Technical Sales Consultant – PLC & Automation Systems
About The Position
Equipment & Controls, Inc. (ECI), an Emerson Impact Partner, is seeking a Technical Sales Consultant to join their Process Systems and Solutions team. This role offers an entrepreneurial opportunity to contribute to the company's mission of delivering successful customer outcomes. ECI serves a diverse range of industries including oil and gas, chemical, power, food and beverage, mining and metals, life sciences, pulp and paper, refining, petrochemical, OEM, and nuclear. The Technical Sales Consultant will collaborate with Account Managers, Inside Sales, Engineering, and customers to identify, qualify, and develop automation opportunities involving PLCs, HMIs, industrial networks, software, drives, MCCs, field devices, and related services. This customer-facing, pre-sales position involves translating customer needs into viable solutions, leading technical discussions, supporting proposal development, and guiding opportunities from discovery to execution. While not primarily a detailed engineering or programming role, the candidate must be technically adept at defining requirements, developing preliminary architectures, and communicating value to guide engineering efforts.
Requirements
- Five or more years of hands-on experience in industrial automation, controls, systems integration, or a related technical field; equivalent industry experience will be considered.
- Experience with PLC platforms such as DeltaV PLC, PAC systems or other PLCs.
- Demonstrated experience architecting PLC-based systems.
- Ability to understand and discuss PLC applications across one or more industrial markets, such as process control, discrete manufacturing, packaging, automotive, food and beverage, power, OEM, or water/wastewater.
- Customer-facing experience leading technical discussions, discovery sessions, site activities, project meetings, or similar engagements.
- Strong presentation, consulting, written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
- Ability to work collaboratively with multiple Account Managers, Inside Sales Engineers, Engineering, Project Management, and service teams.
- Willingness and ability to travel regionally to support sales calls, customer meetings, site assessments, and related activities is required, including regional travel to customer sites and sales meetings and occasional overnight travel.
- Valid driver’s license and ability to meet customer-site access requirements.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with Emerson PACSystems or comparable PLC and HMI/SCADA platforms.
- Experience with industrial Ethernet, EtherNet/IP, Profinet, Modbus, DeviceNet, or similar communication protocols.
- Experience with PLC modernization, legacy-system migration, control-system networking, cybersecurity, functional safety, or lifecycle support.
- Experience developing proposals, estimates, bills of material, technical specifications, or statements of work.
- Previous sales, applications engineering, consulting, project leadership, or systems-integration experience.
Responsibilities
- Partner with Account Managers to identify, qualify, and advance PLC and automation sales opportunities.
- Participate in customer site visits, control-system assessments, network walkdowns, and front-end engineering or consulting activities.
- Develop preliminary control-system architectures.
- Serve as the technical lead during pre-sales meetings, presentations, demonstrations, proposal reviews, and customer negotiations.
- Translate customer requirements, specifications, I/O lists, process narratives, drawings, and other source information into clear technical assumptions and solution concepts.
- Act as a conduit between customers, Account Managers, Inside Sales, Engineering, Project Management, and service personnel to support accurate and timely proposals.
- Collaborate with Inside Sales and Engineering to develop bills of material, preliminary estimates, proposal scope, exclusions, assumptions, schedules, and technical deliverables.
- Conduct effective technical handoffs to Engineering and Project Management after an opportunity is awarded.
Benefits
- Competitive salary
- Excellent benefits package
- Retirement savings program which includes a 401(k) plan with company match and profit sharing
- World-class products
- Industry marketing
- Excellent initial and ongoing training
- Sales tools
- Laptop
- Cell phone
- Car allowance
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
