accept the best customer service skills as possible that im providing so the step for me was to ask them to please hold and transfer them over to my supervisor. I had wonderful coworkers we were like a little family some people were in there 20's 30's and 40's which made it really interesting because im 27 and to be around a different age group was challenging and helpful. As far as the job there really wasn't anything to hard about it I found it very easy after learning everything I had to know in order to do my job. And the most enjoyable part of my job was to help a customer and the customer telling me that they appreciated the help that they received from me.

I worked here a short time. I worked in two different departments during my time. one being an automated assembly line that would feed units to a group of workers called a cell. The cell would take these units would then be assemble into the final stages and shipped. The second department I worked in did the same type of work except instead of an automated assembly line the parts would be manually built and sent to be finally assembled.
    I learned to work within an assembly group, and how static electricity can affect small electronic board.
    Management seemed, to me at least, more so like micromanagement. Bathroom breaks were monitored and employees were monitored nearly constantly to remain on task.
   Work place culture was decent. Most of the employees I was in contact with were, as I was, temporary employees needed to complete big orders before being let go as needed. 
    The hardest part of the job was being a temporary employee and not knowing whether or not a job was going to be available the next day. 
    The most enjoyable part was learning about the technology that was used to create their product and having to work closely to engineers.

I was the 24th person to leave in the last year.  A handful of them were so frustrated that they left without having another job lined up.  I had 9 years of Outstanding reviews but according to my boss, performance had nothing to do with compensation.  Management almost seemed happy when people left as that was just less overhead, and less people to layoff as they outsource more and more manufacturing.  Most positions are not filled, the rest are filled with cheap labor (interns and visa's).  The current management only got were they are because so many people above them left and it doesn't matter that they are clueless because all the shots are called from other locations/countries.  In closing, if you are related to a Manager, play volleyball with one etc. you will fly up the ladder even if you spell Itron incorrectly on your resume, otherwise you are just a number and I would recommend staying clear of Waseca.  I did get paid vacation time but I was never allowed to use it, even when my kids were born premature and I really needed it.  When I left I had 6 weeks built up.

The work, the actual physical work, is the least stressful part of this job. It's straightforward, almost stupid proof.
It's their recent change in upper management that's been the issue. They have no prior experience in the physical work, but they know more than you. Requests for improvements, especially from women, go almost ignored, to the point where near constant complaints are the only effective form of communication.
Bad workers basically get to do whatever they want with no consequences. Good workers who point it out are labeled as "bullies", and are required to pick up the slack of the bad workers, all while being told that their best efforts aren't good enough by company standards.
There is a distinct double standard between the different shifts, specifically 1st shift and everyone else. People who have been with the company for 25 years make the rules, and those rules don't apply to them.
The health benefits are great, and the shift differential is a plus, but it doesn't make up for the fact that this place is falling apart after only a month of upper management being changed.

Worked there for many years. And each year only got worse and worse. Upper management/Hr department is a joke. The possibility to move up in the company is non existent. Seniority means nothing there. They set unrealistic production goals which can’t be reached and then the employees are put on mandatory overtime. Which we were usually not told we were on overtime until the day of or day before. In which we were forced to use our own personal time if we could not come in on overtime. In the 8 years I worked there I worked mandatory overtime for about 85% of my time there.
  Worked a whole week in a new department and not once was I introduced to a supervisor or even knew what their name was. 
Never properly trained on anything. Never read any work instructions or was provided them when I was put on a new job. 
  There isn’t one person in upper management or HR department that I would trust to confide in or speak too. Which says a lot about itron as a company. At Least at the West Union location. 

Itron is a fast paced cutting edge technology company serving the Utility sector. Itron is a leader in the AMI - Smart Grid solutions market, it manufactures meters for electricity, natural gas and water. It also creates automated meter reading systems. A typical day includes partnering with the worlds utilities to assist managing scarce resources and developing relationships. The industry is changing and bringing intelligence to the edge of the grid, giving utility customers more information regarding usage and high rate periods where allowed.

The workplace culture was great, people are empowered to do their jobs. As the company has grown, the culture has lost some of its luster. Team building, employee development and incentive bonuses have been sidelined to pay for more senior executive management. Plans are now to move development and support activities offshore.

The hardest part of the job is keeping customers happy as they are experiencing problems with their automated meter reading systems.

Current plant manager is not fit for this. Acts as if though he owns the plant and does not listen to the opinion of the ones who have been here for years. He makes it feel like a concentration camp with all the rules that he has put in place and now with the armed guards patrolling the grounds. It was bad enough that the fences are set up to keep people in instead of keep people out. So far we've worked more overtime this year than we have in the past 6 years that i have been here. Vacation has to be used for shutdown so you end up losing a week of your vacation for that. At our current rate it will be just like it was in 2011 when we don't have enough work and there will be another large layoff. Different jobs and department keep getting outsourced to mexico and other facility's. Hard to move up in the company due to favoritism. Its bad when people who have been here for years and in higher up positions are quitting left and right due to the current treatment to the employees.

Great first job, get lots of experience with SQL server and even programming experience with .Net. Great work life balance, 40 hour work week is the culture. Management somewhat open to new ideas, but only within the confines of the tech stack they feel comfortable in. Management somewhat uneducated in industry standard best practices, though that culture is somewhat changing. The software is pretty buggy, and analysts are expected to go out of their way to babysit the product and find bugs before the customers. The software can be confusing for customers and poorly documented, which made for difficult talks with customers about how to use it. 

The people who worked at Itron worked together to make the best gas meters and regulators in the business.  The plant was in good condition and constantly being improved.  Unfortunately, the corporate leadership made the decision to close the plant and move part of the operation (gas meters) to the organization's South Carolina plant and another part of the operation (gas reulators) to Mexico.  As a result, most all of the operational work force lost their jobs.  In making this difficult organizational decision, Itron corporate leadership did stand by its employees in this facility and provided an ample severance package and paid leave for several months once job assignments ended.  It was truly my favorite place to work with the best group of coworkers who focused on the mission to make the best product.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Systems test engineer 5 salaries reported	$94,000 per year
Software engineer 4 salaries reported	$41.35 per hour
Principal software engineer 2 salaries reported	$145,544 per year
Firmware engineer 2 salaries reported	$160,250 per year
Product specialist 2 salaries reported	$117,250 per year

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