Sales & Applications Engineer III

Sentry Equipment•Oconomowoc, WI

About The Position

Act as the commercial and technical liaison between customers, manufacturers' representatives, outside sales personnel, and internal departments for engineered and application-based solutions. Analyze customer needs, purchase orders, contracts, and technical specifications; establish design and pricing criteria; recommend appropriate solutions; and prepare accurate proposals. Own front-end order management activities through customer approval and formal handoff to Operations Project Management. Work under minimal supervision, apply broad experience to complex opportunities, and provide technical guidance to lower-level engineers and technicians.

Requirements

Act as the commercial and technical liaison between customers, manufacturers' representatives, outside sales personnel, and internal departments for engineered and application-based solutions.
Analyze customer needs, purchase orders, contracts, and technical specifications.
Establish design and pricing criteria.
Recommend appropriate solutions.
Prepare accurate proposals.
Own front-end order management activities through customer approval and formal handoff to Operations Project Management.
Work under minimal supervision.
Apply broad experience to complex opportunities.
Provide technical guidance to lower-level engineers and technicians.

Responsibilities

Ensure accurate, efficient, and timely preparation of technical and commercial proposals in coordination with Outside Sales, Engineering, Production Control, Manufacturing, Quality, and other internal stakeholders, in accordance with current policies and procedures, including export compliance.
Review customer purchase orders, contracts, and specifications to confirm commercial and technical requirements, identify exceptions or clarifications, and verify alignment with the quoted scope before order acceptance and release.
Examine customer applications and use computer programs and other technical resources to recommend appropriate product sizing, performance, materials, and configuration.
Determine pricing and design criteria, develop quotations, and communicate assumptions, exclusions, deliverables, and schedule expectations clearly to the customer and internal teams.
Communicate with customers to follow up on quotations and support them through the sales and pre-approval process; coordinate with Outside Sales Personnel to ensure customer needs are understood and met or exceeded.
Create and maintain front-end project records and controls, as applicable, including project setup, customer submittal logs, clarification logs, customer schedules, payment milestone logs, and customer portal requirements.
Coordinate preparation and submission of pre-approval documents, including customer submittals, quality documentation, and other required technical or commercial deliverables.
Facilitate customer and internal meetings during the pre-approval phase, document decisions and action items, and maintain alignment among Sales, Engineering, Quality, Operations, and the customer.
Coordinate scope changes with Engineering and manage related commercial changes through the change-order process, ensuring impacts to price, scope, and schedule are documented and communicated.
Monitor front-end project costs and commercial commitments prior to approval, escalating risks, scope gaps, schedule conflicts, and margin concerns as appropriate.
Prepare complete and accurate order transmittal and handoff packages in accordance with current procedures for transfer of approved order information to Engineering, Production, and Operations Project Management.
Responsible for sales processes such as quote creation, HubSpot maintenance and development, customer service activities, maintenance of price sheets and application survey forms, review and markup of manuals, and continuous improvement of sales processes.
Make recommendations to improve product performance, reduce costs, improve reliability, and strengthen the customer experience.
Perform order and customer follow-up to support customer satisfaction and continued business relationships.
Provide technical support for traveling Sales Managers, Manufacturers' Representatives, and service personnel, and function as an in-house backup.
Assist Marketing with development of marketing materials and participate on new product development teams as the business unit sales representative.
Develop and implement sales training materials and programs; help organize and participate in company-sponsored sales meetings.
Travel occasionally for customer sales calls, project meetings, trade shows, training events, or other business needs.
Complete special projects and other duties as assigned.