Forensic Electrical Engineer

About The Job

The work We are a forensic engineering and machinery consulting firm headquartered in Mount Prospect, Illinois. Insurance carriers, independent adjusters, and their counsel retain us when equipment and machinery fail - fire, smoke, water, electrical events, mechanical breakdown - and someone has to establish what happened, what it will cost, and how to return the insured to pre-loss condition. Our deliverable is an opinion that has to survive scrutiny. Adjusters set reserves and make coverage decisions on it. Opposing experts and attorneys challenge it. That standard shapes everything below. You would be the electrical expertise on a bench that also includes mechanical engineers and equipment specialists. Assignments range across manufacturing, process, commercial, and institutional facilities - no two losses are alike, and you will not be doing the same inspection twice.

What You'll Do

• Technical investigation Perform on-site inspections of damaged machinery and equipment nationwide, often on short notice
  • Determine root cause and extent of damage from an electrical standpoint, including electronic components internal to the equipment
  • Research the insured's operation, the equipment, its service history, and OEM documentation
  • Opine on repair versus replacement, restoration approach, and cost
  • Quantify or estimate repair and replacement costs, and validate contractor and vendor pricing
  • Identify betterment, upgrades, and scope discrepancies - saving the client time and money is a measured outcome, not a nice-to-have
• Reporting and documentation Write reports that explain technical findings to a lay audience while remaining defensible under legal challenge
  • Build a documentation file that supports every conclusion: photographs, OEM and industry references, equipment service history, vendor and contractor input, published standards
  • Work in ILC report and cost templates; maintain all project documentation in ILC's cloud system (Egnyte)
• Project and client management Act as the adjuster's eyes and ears on the loss - keep them ahead of developments, delays, and concerns rather than behind them
  • Source, coordinate, and manage vendors, OEMs, contractors, and other parties
  • Drive repair and replacement timelines and help mitigate business interruption
  • Own your assignment budgets: track against budget in ILC's systems, and secure client approval before exceeding
  • Recognize where additional ILC or external expertise genuinely adds value to a claim, and obtain client approval before expanding scope

Requirements

• 5+ years performing root cause analysis on equipment and machinery failures
• Prior forensic experience as an electrical engineer
• Exceptional written and verbal communication with non-technical audiences
• Strong foundational electrical engineering knowledge across commercial and industrial systems, including establishing cause of loss for an electrical event
• Working knowledge of electrical components in production lines, compressors, motors, drives, elevators, building systems, and comparable equipment
• Demonstrated ability to produce written work that withstands legal challenge - objectivity and accuracy over advocacy
• Ability to quantify or estimate repair and replacement cost and conduct supporting research
• Ability to navigate loss sites: climbing onto equipment, ladders, catwalks, and similar locations
• Ability to travel nationwide as assignments require
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, and to communicate proactively with clients and ILC management
• Strong computer proficiency, non-negotiable. Comfortable multitasking across dozens of open files, formatting cost spreadsheets, converting files for report composition, and rapidly uploading/organizing hundreds of site-visit photos and documents without delay
• Exceptional attention to detail and strict confidentiality with all client and claim information

Preferred

• Residence within 45 minutes of a major airport
• Deposition, testimony, or litigation-support experience
• Experience validating repair and replacement costs
• PE licensure
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and coordinating complex loss projects under deadline
• Prior work with insurance carriers, independent adjusting firms, or TPAs