Sales Engineer

Sales Engineer

The Sales Engineer is responsible for developing and maintaining strong customer relationships within the assigned region while identifying and pursuing opportunities to grow aftermarket sales, including services, repairs, upgrades, parts, and technical solutions. This role combines technical expertise with commercial execution, serving as a key customer-facing representative who understands customer needs, recommends value-driven solutions, supports proposal development, and partners with internal teams to ensure successful execution. The Sales Engineer is expected to maintain an active field presence through frequent regional travel, manage opportunities through the sales process, utilize CRM tools effectively, and contribute to revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and long-term business development objectives.

This position is located in Chicago, IL

Essential Functions/Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and strengthen long-term relationships with customers within the assigned region to support customer retention, satisfaction, and revenue growth.
• Identify, qualify, and pursue new business opportunities within the assigned territory, including aftermarket services, repairs, upgrades, parts, service agreements, and technical solutions.
• Serve as commercial point of contact for customers, helping assess needs and recommend appropriate products, services, and solutions.
• Manage regional sales activities, including prospecting, customer visits, opportunity development, quote follow-up, and sales pipeline management.
• Conduct regular customer site visits to understand installed equipment, operating conditions, service needs, and potential growth opportunities.
• Develop and execute territory plans that align with regional sales goals, market priorities, and overall business strategy.
• Collaborate with proposal managers, operations, engineering, product management, and field service teams to develop accurate, competitive, and customer-focused proposals.
• Provide technical input and customer requirements to internal teams to support the preparation of quotations, scopes of work, pricing, and service recommendations.
• Maintain current knowledge of company products, services, applications, and technical capabilities to effectively communicate value to customers.
• Monitor customer needs, market trends, competitor activity, and regional business conditions to identify risks, opportunities, and areas for growth.
• Use CRM tools to maintain accurate records of customer interactions, opportunities, forecasts, pipeline activity, installed base information, and sales progress.
• Prepare and deliver sales presentations, technical discussions, and business proposals to customers, highlighting the value, benefits, and differentiators of NCS offerings.
• Support contract and commercial negotiations with customers, including scope clarification, pricing discussions, terms review, and resolution of open commercial items.
• Partner with operations and field service teams to support successful execution of sold work and ensure customer expectations are clearly communicated and understood.
• Proactively follow up on customer issues, service concerns, delivery commitments, and technical questions to support timely resolution and customer satisfaction.
• Represent the company at customer meetings, industry events, trade shows, technical seminars, and other business development activities as needed.
• Promote a culture of world-class customer service, professionalism, safety, dependability, and accountability in all customer and internal interactions.
• Complete required safety training, follow company safety policies, and wear approved PPE when visiting customer sites, workshops, production facilities, or field service locations.
• Other duties as assigned.

Competencies

• Customer Focus: Strong commitment to understanding customer needs, building long-term relationships, providing responsive support, and delivering solutions that improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Technical Aptitude: Ability to understand industrial equipment, aftermarket services, technical applications, and customer operating conditions in order to recommend appropriate products, repairs, upgrades, and service solutions.
• Sales and Business Development: Demonstrated ability to identify opportunities, develop leads, manage accounts, grow revenue, and support achievement of regional sales goals.
• Relationship Building: Ability to establish trust and credibility with customers, internal teams, suppliers, and other stakeholders through professionalism, follow-through, and consistent communication.
• Communication Skills: Strong verbal, written, listening, and presentation skills, with the ability to explain technical and commercial information clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Negotiation and Influence: Ability to support commercial discussions, address objections, influence customer decisions, and help move opportunities through the sales process.
• Problem Solving: Ability to assess customer challenges, gather relevant information, coordinate internal resources, and recommend practical solutions in a timely and professional manner.
• Results Orientation: Self-motivated and accountable for meeting sales objectives, maintaining an active pipeline, following up on opportunities, and delivering measurable business results.
• CRM and Sales Process Discipline: Ability to accurately maintain customer records, opportunities, forecasts, installed base information, and account activity using CRM and other sales tools.
• Market Awareness: Understanding of regional market dynamics, competitor activity, customer needs, and industry trends that may impact sales strategy and business opportunities.
• Collaboration and Teamwork: Ability to work effectively with operations, field service, engineering, proposal, product management, finance, and customer service teams to support customer requirements and business goals.
• Planning and Organization: Strong ability to prioritize accounts, manage travel schedules, prepare for customer meetings, track follow-up actions, and balance multiple opportunities at different stages of the sales cycle.
• Adaptability: Ability to adjust to changing customer priorities, travel demands, proposal deadlines, market conditions, and internal business needs.
• Commercial Acumen: Understanding of pricing, margins, customer value, contract considerations, and the financial impact of sales decisions.
• Safety Mindset: Commitment to following company and customer safety requirements, completing required safety training, and using appropriate PPE when visiting customer sites, workshops, or industrial environments.
• Professionalism and Accountability: Demonstrates integrity, reliability, responsiveness, sound judgment, and ownership of customer commitments and business responsibilities.

Work Environment

This position operates in a combination of office, remote, customer site, workshop, and industrial field environments. Significant regional travel is required to maintain customer relationships, develop new business opportunities, support technical sales activities, and achieve expected customer-facing engagement levels, including the organization's 1:1 customer engagement ratio.

The Sales Engineer will regularly visit customer offices, production facilities, service centers, and industrial job sites. Work environments may vary and can include exposure to shop conditions, industrial noise, temperature changes, moving equipment, and customer-specific safety requirements. The employee must follow all company and customer safety policies, complete required safety training, and wear approved PPE as needed.

Qualifications

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business Administration, Technical Sales, or a related field preferred; equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
• Technical degree, trade certification, or equivalent hands-on experience with industrial equipment, rotating equipment, cryogenic systems, pumps, compressors, or related mechanical systems may be acceptable in lieu of a bachelor's degree.
• Continued education or training in technical sales, customer relationship management, negotiation, industrial safety, or project management is preferred.

Experience

• Minimum of 35 years of experience in technical sales, sales engineering, business development, account management, field service, applications engineering, or a related customer-facing technical role.
• Experience selling or supporting aftermarket services, repairs, maintenance, upgrades, spare parts, service agreements, or technical solutions in an industrial, manufacturing, energy, LNG, industrial gas, or rotating equipment environment preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong customer relationships, identify customer needs, and develop business opportunities within an assigned region or territory.
• Proven ability to meet or exceed sales goals, manage a sales pipeline, support proposal development, and close business opportunities.
• Experience conducting customer visits, site assessments, technical discussions, sales presentations, and commercial follow-up with customers.
• Working knowledge of CRM systems, sales forecasting, opportunity tracking, and customer account management required; Salesforce experience preferred.
• Ability to understand technical product and service offerings and translate customer needs into practical commercial and technical solutions.
• Experience collaborating with operations, field service, engineering, proposal, product management, and customer service teams to support customer requirements and business objectives.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present technical and commercial information clearly to customers and internal stakeholders.

Nikkiso Clean Energy & Industrial Gases