Senior Sales Engineer – Custom Automation & Machine Building

Develop • Verona, WI

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

DEVELOP LLC is an engineering company that designs and builds custom machines and robotic integrations for manufacturers across the country. We are a FANUC Authorized Systems Integrator and an A3 Certified Robot Integrator based in Verona, Wisconsin. Our buyers are mid-sized and large manufacturers, growth-minded companies solving real capacity, quality, and labor problems. Machine builds run $500K to $5M, and the relationships trend toward multi-million-dollar annual accounts. This role is for an engineer who moved into sales or a technical seller who earned their engineering experience on plant floors and in design reviews, with five or more years of experience selling engineered products, custom equipment, or automation. The position offers uncapped margin-based commission and dedicated engineering support for every deal. The role exists because there are more deals in the pipeline than the existing team can manage, with marketing qualified leads screened before reaching the sales engineer.

Requirements

• Five or more years of experience selling engineered products, custom equipment, or automation.
• Five or more years in or around manufacturing (on the floor, in the shop, in the process).
• Ability to listen more than talk.
• Ability to ask for the business without flinching, handle rejection, and move deals forward.
• Manufacturing credibility; understanding of how things get made and respect for those who make them.
• Ability to hold a layout in your head after walking a plant floor.
• Ability to turn observations into rough 2D concepts.
• Patience, as the sales cycle runs 6 months to 3+ years.

Nice To Haves

• Technical sales experience in automation, industrial equipment, or engineered products (integrator, distributor, or component supplier side).
• Familiarity with FANUC robotics, machine automation, or controls systems.
• Engineering degree, or a design or manufacturing engineering role earlier in your career.
• CAD background (SolidWorks, Inventor, AutoCAD).
• HubSpot or similar CRM experience.

Responsibilities

• Take marketing qualified meetings and turn them into relationships.
• Represent DEVELOP at 3 to 8 trade shows annually.
• Travel to client facilities to understand their problems.
• Listen to manufacturers to understand their actual needs and the underlying 'why' (growth, capacity, quality, labor).
• Lead roadmap and assessment engagements end-to-end, including discovery and presenting findings with engineering support.
• Conceptualize machine layouts and footprints on-site, which serve as the starting point for engineers.
• Run deeper qualification on leads using BANT+S.
• Filter out misaligned projects to protect the engineering team's time.
• Maintain HubSpot CRM with deal status and next actions.
• Close paid scoping engagements or scoped machines similar to existing builds.
• Pass large complex builds and strategic expansions to the founder.
• Build a book of accounts that grows year over year.

Benefits

• Uncapped margin-based commission.
• Engineers staffed behind every deal.
• Profit sharing: 10% of company profit shared across the entire team.
• 401(k) with 3.5% company match.
• 100% of employee health premium company paid.
• All business travel company paid.
• Personal vehicle reimbursed at the IRS standard mileage rate; vehicle allowance reviewed as road miles build.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior