Principal Engineer

Job Title: Principal Engineer

Department: Engineering

Work Location: US/Canada

Reports To: Director of Engineering

FLSA Status: Exempt

The Principal Engineer will play a key role in the design and development of distribution transformers in compliance with IEEE, CSA, and customer specifications. This role requires technical expertise and a deep understanding of transformer electrical design theory and principles, materials, and associated industry standards. The ideal candidate will be a subject matter expert and provide strategic leadership to improve product design, production, and testing, ensuring goals for performance, cost, and reliability are met.

• Lead the electrical design and development of distribution transformers, ensuring compliance with IEEE, CSA, DOE, IEC, utility, and customer specifications.
• Serve as the technical authority and subject matter expert for transformer electrical design, providing guidance and decision-making support across engineering, manufacturing, quality, testing, and commercial teams.
• Establish and maintain engineering design practices, technical standards, and design methodologies to support product performance, manufacturability, reliability, and cost objectives.

• Design, develop and review electrical specifications for distribution transformers, ensuring compliance with IEEE, CSA, DOE, and customer requirements.
• Develop and review electrical designs for distribution transformers including core type and sizing, coil designs, switch and tap selector components and connections, etc. as needed for custom and non-standard configurations.
• Perform electrical calculations, including impedance, losses, efficiency, insulation and fuse coordination, and short‑circuit strength.
• Utilize engineering software (proprietary transformer design tools and in specific cases software like ANSYS, MATLAB, or similar) for electrical modeling and simulation.
• Participate in design reviews and analysis related to product performance and manufacturability.
• Lead new product development projects and improvement initiatives to maintain market competitiveness of company products and solutions.

• Ensure designs meet applicable industry regulations and standards including applicable utility and customer specifications.
• Stay updated on evolving industry standards, participating in and representing the company on industrial committees and technical events as required.
• Lead and support all electrical certification and testing requirements, including dielectric, loss and efficiency and short cath circuit performance.
• Provide technical oversight when required for type testing on site or at external labs (heart run, SC tests, etc.).

• Provide technical direction and mentorship to design engineers and other engineering personnel, supporting technical development and knowledge transfer across the organization.
• Lead cross‑functional collaboration between engineering, manufacturing, purchasing, quality, and operations teams to ensure successful executing of product and process objectives.
• Lead or support process improvement initiatives to enhance departmental efficiencies and output quality.
• Support and guide manufacturing and assembly teams on winding specifications, component/material selection, and hook‑up requirements.
• Support customers with technical inquiries, offering guidance on application and performance requirements.
• Provide technical support during prototype builds, production, and customer testing.
• Participate in pre‑order and post‑order design reviews to confirm technical compliance and mitigate risks.
• Develop and deliver technical training for design, quality and production teams.

• Bachelor’s degree, or higher, in electrical engineering or a related field.

• 15+ years of experience in engineering within a manufacturing environment in transformer manufacturing.
• Demonstrated expertise in distribution transformer electrical design and application engineering.
• Proven experience leading complex engineering projects and providing technical leadership within…