Principal Engineer – Electrical, Lightning Protection & Ice Mitigation

GE Vernova•Greenville, NC

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

GE Vernova is seeking a Principal Engineer to provide technical leadership in Lightning Protection & Ice Mitigation for wind turbine blades—an area critical to safety, quality, and long‑term performance. This Control Title Holder (CTH) role owns the technical underwriting of the lightning protection and ice mitigation systems design concepts, specifications, practices, issue resolution approaches, and defect acceptance criteria across the full product lifecycle. Lightning protection and ice mitigation represent the primary protection for the wind turbine blade against environmental events. This includes integrating the wind blade into the turbine grounding system along with other components within the wind turbine blade, such as the monitoring system and carbon components. In this role, you will define and enforce the technical rigor required to ensure design decisions result in safe, high‑quality products and services that meet customer and regulatory expectations. You will collaborate closely with blade design teams, cross‑functional partners, and designated technical experts across Design, Systems, Quality, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing—providing both technical oversight and hands‑on contribution as needed. You will support the Blades Chief Engineer in setting and executing strategy related to design robustness, factory and field issue resolution, and technology development within the lightning and ice mitigation domain. A key responsibility of this role is mentoring and developing engineering talent, building sustainable technical depth within blade structural components. This is a senior technical leadership role requiring deep domain expertise, strong systems thinking, and disciplined problem‑solving, while actively advancing organizational capability and engineering excellence.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or college in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline.
10+ years of professional experience in high voltage and high current electrical systems.
Eligibility to obtain authorization for access to U.S. export-controlled information.

Nice To Haves

Master’s or PhD degree preferred.
In‑depth knowledge of high voltage electro physics.
In‑depth knowledge of IEC 61400-24 requirements and testing procedures and the building‑block approach to validation.
Working knowledge of composite manufacturing processes.
Prior experience in technical leadership roles guiding teams through structured design processes to deliver safe, high‑quality products.
Direct experience with wind turbine blade composite structural design and material systems for insulating characteristics.
Knowledge of APQP, TRL/MRL, and statistical process control methodologies.
Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary engineering teams, including globally distributed teams, through design reviews, technical assessments, and root cause investigations.
Proven experience resolving complex technical issues through cross‑functional collaboration and structured problem‑solving tools such as FMEA and RCA / 8D.
Knowledge of wind turbine industry standards and regulations applicable to blade lightning and ice mitigation systems.
Experience in project execution, translating high‑level objectives into clear, actionable plans and driving disciplined operational execution.
Ability to articulate 1D and 2D design into 3D models to visualize interactions of components with electro physics.
Track record of curiosity and passion for identifying, developing, and implementing new technologies, methods, and ideas that result in differentiated product outcomes.
Experience coaching, mentoring, and developing engineering talent to support long‑term professional growth and succession.

Responsibilities

Serve as the global Control Title Holder (CTH) for lightning protection and ice mitigation; own the technology roadmap, design specifications, and underwriting of all system concepts, defect acceptance criteria, and safety practices across the product lifecycle.
Define and oversee the holistic integration of lightning protection and grounding from blade tip to foundation; manage electro-physics modeling, high-voltage transient analysis, and EMI design to ensure system reliability and common-mode current mitigation in bearings.
Lead robust validation campaigns—including HALT and subscale testing—to verify performance under extreme environmental conditions; chair critical design reviews and drive FMEA-based risk mitigation to ensure design robustness.
Collaborate with Design, Manufacturing, Quality, and Supply Chain to provide hands‑on technical guidance on NPI, factory quality issues, field repairs, and the integration of advanced heating technologies for ice mitigation.
Drive organizational excellence by mentoring engineering talent, setting technical rigor standards, and representing the company in international standards bodies (e.g., IEC, UL) to influence regulatory requirements and industry best practices.

Benefits

Relocation Assistance Provided: Yes
medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage
access to Health Coach from GE Vernova, a 24/7 nurse-based resource
access to the Employee Assistance Program, providing 24/7 confidential assessment, counseling and referral services.
GE Vernova Retirement Savings Plan, a tax-advantaged 401(k) savings opportunity with company matching contributions and company retirement contributions, as well as access to Fidelity resources and financial planning consultants.
tuition assistance
adoption assistance
paid parental leave
disability benefits
life insurance
12 paid holidays
permissive time off