Application Engineer I - PSSD

Southern States, LLC; Hampton (GA); On-site; USD 85,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

Southern States, LLC is seeking an Application Engineer I – Power Systems to support technical development, design, and proposals for medium- and high-voltage reactive power equipment. You will work with customers, Sales, Engineering, and Project Management to translate specifications into compliant solutions and compelling proposals.

The role involves technical risk assessment, equipment configurations, BOM budgeting, and providing reliable support through quotation and order execution stages.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering required.
• Fundamental power systems and power quality concepts understood.
• Occasional travel (<25%) for customer meetings and site visits.

Responsibilities

• Review customer specifications, drawings, and RFQ to identify requirements and risks.
• Develop preliminary designs, layouts, ratings, BOM estimates for quotes.
• Prepare technical and commercial proposal packages for MV/HV capacitor banks, harmonic filters, reactors, STATCOMs, etc.
• Support sales with customer-facing documents, scope clarifications, and responses.
• Perform basic electrical calculations for capacitor banks and harmonics applications.
• Coordinate with internal teams to confirm feasibility and required equipment.
• Liaise with vendors/purchasing for major components.
• Write technical specifications for power equipment.
• Evaluate bids from vendors.

Skills

Analytical skills

Written & verbal communication

Willingness to travel

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering

Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

ETAP

PSCAD

DigSILENT

MATLAB/Simulink

Job description

Job Summary:

The Application Engineer I – Power Systems is responsible for supporting the technical development, application, design, and proposal of medium-voltage and high-voltage reactive power compensation and power quality equipment. This role works closely with Customers, Sales, Engineering, Project Management, Manufacturing, and Purchasing to review project specifications, develop compliant technical solutions, prepare proposal documents, and support projects from the quotation stage through order execution. The Application Engineer will serve as a technical advisor and product advocate for the Power System Solutions Division. The role requires the ability to identify technical risks and exceptions to customer specifications, develop equipment configurations, prepare budgets and bills of material, and provide reliable technical support to ensure complete and timely proposals.

Essential Functions:

• Review customer specifications, drawings, one-line diagrams, data sheets, and RFQ documents to determine technical requirements, risks, exceptions, and required clarifications
• Develop preliminary equipment designs, layouts, ratings, component selections, and costed bill of material estimates for quotation purposes
• Prepare technical and commercial support packages for quotations of MV and HV capacitor banks, harmonic filters, reactors, STATCOMs, sub cycle transfer switches, and associated power system solutions
• Support Sales by preparing customer-facing documents such as proposals, technical exceptions, scope clarifications, and technical responses
• Perform basic electrical calculations related to capacitor bank and harmonic filter applications, including voltage, current, fusing, configurations, reactive power ratings, insulation levels, equipment duty, conductor sizing, and component selection
• Coordinate with internal engineering teams to confirm feasibility of proposed solutions, including physical layouts, structural requirements, insulation coordination, switching devices, reactors, protection/control requirements, and auxiliary equipment
• Work with vendors and internal purchasing teams to obtain technical and cost information for major components such as capacitors, reactors, switches, transformers, relays, insulators, structures, and control equipment
• Writes technical specifications for power equipment
• Technically evaluates bids for products and services from vendors

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in electrical engineering from an accredited university
• Fundamental understanding of power systems and power quality concepts (power factor, harmonics, voltage regulation, etc.)
• Ability to perform effectively in time sensitive situations while maintaining a focus on quality
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to technical detail
• Effective written and verbal communication skills for customer and internal technical discussions
• Willingness to travel occasionally for customer meetings, site visits, or training (typically <25%)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in electrical engineering from an accredited university with coursework in power systems and power electronics
• Three (3) years of experience with electrical power systems or electric power products
• Familiarity with power quality and static/dynamic reactive power compensation
• Experience with power system analysis software (e.g., ETAP, PSCAD, DigSILENT, MATLAB/Simulink, or equivalent)