Associate Product Support Specialist

Phoenix Contact•Middletown, PA

About The Position

The Associate Product Support Specialists (APSS) provide level 1 technical support to Phoenix Contact customers, sales personnel and channel partners. The Associate Product Support Specialist will be responsible for providing technical advice and troubleshooting assistance for all Phoenix Contact products and related systems. The APSS will work with Phoenix Contact customers and channel partners and communicate all support case details to our customers and our sales team. While not supporting customers directly, the APSS will be expected to develop their knowledge of related products and systems.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in engineering or technical focus preferred
BSEE/EET/MFET/Computer Engineering, or related field
AS in Engineering or related field with a minimum 2 years of industrial automation experience
Demonstrate Level 1 across competency across all product areas through customer responses and testing.
Demonstrate Level 2 Competency in three or more areas of specialization
Competency in providing quality levels of service as demonstrated through practice as an Associate Support Specialist or equivalent experience
Working knowledge of control cabinet design process and principals
Knowledge of electrical engineering design fundamentals related to current, voltage, resistance, impedance, power dissipation, 4-20 mA current loops, single & three phase power 120/240/480VAC
Ability to learn or knowledge of system components, standards, and best practices: Panel installation, layout and marking
Ability to learn or knowledge of system components, standards, and best practices: Process system signal transmission and isolation
Ability to learn or knowledge of system components, standards, and best practices: Relay technology, and discrete signal transmission
Ability to learn or knowledge of system components, standards, and best practices: Power generation, transmission, distribution, and protection for AC and DC circuits
Ability to learn or knowledge of system components, standards, and best practices: Functional safety systems, specifications and standards
Ability to learn or knowledge of system components, standards, and best practices: Industrial controllers, distributed IO systems and communication protocols
Ability to learn or knowledge of system components, standards, and best practices: Network security, infrastructure and design as applied in industrial control systems
Ability to learn or knowledge of system components, standards, and best practices: Visualization technology and best practices
Ability to interpret electrical and mechanical schematics
Ability to communicate technical concepts and principles to non-technical people orally and in writing
Must be willing to work flexible shifts based on departmental needs, could include late nights to 7PM Eastern time
Ability to set priorities and perform simultaneous tasks

Responsibilities

Provide answers to questions through inbound calls, e-mails, and chats from customers, channel partners and sales team
Document customer inquiries in CRM system to provide customer and sales team detailed summary of required actions needed to meet customer needs
Meet job specific service and training goals, while following work processes as defined by management
Collaborate and communicate with other Phoenix Contact stakeholders to provide unified service experience
Make time for and utilize training resources to continually improve job skills and knowledge.
Understand why the customer is asking their questions and learn how to proactively address their next set of needs before they ask
Build a working knowledge of applicable policies and procedures, and their intent
Learn key stakeholders in other departments
Advise customers how to apply Phoenix Contact products to provide an optimum solution for their application
Analyze competitive product and specify Phoenix Contact product with equivalent electrical and mechanical characteristics
Qualify and gather input for system design through functional specification review or by direct customer interaction with minimal guidance
Develop proof of concept applications and implement test plans to validate proposed solutions
Research and understand existing competitive and emerging products and technologies and keep up to date with changing technologies and industry trends
Develop and maintain a basic understanding of industrial networking and communication technologies
Be on call for emergency services when required
Continuously develop knowledge on Phoenix Contact products and their applications in industry
Work to continually improve the quality of service offered to our customers and partners
Understand and maintain a working knowledge of any industry standards that play a role in industrial systems
Effective interpersonal skills with comfort in delivering group presentations
Accept feedback from other team members and management team
Effectively communicate with customers to understand their needs and provide appropriate solutions
Actively communicate with management and mentorship team, specifically addressing needs for training, suggestions for improvement, and critical customer issues and trends