Principal Engineer - Automation

Principal Engineer

Lead the union of customer needs, market opportunities, and technical innovation by identifying, developing, and advancing opportunities that invent the future in the automation area. Serve as the strategic bridge between customers, Marketing, Product Management, Sales & Customer Service, Engineering Services, and R&D, transforming ideas, insights, and emerging technologies into differentiated products and solutions that create sustainable customer value, drive business growth, and strengthen SEL's leadership in the industries it serves.

A typical day as a Principal Engineer might include:

• Lead the discovery, development, evaluation, and advancement of innovative ideas, technologies, applications, market opportunities, and growth initiatives that invent the future and support long-term business objectives.
• Drive market analysis, technology benchmarking, competitive intelligence, customer engagement, customer feedback collection, application discovery, and trend analysis to identify unmet needs, emerging opportunities, and differentiated value propositions.
• Establish and manage a continuous pipeline of strategic opportunities derived from the union of customer needs, market dynamics, industry developments, technology advancements, and SEL innovation initiatives.
• Translate market opportunities into product requirements and development initiatives by collaborating with Product Management, Sales & Customer Service, Engineering Services, R&D, Subject Matter Experts, Application Leaders, and other stakeholders.
• Provide deep expertise in technologies, systems, applications, and customer challenges to ensure products and solutions address validated market needs and deliver differentiated value.
• Influence product strategy, portfolio planning, technology roadmaps, business cases, value propositions, positioning strategies, and technical narratives that support business growth and customer success.
• Drive customer adoption, market expansion, application growth, revenue realization, and long-term commercial success through continuous engagement, feedback integration, market learning, and value realization initiatives.
• Serve as the primary bridge between customers, Marketing, Product Management, Sales & Customer Service, Engineering Services, and R&D while providing leadership through industry forums, standards organizations, technical committees, and customer advisory groups.
• Monitor product performance, customer adoption, revenue growth, market penetration, and customer value realization to identify barriers, guide decision-making, and improve business outcomes.
• Educate internal and external audiences regarding customer needs, market opportunities, SEL capabilities, and emerging technologies through mentoring, technical content, presentations, training, intellectual property development, and knowledge sharing.
• Model, teach, and apply SEL Values, Principles of Operations, and World Class Manufacturing Principles; create, protect and advance intellectual property; and contribute to organizational success through innovation, creativity, and the principles of Understand, Create, and Simplify.

This job might be for you if:

• BS degree in Electrical Engineering or an applicable discipline.
• 15+ years working knowledge and experience of electric power systems or other equivalent transferable knowledge and industry experience.
• Recognized as a leader, advocate and expert within SEL and industry practices. Demonstrated expertise in the primary focus area (Automation), with strong working knowledge of adjacent technologies, applications, products, and market segments necessary to support cross-functional innovation, product strategy, and customer engagement. Demonstrable enthusiasm for developing and mentoring engineers. Excellent technical training, speaking, writing, and customer service skills. Willingness to travel per business need. Strong writing, documentation, and speaking skills. Ability to learn new skills and assume new responsibilities. Ability to work cooperatively in a team environment. Background check results satisfactory to SEL. Negative drug test result(s).

It is a plus if you have:

• Master's and/or PhD in Engineering discipline. Accomplished author and presenter of technical papers. Holder and major inventor of US patents related to SEL's mission. Registered Professional Engineer.

Focus Area = Automation: Subject matter expert in the design, implementation, integration, and optimization of automation systems for generation facilities, transmission and distribution substations, distribution networks, and industrial facilities. Expertise includes SCADA, energy and distribution management systems (EMS and DMS), communications networks, substation automation, and intelligent electronic devices (IEDs), with a focus on improving reliability, operational efficiency, situational awareness, and system visibility.

Location: Boise, ID or Pullman, WA

Competitive pay. Superior benefits. Inspiring work.

People are at the core of our company and we hire employee-owners. We welcome you to learn more about how we support employees.

• We're 100% employee owned. Retirement benefits include an employer funded stock ownership plan (ESOP) and personal 401(k) options.
• We offer top tier medical, prescription, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance.
• We recognize the importance of a healthy life balance and offer: 10 paid holidays, annual vacation accrual starting at 12 days, 9 paid sick days, and paid family and medical leave that covers 90% of your pay.
• We foster growth and development of our employees through avenues such as STEM courses, apprenticeships, tuition assistance, and engineering development programs.
• Ask our team about other benefits including wellness, fertility, adoption, and flexible spending benefits.

Pay Range Data - $209,000 - $270,000 annually

We set starting pay based on job-related factors such as your experience, training, knowledge, and skills. We anticipate filling this position at the Principal Engineer level, and we welcome applicants with a range of experience. Depending on your background, we may consider you for a different level, with compensation aligned accordingly.

Communication with Applicants

We communicate with all applicants. If you do not receive a response about your application, please check your SPAM filter or reach out to us at View email address on click.appcast.io.

SEL is an Equal Opportunity Employer: Vets/Disabled.