Lead Applications Engineer

Eaton Corporation; Lathrup Village (MI); Hybrid; USD 97,000 - 143,000; Full time

Job summary

Eaton’s IS VEH EMB division is seeking a Lead Applications Engineer for a hybrid role based at the Southfield, MI campus. You will act as the primary technical liaison between OEM customers and internal teams, leading customer-facing engineering activities related to power conversion and mobility solutions across vehicle applications.

The role guides discussions from concept through launch, translating customer requirements into robust, manufacturable solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical, Mechatronics or Mechanical Engineering.
• Minimum five (5) years experience in Automotive/Tier 1 environments.
• Minimum three (3) years in Applications/Systems/Resident or customer-facing engineering roles.
• Ability to travel up to 20%.
• Residents within 50 miles of Southfield, MI.

Responsibilities

• Serve as primary technical interface between OEM customers and internal teams.
• Lead customer reviews, workshops, design discussions, and executive presentations.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with OEM customers for CV and PV.
• Guide product integration, installation, diagnostics, and root cause analysis.
• Analyze specifications and develop optimized, manufacturable solutions.
• Lead pre/post-award technical activities and manage project milestones.
• Communicate project status, risks, and mitigation plans to stakeholders.
• Collaborate with global teams across hardware, electronics, software, and validation.

Skills

Customer interface

Power conversion

Vehicle electrification

Cross-functional leadership

RFQ support

OTA/RTOS knowledge

CAN/LIN

Jira usage

Confluence usage

Miro usage

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/Computer Science

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Miro

Job description

Eaton’s IS VEH EMB division is currently seeking a Lead Applications Engineer. This is a hybrid work opportunity based at our Southfield, MI campus.

The Lead Applications Engineer serves as the primary technical liaison between OEM customers and internal engineering, product management, manufacturing, and commercial teams. This role is responsible for leading customer-facing engineering activities related to power conversion and advanced mobility solutions across commercial vehicle and passenger vehicle applications.

This position will guide technical discussions from concept development through launch, ensuring customer requirements are accurately translated into robust, manufacturable, and cost-effective solutions. This individual will lead application engineering efforts, support business growth through RFQ and program acquisition activities, coordinate cross-functional development teams, and drive successful product integration into OEM vehicle platforms. The ultimate objective is to strengthen customer relationships and enable successful product launches.

The expected annual salary range for this role is $97000 - $143000 a year.

Please note the salary information shown above is a general guideline only. Salaries are based upon candidate skills, experience, and qualifications, as well as market and business considerations.

Eaton announced, on June 11, 2026, the intent to combine its Mobility Group (including both the Vehicle and eMobility segments) with a new company. We expect to complete this process by the end of the first half of 2027. The compensation and benefits that will initially be offered for this position are based on Eaton's plans, programs and practices. If you are offered and accept this position and are actively employed by the Mobility Group when the transaction closes, the new company will provide further details to employees concerning compensation and benefits at that time.

What you’ll do

• Serve as the primary technical interface between OEM customers and Eaton’s internal engineering teams.
• Represent company technologies, products, and engineering capabilities during customer reviews, workshops, design discussions, and executive presentations.
• Build and maintain strong technical relationships with commercial vehicle and passenger vehicle OEM customers.
• Drive and work directly with customers, both at engineering and manufacturing sites to assist with product integration, installation, diagnostics, and root cause analysis.
• Analyze customer specifications, requirements, standards, and vehicle architectures to develop optimized technical solutions.
• Support customer issue resolution through technical investigations, root cause analysis, corrective actions, and validation activities.
• Lead pre-award and post-award technical activities, including requirement analysis and concept development along with customer.
• Drive technical phases of projects to meet deadlines and negotiate critical milestones with customers.
• Lead customer meetings, prepare documentation, define internal work packages, and track status.
• Monitor emerging OEM trends, vehicle technologies, regulatory requirements, and competitive developments.
• Support product roadmaps by identifying opportunities for new features, technologies, and applications.
• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives related to engineering processes, customer engagement, and product development methodologies.
• Prepare presentations to communicate project status, risks, and mitigation plans.
• Build strategies with global development teams including hardware, electronics, software, and validation.

Qualifications

Required Basic Qualifications:

• Minimum Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical, Mechatronics and/or Mechanical Engineering from an accredited institution
• Minimum five (5) years experience in Automotive/Tier 1’s
• Minimum three 3 years of experience in Applications Engineering, Systems Engineering, Resident Engineering, Product Engineering, or customer-facing technical roles.
• Ability to travel up to 20%
• Eaton will not consider applicants for employment immigration sponsorship or support for this position. This means that Eaton will not support any "CPT, OPT, or STEM OPT plans, F-1 to H-1B, H-1B cap registration, O-1, E-3, TN status, I-485 job portability, etc."
• No relocation is available for this position. Candidates must reside within 50 miles of Southfield, MI to be considered. Active Duty Military is exempt from this geographical limitation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven experience working directly with OEM customers throughout product development and launch cycles.
• Master's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Systems, or Mechatronics Engineering.
• Knowledge of electric vehicle architectures, electrified powertrain systems, and high-voltage/low-voltage vehicle systems.
• Experience with power electronics, power conversion systems, inverters, converters, eAxles, battery systems, or vehicle electrification technologies.
• Familiarity with Automotive SPICE, ISO 26262 Functional Safety, IATF 16949, Cybersecurity (ISO/SAE 21434), and systems engineering methodologies.
• Root cause analysis and problem-solving methodologies.
• Vehicle electrical architecture and CAN/LIN communications.

Skills

• Electrical and mechanical principles related to power conversion systems.
• Ability to read electronic diagrams and schematics.
• Demonstrated experience on driving communication with customers and leading engineering work with product line teams.
• Automotive embedded systems creation, Vehicle electrification and power electronics fundamentals.
• Requirements documentation, traceability, and root cause analysis.
• Familiarity with CAD tools, system integration, and validation processes.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills for customer interaction and cross-functional collaboration.
• Embedded C for microcontrollers.
• Power electronics fundamentals including direct-digital power conversion.
• Developing firmware using a real-time operating system (RTOS).
• Digital control loops and digital filter concepts.
• Use of team collaboration tools such as Jira, Confluence, and Miro.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced technology development environment.
• Ability to travel up to 20% and work flexible hours for global communication.

All positions may require participation in video and in-person interviews as part of the hiring process. All candidates will be evaluated based on job-related competencies, and all candidates’ privacy rights and data security will be protected in accordance with applicable laws.

We are committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for all job applicants and employees. Employment decisions are based upon job-related reasons regardless of an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, marital status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by law.

Eaton believes in second chance employment. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction history will be considered regardless of their arrest or conviction history, consistent with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the California Fair Chance Act and other local laws.

You do not need to disclose your conviction history or participate in a background check until a conditional job offer is made to you. After making a conditional offer and running a background check, if Eaton is concerned about conviction that is directly related to the job, you will be given the chance to explain the circumstances surrounding the conviction, provide mitigating evidence, or challenge the accuracy of the background report.

To request a disability-related reasonable accommodation to assist you in your job search, application, or interview process, please call us at 1-800-836-6345 to discuss your specific need. Only accommodation requests will be accepted by this phone number.

We know that good benefit programs are important to employees and their families. Eaton provides various Health and Welfare benefits as well as Retirement benefits, and several programs that provide for paid and unpaid time away from work. Click here for more detail: Eaton Benefits Overview. Please note that specific programs and options available to an employee may depend on eligibility factors such as geographic location, date of hire, and the applicability of collective bargaining agreements.