The lighting is always just right at Lutron

Looking out across Schuylkill Yards from the FMC Tower on the edge of University City is the regional engineering offices of Lutron — a hidden gem of a technical employer that is growing fast in Philly.

You may have never heard of Lutron, but you’ve likely witnessed its architectural and energy-saving innovations at say, Lincoln Financial Field, the new Comcast Technology Center or the new Four Seasons atop our city. Lutron developed the lighting control systems within these monumental structures, and it’s a whole lot more than dimmer switches and remote-controlled window shades.

Head of Lutron’s software development office, Dan Vander Valk, gave Technical.ly a tour of the Philly office which is lit perfectly all day, smartly shifting throughout the changing natural light of the day, making for optimal working conditions. Vander Valk shared how the development team is working on the end-to-end customer experience platform, thinking about every unique touchpoint which comes with the challenges of having a changing user throughout that flow — from architects, interior designers, and builders to the end user.

The engineering team has a ton of influence on overall vision and many of the executives within the organization come from an engineering background. Development teams are about five to nine people in size and work within a scale agile framework. Every 10 weeks is a planning week and there’s always some sort of fun celebration or get-together planned by the internally crowned “Captains of Fun.”

Headquartered in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania (approximately 40 miles from Center City), Lutron has grown immensely since founder Joel Spira filed a patent for the world’s first solid-state dimmer in the late 1950s. Today, the company operates on a global scale with engineering offices, manufacturing facilities, distribution centers and sales offices in dozens of countries. Lutron offers a broad range of employee benefits and a strong focus on personal development and growth.

Opening an office in Philly over three years ago exclusively for software engineers is one way the company is investing in the next generation of leadership. For those employees and Lutron as a whole, the future is looking bright. The office is currently hiring a Lead Software Engineer, Mobile Application Software Engineer, Cloud Software Engineer, Desktop Application Software Engineer, and Embedded Software Engineer to join this growing office.