Applications Engineer

MISSION TAR’s mission is to power intelligence for the world. We are building the world’s first off-grid power plant for data centers powered by renewable technologies. We firmly believe AI should be built in the US for the benefit of all people. For that, power must be fast, clean and scalable. We are singularly focused on delivering GW-scale power faster than anyone has ever done, by rethinking every layer of the stack. We vertically integrate to solve every bottleneck, from racking systems to power electronics to dispatch algorithms to on-site construction. Leave your mark on the future of civilization-scale energy infrastructure. COMPANY TAR is both a hardware and software company, we are building out massive, critical, physical infrastructure. TAR is working directly with one of the largest compute providers to scale and deploy 5GWs by 2028. We operate on… - High ownership. High Agency. Own project end-to-end. Great people don’t need to be managed. - Speed. We achieve great things on incredible timelines. We push ourselves to go faster. - First principles. No ego. No hierarchy. Challenge every assumption. - Passion. Solving the energy problem is one of the largest challenges that faces the world now and in the future. ABOUT THE ROLE TAR builds renewable-powered, off-grid data center infrastructure, and we have a standard way of doing it: a repeatable set of designs, equipment, and construction methods we know how to deliver. Not every opportunity fits that mold. As the Applications Engineer, you own technical qualification for the ones that don't. You will build and maintain the framework that decides whether a site or deal is viable for TAR to execute, and you hold the final word on technical fit, with direct line of sight into $/MW, capex, and deployment schedule. This is a judgment role, not a design role. You will be the person development, business development, and partner teams call when an opportunity doesn't fit the standard playbook: an edge site, a distributed energy asset, a co-located industrial opportunity, or something nobody has seen before. You will walk sites with the development team, translate raw field conditions into technical and execution requirements, and make fit/no-fit calls across electrical, thermal, and civil disciplines on incomplete information, in days, not weeks. What you learn feeds straight back into how TAR designs and builds. Detailed design of record and construction execution sit with engineering and project delivery teams. Your work determines which opportunities TAR pursues, what it will take to deliver them, and where TAR's capabilities need to grow next. RESPONSIBILITIES - Build and own TAR's technical qualification framework for non-standard opportunities: the criteria, screening tools, and decision gates that determine whether a site or deal is viable for TAR to execute across power, civil, and deployment constraints. - Make the final technical fit/no-fit call on sites and deals, often on incomplete information, and deliver defensible recommendations in days, with assumptions, risks, and conditions to proceed stated plainly. - Tie every technical recommendation to its commercial consequence, including $/MW, capex, and deployment schedule, so business development and leadership can price, structure, and commit to deals with full transparency. - Serve as the technical escalation point for development, business development, and partner teams on opportunities outside the standard playbook, including edge sites, distributed energy assets, co-located industrial facilities, and first-of-kind configurations, defining what each would require beyond TAR's standard approach and what it would cost. - Walk sites first-hand with development teams and translate raw field conditions, such as power availability, land and solar resource, heat rejection and water, soils, access, and permitting constraints, into concrete technical and execution requirements. - Assess electrical fit end to end, from generation, storage, and islanded operation through MV/LV distribution, power quality, redundancy, and protection, alongside the thermal and civil interfaces that determine whether data center load can be deployed and operated at a site. - Test each opportunity against TAR's ability to execute, including equipment lead times, supply chain, construction capacity, and partner capabilities, and flag where execution, not engineering, is the binding constraint. - Feed field and deal learnings back into TAR's standard designs, equipment standards, and execution playbook, identifying the recurring gaps that cost TAR deals, margin, or schedule and driving them to resolution with engineering and project delivery teams. QUALIFICATIONS - Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, or a related engineering degree backed by deep, hands-on electrical power experience. - 10+ years of engineering experience, with significant time in applications, solutions, or pre-sales engineering, owner's engineering, or project development for data centers, power, or other critical infrastructure. - Strong electrical power systems background: MV/LV distribution, single-line diagrams, utility service, protection and redundancy topologies, and applicable codes and standards such as NEC and IEEE. - Working fluency across adjacent disciplines, including thermal and cooling, civil and site work, and construction and deployment, sufficient to spot fatal flaws and size their cost and schedule impact without a specialist in the room. - Demonstrated business judgment: a track record of translating technical conditions into capex, $/MW, and schedule impact, and of making or shaping go/no-go decisions on deals or projects. - Proven ability to make sound calls quickly on incomplete information, and to state assumptions, risks, and confidence levels clearly. - Clear written and verbal communication with engineers, developers, commercial teams, partners, and executives. - Ability to travel regularly for site walks and partner meetings. NICE TO HAVE - Experience with data center electrical and mechanical infrastructure, including liquid cooling or modular and prefabricated deployments. - Background in solar, battery storage, behind-the-meter generation, microgrids, or off-grid power systems. - Experience qualifying edge, co-located industrial, or other non-traditional sites. - EPC, construction, or project delivery experience that sharpens judgment on what can actually be built, and how fast. - Experience building qualification frameworks, screening tools, or cost models used by commercial teams. - PE licensure. SALARY AND BENEFITS - Up to $15K relocation bonus - Unlimited PTO - Health, Dental, Vision insurance - $1K monthly stipend for meals