Current positions in the electrical industry

Principal Engineer, Mechanical Design – Large Power Transformers – TX

Egret Consulting has been retained to identify a Principal Engineer, Mechanical Design for an innovative American manufacturer developing a new approach to large power transformer engineering and production.

With demand for large power transformers accelerating across utilities, data centers, renewable energy, and grid modernization projects, the need to expand domestic manufacturing capacity has never been greater. Our client is addressing that challenge by building a modern manufacturing operation that combines advanced engineering, automation, digital technologies, and vertically integrated production.

This is an opportunity for an accomplished mechanical engineer to play a foundational role in developing not only the company’s transformer product line, but the engineering systems and design architecture that will support its long-term growth.

The Principal Engineer will take ownership of mechanical design and proposal engineering for large power transformers, working closely with electrical engineering, software development, manufacturing, and supply chain teams. A significant part of this responsibility will involve developing a proprietary parametric CAD platform that establishes a common, configurable design architecture across the company’s transformer portfolio.

Rather than relying on traditional, individually engineered designs, the objective is to create standardized assemblies, reusable component libraries, automated drawings, and integrated bills of material that improve engineering efficiency while maintaining the flexibility to meet individual customer specifications.

The scope of mechanical engineering responsibility is extensive, including transformer tanks, covers, core and coil support structures, clamping systems, cooling arrangements, bushing interfaces, and transportation provisions. The Principal Engineer will ensure designs satisfy structural, thermal, vacuum, handling, and shipping requirements while accounting for manufacturing practicality and long-term reliability.

Equally important will be the ability to translate customer specifications into technically sound, commercially viable proposals. This includes developing preliminary layouts, dimensions, weights, material estimates, and identifying technical exceptions while collaborating with Sales, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain to evaluate feasibility, cost, and delivery requirements.

Mechanical and electrical design must function together. The Principal Engineer will work directly with electrical engineering to address winding configurations, insulation clearances, lead routing, cooling requirements, and short-circuit forces, ensuring that each design is fully integrated before release to production.

Design for Manufacturability will be central to this position. The successful candidate will help establish engineering practices that simplify fabrication and assembly, standardize components, improve production repeatability, and support increasingly automated manufacturing processes. This includes defining tolerances, inspection requirements, and mechanical design standards that can be consistently applied across the product portfolio.

The position also carries responsibility for mechanical design validation, engineering calculations, technical documentation, revision control, and compliance with applicable industry standards and customer requirements. Working closely with production and testing teams, the Principal Engineer will use manufacturing feedback and design validation results to continuously improve both individual products and the broader engineering platform.

The ideal candidate will bring:

• A minimum of 10 years of mechanical design experience involving power transformers above 115 kV, including direct responsibility for designs released into manufacturing.
  

• Extensive knowledge of transformer mechanical construction, tank design, structural integrity, core and coil support systems, cooling arrangements, fabrication, assembly, and transportation requirements.
  

• Strong proficiency with parametric 3D CAD systems, finite element analysis, mechanical simulation, and the development of configurable engineering models.
  

• Experience developing standardized assemblies, reusable component libraries, automated drawings, and engineering design processes. CAD scripting or API experience is particularly valuable.
  

• Demonstrated ability to interpret customer specifications and develop mechanical layouts, technical proposals, material estimates, and engineering exceptions.
  

• A thorough understanding of Design for Manufacturability, production tolerances, manufacturing processes, and collaboration with Supply Chain and external suppliers.
  

• A bachelor’s or master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related discipline.
  

• U.S. citizenship or permanent residency, as required by the programs supported.
  

Beyond technical qualifications, we are seeking an engineer who enjoys solving complex problems and building something new. This individual must be comfortable taking ownership, making sound engineering decisions, collaborating across disciplines, and establishing processes where none may currently exist.

This is a hands-on engineering position with considerable technical influence. The opportunity is not simply to design transformers, but to help determine how they will be engineered and manufactured for years to come.

Location: Texas. Candidates should be willing to work onsite as the manufacturing and engineering operation develops. Initial remote flexibility may be considered. Relocation assistance is offered.

For an experienced transformer mechanical engineer who wants to move beyond maintaining established designs and contribute to the development of a new American manufacturing platform, this is an exceptional opportunity to make a lasting impact on an industry essential to the future of the electrical grid.