Read this part first
Before anything else: this is a career, not a job. The learning curve is brutal. Most new specialists don't feel proficient for well over a year, and they're still learning new things three and four years in. The skill set is in high demand precisely because very few people are cut out for it. If you're looking for something you can master in 6 weeks and coast on, this isn't it. If you're looking for a craft you can build a 10-year career around, keep reading.
About this role
Our Lighting Controls Design Team (LCDT) builds the quote packages that win commercial lighting controls projects across north Texas, southeastern New Mexico, and northwestern Louisiana. You’ll be the person turning a set of architectural drawings and a customer’s design intent into a clean, accurate, buildable quote.
The actual work is two things at once: (1) knowing a huge amount of product, code, and controls knowledge, and (2) playing Where's Waldo with a set of plans that are half-baked. Drawings are incomplete. Specs contradict each other. The electrical engineer made an assumption that doesn't match what the architect drew. Your job is to spot it, make the right judgment call, and document everything — your notes are how the project survives a revision six weeks later.
Most of the day is heads-down focus in BlueBeam Revu, AutoCAD LT, and Podio (our CRM). The rest is teamwork — calling a manufacturer rep, asking a teammate about a part substitution, checking in with the salesperson who owns the project.
What you'll do
- Take an assigned project in Podio and own it end-to-end through the quote process.
- Read architectural floor plans, identify control zones, and lay out lighting controls schemes for commercial buildings.
- Build quote packages that are economical, technically correct, and on time.
- Create one-line wiring detail drawings in AutoCAD LT and project markups in BlueBeam Revu.
- Keep projects up to date through revisions, scope changes, and addendums.
- Communicate clearly with internal sales teams, manufacturer reps, and occasionally customers — by phone, email, and in person.
- Develop product knowledge across the lines we represent (Cooper Lighting / Signify, ILC, and other major lighting controls manufacturers).
Who tends to do well here
We hire from a mix of backgrounds. The thread that connects our best people is that they enjoy detail-heavy technical work, they handle ambiguity well, and they can pick up a phone without dread.
- You're comfortable spending most of your day at a computer doing focused, careful work.
- You've read technical drawings before — could be architectural blueprints, electrical schematics, theater lighting plots, AV system diagrams, network drawings, CAD files, or something similar.
- You can make a judgment call when the information you have is incomplete, and you can defend it when someone pushes back.
- You take excellent notes. Future-you (and your teammates) need to be able to reconstruct what you decided and why.
- You like learning how systems work. When something doesn't add up, you want to figure out why.
- You're organized — a project doesn't slip through the cracks on your watch.
- You can hold a professional conversation. You don't have to be a salesperson; you do have to be someone teammates and customers enjoy working with.
- You're playing the long game. You see this as something you'd want to be doing in 5 or 10 years, not a place to land while you figure out what's next.
What you don't need
You don't need a degree in electrical engineering, and you don't need years in the lighting industry. We'll train you on the products, the controls protocols, and the way we run projects.
If you have AutoCAD, BlueBeam, or lighting/electrical controls experience already, great — say so. If you're coming from theater lighting, A/V system design, low-voltage, IT, or another technical field and you've used CAD or PDF markup tools, we want to talk to you.
Honest expectations
- This role is on-site in Euless, TX, five days a week. It is not remote and not hybrid.
- The learning curve is real. You will not be proficient in 6 weeks. You will not be proficient in 6 months. Expect to feel like a beginner well into year one, and to keep building expertise for years after. We invest in people who invest back.
- This is a high-demand, specialized skill set. Once you have it, you have it for the rest of your career. That's the trade for the slow ramp.
- Deadlines matter. Bids close on specific days, and quote turnaround drives whether we win projects. You need to be reliable.
- You'll constantly work from incomplete information. Half-baked drawings, conflicting specs, missing details. Your value is your judgment when the answer isn't obvious — and your notes when someone asks six weeks later why you made that call.
- Travel is light — occasional manufacturer training events and a rare satellite-office visit.
Compensation & benefits
- Salary: $55,000 – $85,000 / year, based on experience
- 401(k) with company match
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- HSA and FSA
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Relocation assistance available for the right candidate
- Employee referral program
About Texas Lighting Solutions
We're a small business serving the DFW metro and surrounding region. Our office in Euless is a modern, casual environment — focused workspaces, real collaboration between teams, and a culture that treats people like adults. We're growing, and the LCDT is at the center of that growth.
Apply through Indeed. Please answer the screening questions thoughtfully — we read every short-answer response, and it's how candidates with non-traditional backgrounds get a fair shot.
Pay: $54,416.38 - $80,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Retirement plan
Application Question(s):
- Do you have at least 1 year of experience in a role or hobby that required you to read technical drawings, schematics, blueprints, or system diagrams? (Examples include: architectural blueprints, electrical schematics, CAD drawings, theater lighting plots, A/V system designs, network diagrams, mechanical drawings.)
- This role involves spending most of the workday at a computer doing detailed, focused technical work (CAD layouts, PDF markups, pricing). Are you comfortable with that style of work?
- Do you have a high school diploma or equivalent (GED)?
- This role has a steep learning curve — it typically takes well over a year to become proficient, and people keep developing for years after that. It's a specialized, high-demand skill set, but it requires investment. Are you looking for a long-term career in technical lighting controls work, not just a paycheck for the next year or two?
- Which of the following do you have any hands-on experience with? (Check all that apply.)
- AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT
- BlueBeam Revu (or another PDF markup tool like Adobe Acrobat Pro)
- Any lighting controls system (Cooper / Signify, ILC, Lutron, nLight, Wattstopper, Crestron, etc.)
- Reading commercial electrical drawings
- None of the above
- Tell us about a technical system, project, hobby, or piece of software you've gone deep on — something you understood inside and out. What was it, how did you learn it, and describe a time you had to make a judgment call with incomplete information.
Work Location: In person
