Engineer, Project

The Electrical Application Engineer is ultimately responsible for ensuring that electrical application designs meet customer commitments, support manufacturing efficiency, and integrate seamlessly within the broader locomotive system, while maintaining clear ownership of schedule, quality, and deliverables. This role operates at the intersection of engineering design and real-world product execution, ensuring that electrical systems are not only functionally correct but also fully integrated, manufacturable, and aligned with customer requirements.

PRS Facility Location
EMD HQ LaGrange, IL - 400
Job Purpose
The Electrical Application Engineer is a highly accountable, execution-driven role responsible for the design and delivery of locomotive electrical application systems, with a primary focus on vehicle-level wiring, harnessing, and electrical integration. This role operates at the intersection of engineering design and real-world product execution, ensuring that electrical systems are not only functionally correct but also fully integrated, manufacturable, and aligned with customer requirements.

This position requires a hands-on "leader/doer" who takes full ownership of their work as a project lead, rather than executing predefined tasks. The engineer is responsible for driving efforts from early concept through final release, including developing wiring architectures, performing NX-based harness routing and packaging, and ensuring alignment across the full locomotive system.

A key expectation of this role is the ability to operate effectively with incomplete or evolving information. The successful candidate must proactively engage stakeholders, identify gaps, and translate ambiguity into clearly defined scope, assumptions, and actionable requirements that enable progress. This includes working across engineering, manufacturing, and sourcing teams to ensure designs are practical and executable at a production level.

The Electrical Application Engineer is ultimately responsible for ensuring that electrical application designs meet customer commitments, support manufacturing efficiency, and integrate seamlessly within the broader locomotive system, while maintaining clear ownership of schedule, quality, and deliverables.

Req ID
11983BR
Company Description
Progress Rail stands at the intersection of legacy and innovation-driving the future of rail with a pioneering spirit. Since its founding in 1983, the company has grown to become one of the world's largest and most trusted providers of railroad products, services, and technologies. Today, Progress Rail delivers a comprehensive portfolio of cost-effective solutions to railway customers around the globe. From the rails themselves to the EMD® locomotives that ride them, the company's products are in operation across more than 100 countries-powering progress and connecting communities. In 2006, Progress Rail joined Caterpillar Inc., further strengthening its ability to lead the rail industry with cutting-edge technology, unmatched expertise, and a commitment to excellence. At Progress Rail, the team is not just building the future of rail-they are making history every day.
Education / Training
• BSEE / BSME (or equivalent) required

Job Title
Electrical Project Engineer
City
La Grange
Key Job Elements
Electrical Application Engineer
Own and lead electrical application work end-to-end, from initial concept through final release, with full accountability for scope, quality, and schedule.

Operate effectively in ambiguous situations, where requirements are not fully defined:
o Proactively identify gaps in information
o Engage stakeholders to align on needs and constraints
o Define clear scope, assumptions, and requirements to move work forward

Take initiative to drive progress, rather than waiting for direction, ensuring that work advances despite uncertainty or incomplete inputs.

Serve as the project lead for assigned work, managing priorities, timelines, risks, and deliverables aligned with customer orders and manufacturing schedules.

Perform hands-on electrical design using NX, including:
o Harness routing and packaging
o Electrical application layouts and integration
o Design updates and configuration changes

Translate customer specifications into practical, manufacturable designs, leveraging standard approaches where possible.

Develop clear, complete, and actionable design documentation, including drawings, application data, and visual work instructions that enable efficient manufacturing execution.

Coordinate across engineering, manufacturing, and sourcing teams, ensuring alignment and successful implementation.

Communicate clearly and proactively, providing visibility to stakeholders on status, risks, decisions, and required actions.

Support manufacturing as needed to resolve issues, clarify intent, and implement design improvements.

Lead or participate in design reviews, ensuring designs are complete, aligned, and ready for execution.

Travels as required.

Qualifications and Experience
Skills and Abilities
• Demonstrated ability to work with limited or evolving information and create structured, actionable plans