VP of Engineering

CORE Transformers | On-Site | Seneca, SC | Reports to CEO

If you have spent meaningful time in the medium-voltage transformer and power systems world, can talk fluently about liquid-filled transformer design, switch gear integration, and protection schemes, and have worked on data center or large-scale construction projects, this role is worth your full attention. CORE Transformers manufactures dry-type, padmount, and substation transformers from 15 kVA to 30 MVA, up to 230 kV.

We supply critical electrical infrastructure to AI-driven data centers, large-scale construction, and industrial operations nationwide. Leading hyperscalers are deploying at scale alongside top-tier electrical contractors, and CORE is earning a seat at those tables through speed, reliability, and engineering that holds up under scrutiny. We quote in minutes, ship in weeks, and our designs consistently deliver fewer field defects than major OEM competitors.

An industry long controlled by incumbents who can no longer keep pace with demand is now open to a new entrant, and CORE — founded by Randall Maddox and Mitch Garland, the founders of Sunbelt Transformer and Maddox Industrial Transformers — is that entrant. We are tracking 3x annual revenue growth and building the engineering function to match it. That is where you come in.

You are joining as our first internal VP of Engineering. The role is roughly 80% forward-looking: own R&D, drive product innovation, build our standard design library, and lead the technical work that keeps CORE competitive as we expand into new segments. The other 20% is oversight: setting engineering specifications for our overseas manufacturing partners and serving as the senior technical voice our sales organization and customers' engineers rely on.

Product ideas come from sales, business development, and senior leadership. Your job is to catch that vision, stress-test it technically, and turn concepts into validated, market-ready solutions. You will report directly to CEO Winston Krauss and work alongside our VP of Business Development and VP of Marketing on a tight executive team where engineering, sales, and marketing are genuinely integrated.

That integration is driving our growth, and protecting it is a priority.

Your morning starts with a design review. The team has been working on a new padmount configuration that solves a recurring problem on hyperscaler data center campuses: customers keep requesting variations that differ only slightly from a standard 3000 kVA, 34.5 kV unit, driving custom orders, extended lead times, and field installation headaches. You are building a standardized design that covers the vast majority of those requests with a single configurable unit, reducing what has taken three distinct designs per campus down to one.

You review the outside-the-tank spec: switch gear integration points, protection device placement, CT configurations, the accessory framework that allows field installation of components without opening the tank or drilling new penetrations. You flag two items that need resolution before the design goes to the overseas manufacturing team.

In the afternoon you jump on a call with a large data center customer. Their electrical engineer has technical questions about how the transformer integrates with their medium-voltage distribution system and wants to understand the protection scheme. You walk them through it clearly and confidently, speaking the same language they do. After the call, your VP of Business Development sends you a quick message: that conversation just moved the deal forward.

You make a note to pull together a one-page technical summary for the sales team to use as a leave-behind.

You close the day reviewing a third-party test report on a new substation unit design. You are building the validation package: test results, white paper, engineering documentation. When a customer's engineer asks for proof of performance, you want to hand them something they can stake their reputation on. You draft two pages of technical content and send it to marketing to incorporate into a case study.

Engineering and marketing…