Application Engineer I

Location:

This position will be onsite at our warehouse in Allen, Texas (Dallas-Fort Worth area).

Full-time W-2 ONSITE opportunity (not remote)!

Work Eligibility: 

• Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring employer-sponsored visa sponsorship now or in the future.
• Candidates must have permanent work authorization in the United States. Sol-Ark does not provide visa sponsorship, including but not limited to F-1 CPT, F-1 OPT (including STEM OPT), H-1B, or any other employment-based visa requiring future sponsorship.

About the Position: 

We are seeking a motivated, hands-on Application Engineer I to join our engineering team. This early-career role is well suited for a recent graduate or an engineer with up to three years of relevant experience who is eager to build broad technical experience across hardware, firmware, product development, quality assurance, technical documentation, and customer support.

The Application Engineer I will help test, troubleshoot, document, and improve Sol-Ark products and systems throughout the product lifecycle. The successful candidate will work closely with firmware, hardware, quality, manufacturing, and customer-facing teams to support new product development, product validation, and technical issue resolution. This role requires strong curiosity, sound engineering judgment, attention to detail, strong communication skills, and a willingness to take on a range of technical tasks.

Responsibilities:

Hardware Testing and Validation

• Assist with lab testing, functional testing, and validation of inverter hardware, assemblies, and systems.

• Set up equipment, execute test plans, collect data, and document results clearly and accurately.

• Support troubleshooting and root-cause investigation of hardware issues found during quality testing or field use.

• Assist with reliability, performance, and regression testing as applicable.

Firmware and Battery Testing

• Support verification and validation of inverter firmware and related battery interfaces.

• Execute inverter firmware test cases, document defects, reproduce reported issues, and assist engineering teams with issue isolation.

• Participate in regression testing following firmware releases, design changes, and corrective actions.

• Assist with basic automation, scripting, data analysis, or test-tool development as skills and project needs allow.

New Product Development Support

• Work with cross-functional engineering teams to support new product development

• Assist in product characterization and executing prototype field test plans.

• Help evaluate product performance against specifications, requirements, and customer or application needs.

• Participate in design reviews, test reviews, and technical discussions; communicate observations and risks

• Support the transition of product knowledge, test methods, and documentation from development into material for different company stakeholders.

Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement

• Support quality assurance activities by helping investigate product defects, test failures, and customer-reported issues.

• Participate in root-cause analysis and corrective-action activities under the guidance of senior engineers or quality personnel.

• Help identify opportunities to improve product reliability, test coverage, and documentation quality.

Documentation and Data Management

• Create, update, and maintain technical documentation, including test plans, test reports, troubleshooting guides, application notes, and product-support materials.

• Record test configurations, measurements, observations, failures, and results in a clear, organized, and traceable manner.

Customer and Field Support

• Assist with technical customer escalations by gathering information, reproducing issues when possible, documenting findings, and coordinating with internal engineering teams.

• Provide clear technical communication to internal stakeholders and, when appropriate, customers, technical support, or field personnel.

• Help develop troubleshooting guidance and product application materials that improve the customer experience.

• Escalate safety, reliability, quality, and customer-impact concerns promptly to the appropriate engineering or management team.

Collaboration and Professional Development

• Collaborate effectively with software, firmware engineering, manufacturing, quality, product management, and customer support teams.

• Manage assigned tasks and priorities, communicate progress and blockers, and seek guidance when needed.

• Build technical knowledge of company products, applicable standards, test methods, and customer applications.

• Demonstrate a continuous-learning mindset and contribute to a respectful, safety-conscious, and quality-focused team environment.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Physics, or another closely related technical field; equivalent relevant technical experience, internships, co-ops, projects, or military experience may be considered.

• Zero to three years of relevant engineering, field, product-development, manufacturing, quality, test, internship, co-op, or equivalent experience.

• Foundational understanding of electrical and electronic circuits, components, and measurement principles.

• Familiarity with common laboratory tools such as digital multimeters, power supplies, oscilloscopes, or similar equipment.

• Ability to follow test procedures, collect and analyze technical data, and document results accurately.

• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, organizational, and problem-solving skills.

• Clear written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to work collaboratively in a cross-functional, hands-on engineering environment.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience through coursework, internships, co-ops, projects, or prior roles with electronics hardware testing, embedded systems, firmware testing, power electronics, industrial equipment, automotive products, renewable energy products, or similar electromechanical systems.

• Exposure to Python, MATLAB, LabVIEW, CAD, scripting, data analysis, test automation, or other programming tools.

• Familiarity with structured problem-solving methods, such as Pareto analysis or basic corrective-action processes.

• Familiarity with engineering documentation, revision control or quality-management systems.

• Awareness of product safety, regulatory, environmental, or reliability test requirements.

• Experience with solar inverters, microinverters, power conversion, energy storage, automotive, industrial, or other power-electronics applications is a plus.

Working Environment

This role includes hands-on work in a laboratory, office, and/or manufacturing environment. The position may require occasional lifting of test equipment or product samples, use of personal protective equipment, and safe work around electrical and electronic equipment in accordance with company procedures. Some field visits expected.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary Range: DOE

Benefits:

We offer a competitive salary and performance-based bonus program, medical, dental, vision, accidental, FSA, HSA, Paid Time Off (PTO), and 401(k). ­­

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