Sr. Product Reliability Engineer - MV Transformers

If you like being the person who makes a good design even better once it’s out in the field — chasing a field failure until you know exactly why it happened, tightening a tolerance that’s been costing installers time, or turning a one-off fix into a documented standard — this role is worth your full attention. CORE Transformers manufactures dry-type, pad mount, and substation transformers from 15 kVA to 30 MVA, up to 230 kV. We supply critical electrical infrastructure to AI-driven data centers, large-scale construction, and industrial operations nationwide. We’re tracking 3x annual revenue growth, which means more units in the field, more installers depending on our designs working the first time, and a real need for someone who owns the gap between a good design on paper and a good design in the field.

Your Mission

You are joining as our first dedicated Sr. Product Reliability Engineer - MV Transformers. Where our R&D team builds tomorrow’s product line, you own what’s already shipped and what’s in production today: field performance, installation issues, quality escapes, and the steady stream of engineering changes that keep our standard designs current and our manufacturing partners aligned to spec. You’ll work closely with our quality team, our overseas manufacturing partners, and our sales organization to close the loop between what customers experience in the field and what actually gets built. You will report directly to the VP of Engineering, with this role positioned to grow — and to grow a team — as CORE scales.

A Day in the Life

Your morning starts with a field report: a pad mount unit installed on a data-center campus tripped during commissioning. You pull the test records, talk through the symptoms with the customer’s electrical contractor, and narrow it down to a CT wiring convention that’s easy to get backwards in the field. You open a corrective action, and before lunch you’ve drafted a one-page field bulletin and flagged the accessory drawing for an update.

In the afternoon you join a call with our quality team and our overseas manufacturing partner to review last month’s incoming inspection data. Two recurring nonconformances trace back to a tolerance that’s tighter on paper than it needs to be in practice — you work through the fix and issue the engineering change. Sales calls with a question from a contractor about an installation detail on a unit shipped last quarter; you walk them through it directly.

You close the day updating the standard design library: the CT wiring fix gets folded into the master drawing, the installation guide gets a clarifying diagram, and the change gets logged so R&D can see the pattern if it shows up again. Every day looks a little different. What stays constant is that your work shows up in transformers already in the field.

Who You Are

You are hands on and detail oriented, and you get real satisfaction from closing the loop between a field issue and a permanent fix. You have working knowledge of both inside-the-tank transformer fundamentals and outside-the-tank systems — switchgear integration, protection devices, CT configurations — and you’re comfortable being the technical point of contact when a customer’s engineer or an installer has a question. You’re organized enough to run a disciplined change and documentation process, and you don’t mind being the person who has to say “this needs to change” to a design that already shipped. You’re looking to build a sustaining/quality engineering function almost from scratch, not to inherit one that’s already fully staffed.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Serve as the primary engineering owner for field issues, warranty claims, and quality escapes on units already in production — root cause investigation, corrective action, and closure.
• Manage the engineering change process for existing standard designs: evaluate requests from quality, manufacturing, and the field, and issue updated drawings and specifications.
• Partner with our quality team and overseas manufacturing partners to translate real field experience into tighter incoming inspection, in-process, and outgoing test criteria.
• Provide installation and field support for sales, contractors, and customers, including on-site troubleshooting when needed.
• Maintain and improve technical documentation for standard designs: drawings, spec sheets, installation guides, and accessory configurations.
• Manage product and company certifications with oversight agencies to maintain customer confidence in delivered products.
• Track field-defect trends and report them back to Quality so recurring issues get designed out of future standard designs, not just patched in the field.
• Support third-party testing and validation follow-up whenever a field issue calls a result into question.
• Help build out CORE’s quality-support function as the team grows — today this is one person; it will not stay that way.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, or equivalent hands-on experience in medium-voltage transformer or power systems engineering.
• 5+ years of engineering experience in power systems, medium-voltage electrical equipment, or transformer manufacturing, with real exposure to what happens after a unit ships.
• Working knowledge of liquid-filled and/or dry-type transformer design fundamentals: core and coil, winding configurations, insulation systems.
• Comfort with outside-the-tank systems: switchgear integration points, protection devices, CT configurations, and accessory hardware.
• Experience with root-cause analysis and corrective-action processes (8D, 5-Why, or similar) in a manufacturing environment.
• Ability to read and markup engineering drawings, and to write clear, field-usable documentation.
• Willingness to travel occasionally for on-site installation or field support.
• Willing and able to work on-site in Seneca, SC.

Bonus Points If You Have...

• Experience coordinating quality or engineering specs with an overseas manufacturing partner.
• Experience in data center, hyperscale, or large-scale construction power systems.
• Familiarity with UL, IEEE, IEC, or NEC standards relevant to transformers.
• A quality-engineering background (CQE or equivalent experience).
• Experience at a fast-growing or PE-backed manufacturer where the org is still being built.

CORE Transformers is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.