Senior Applications Engineer

Powell Industries - Houston, TX

Full-time - Mid Level

Houston, TX

Credit Intermediation and Related Activities

About the position

The Senior Applications Engineer plays a critical role in assessing project costs and resources, analyzing specifications, and collaborating with stakeholders to ensure accurate budgeting and pricing for projects in various industries. This position requires a deep understanding of automation solutions and the ability to develop proposals that meet customer needs while adhering to company policies.

Responsibilities

• Become proficient in PAD solutions and offerings.
• Responsible for the technical review and understanding of the customer's requirements in their requests for proposals including system designs, single line drawings, site layouts, containerization, performance guarantees, availability guarantees, etc.
• Interact with other Powell divisions to develop cross business solutions.
• Analyze and utilize data for in-depth evaluation of current market conditions and trends to help drive the current and future automation solution offerings.
• Contribute to new and existing product specifications.
• Drive the growth of automation by helping to build and maintain long lasting relationships, inspiring trust, enhancing the client experience, and being a thorough leader with innovative automation solutions to meet customer needs.
• Assist in developing formal internal proposals including technical budget estimates and cost justification models for product line enhancements and/or cost out projects.
• Become a SME in the automation space by understanding and developing solutions utilizing products from various manufactures such as SEL, Rockwell, Siemens, and GE.
• Ensure that the company's Health, Safety & Environmental policies and procedures are constantly adhered to all aspects of Site Services.
• Independently review customer supplied specifications to assess feasibility of Powell manufacture or supply.
• Read and interpret electrical drawings to include single-lines, three-lines, elevations, control schematics, site plans and electrical enclosure layouts.
• Read and interpret network topology drawings.
• Generate accurate proposals based on the review and interpretation of customer-supplied documentation.
• Recognize and effectively communicate application concerns prior to development of proposal.
• Translate conceptual customer designs into a meaningful proposal.
• Optimize the proposed solution to best benefit Powell and our customer.
• Write effective comments to help define Powell's offering.
• Act as technical resource for Powell Sales.
• Assist Powell Sales with internal and external technical discussions and solutions.
• Perform competitive evaluation of sub vendor proposals used to complete the overall Powell offering.
• Assess risk associated with sub-vendor offering.
• Support generating new sales opportunities by providing technical support/guidance to PAD and other organizational sales teams for customer meeting and company automation initiatives.

Requirements

• B.S. in Electrical Engineering or relevant discipline
• 4+ years of experience in electrical equipment estimating, or related field
• Able to review and interpret client provided documents such as specifications, drawings and data sheets
• Strong analytical skills is required
• Basic understanding in at least two of the following: Networking and Cybersecurity, RTUs, HMIs, and SCADA Systems for Automation and Control systems, Protective Relay programming and commissioning, PLC applications for Switchgear
• Experience with Microsoft Office Suite required
• Experience with ERP system Oracle; previous experience utilizing Projects related software (i.e. - Primavera, Microsoft Projects, Excel and Oracle) is a plus
• Previous experience developing, executing, integrating, troubleshooting, and/or commissioning projects related to relay, PLC, HMI, RTU, or control systems for power applications is preferred
• Experience with common industrial protocols such as Modbus (RTU and TCP/IP), IEC61850, DNP3, Profibus, etc. and networking is a plus
• Knowledge of 3 phase power is preferred
• Excellent customer relation, verbal, and written communication skills
• Ability to communicate clearly and professionally with all levels of an organization
• Desire to stay up to date on current industry trends and technology to improve PAD solutions/offerings

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with common industrial protocols such as Modbus (RTU and TCP/IP), IEC61850, DNP3, Profibus, etc.
• Knowledge of 3 phase power

Benefits

• Health insurance
• 401k
• Paid holidays
• Flexible scheduling
• Professional development opportunities