Job DescriptionBased out of our Acheson Powell Service Division location, a Lead Applications Engineer is responsible for providing dedicated technical application support across the customer engagement, estimating, and project development cycle for Low Voltage (LV) and Medium Voltage (MV) switchgear and power distribution equipment. They analyze project specifications, review drawings, and collaborate with sales, estimating, and engineering teams to develop practical technical solutions for custom applications. This role addresses complex requests, creates preliminary drawings, and eliminates centralized workflow bottlenecks while helping the division scale. Acting under the mentorship and technical leadership of the Service Division's management, this role is crucial in ensuring accurate budgeting, minimizing risk, and facilitating clean project handoffs.
Essential ResponsibilitiesCore Responsibilities:
- Independently review customer supplied specifications to assess feasibility of Powell manufacture or supply
- Read and interpret complex electrical drawings to include single-lines, three-lines, elevations, control schematics, site plans, and custom electrical enclosure layouts
- Generate accurate proposals and develop practical technical solutions for custom customer applications based on the review and interpretation of customer-supplied documentation
- Proactively anticipate and effectively communicate application and technical concerns to Sales and clients prior to development of a proposal
- Provide value engineering at the proposal stage to optimize the proposed solution for both Powell and our customer
- Translate conceptual customer designs into a meaningful proposal and functional engineering concept
- Generate Preliminary Drawings and single-line schematics for proposed solutions to remove this workload from the production engineering team's responsibility
- Write effective comments and clarifications to help define Powell's technical offering
- Act as a dedicated technical resource for Powell Sales to accelerate response times for new opportunities
- Act as a dedicated technical resource for clients, leading customer-facing technical discussions and solution reviews
- Assist Powell Sales with internal and external technical discussions, solutions, and client engagement
- Assist Estimating in determining the appropriate equipment configuration, component selections, and material scope
- Facilitate clean, efficient project turnover to the Project Management (PM) and Engineer-to-Order (ETO) Engineering teams
- Complete visits to customer's sites as required for technical solution review and development
- Mentor within the Application Engineering group, supporting continuity and integration with the existing workflow
- Perform competitive evaluation of sub-vendor proposals used to complete the overall Powell offering and assess associated technical risks
- Interact with other Powell divisions to develop cross-business solutions
- Assist in providing feedback for, and maintaining accuracy of, various costing tools
- Autonomous - requires no regular supervision with the exception of leadership consults / touchpoints with the reporting manager
- Project responsibilities will be complex to advanced, helping the division scale while maintaining strong customer support
- Assists upper-level management or staff as a technical advisor in areas of expertise
- Will regularly be tasked with leading advanced projects requiring input from multiple Application Engineers
Secondary Responsibilities (performed but not regularly):
- Participate in sales and marketing activities to include industry meetings and conferences
- Contribute to new and existing product specifications
- Assist in developing formal internal proposals including technical budget estimates and cost justification models for product line enhancements and/or cost out projects
- Participate in executing cost out initiatives in conjunction with Engineering and Operations
Key Functions:
- Participating in external customer meetings, site meetings and/or conferences - 40%
- Prepare detailed, accurate and cost competitive custom solutions and drawings - 40%
- Act as internal mentor/technical resource for the estimating and sales team - 10%
prepare and execute handover of the custom opps from sales to production engineering - 10%
Skills, Abilities & Other Requirements- Build and maintain a working knowledge of electrical theory and applicable industry standards including IEEE/ANSI, CSA, CEC, and NBC
- Mastery of low & medium voltage distribution equipment ratings and design (LV/MV Switchgear)
- Ability to read and interpret electrical specifications
- Ability to read and interpret electrical drawings to include single lines, three lines, schematics and wiring diagrams
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills to translate complex engineering concepts for both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Customer Oriented with strong sales engagement capabilities
- Able to manage multiple priorities and complex requests under tight timelines
- Prioritizes and plans work activities; uses time efficiently; plans for additional resources; sets goals and objectives; develops realistic action plans in order to meet deadlines and improve internal team response times
- Problem Solving: Gathers and analyzes information using an inquisitive mind, using strong logical, methodical and systematic skills to solve custom application challenges
- Work independently with little or no supervision
- Ability to learn new skills and assume new responsibilities
- Visio / Auto CAD / Inventor
- Microsoft Office Suite
Qualifications:- B.S. in Electrical Engineering or relevant discipline
- 10+ years of experience in electrical equipment estimating or related field.
Work Authorization: This is a permanent position. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in Canada at the time of hire. Immigration sponsorship is not typically available and will be considered only where supported by business needs and applicable legal requirements.
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