Sales Engineer - Industrial Automation

Koester Corporation – Napoleon, OH 43545

Pay:

$90,000 to $120,000/Year plus annual bonus, depending on experience and capabilities

Job Type:

Full-time

Work Location:

On-site/In Person (Napoleon, OH)

About Us:

Koester Corporation, located in Napoleon, OH, has been around for over 50 years, providing engineering services and industry solutions to a wide variety of customers. What started in 1970 building control panels for the foundry industry has grown into a full-service partner with in-house controls engineering, panel building, machining, and fabrication. We are actively seeking an experienced, technically strong Senior Sales Engineer to join our Electrical Engineering department and lead our engineering sales.

At Koester, we take pride in being a solutions provider. Our customers span material handling, water and wastewater, aerospace, and automotive, along with many other industries. With projects across the U.S., no two jobs look the same. In this role, you won’t just pass along leads. You will be the technical face of Koester to our customers: walking the plant floor, scoping the system, laying out the panel, and pricing the job so it is set up to succeed from day one. As our team grows, this position will lead our proposal engineering function.

Essential Skills and Duties:

Grow and Manage Customer Relationships:

• Serve as the primary technical sales contact for our existing customers, who drive the majority of our business.
• Build long-term relationships with plant engineers, maintenance managers, and purchasing to identify upcoming projects early.
• Identify and pursue new customers and markets as our sales team grows.
• Maintain an accurate sales pipeline, quote log, and forecast.

Scope and Engineer Solutions:

• Conduct site walks and customer meetings to define project scope, I/O, control architecture, and panel requirements.
• Develop preliminary panel layouts, bills of material, and system architectures detailed enough to quote accurately.

Estimate, Price, and Close Projects:

• Build complete quotations using Koester’s standard building blocks: panel design, PLC programming, HMI/SCADA development, and startup/commissioning.
• Set pricing and margins, prepare proposals, and present them to customers.
• Negotiate scope, terms, and change orders.
• Follow up on open quotes and close new work.

Hand Off and Support Project Execution:

• Hand off won projects to engineering with a clear scope, budget, and schedule.
• Support project engineers as the customer’s point of contact for scope questions and change orders.
• Review quoted versus actual hours on completed jobs to continuously improve estimating accuracy.

Lead and Mentor:

• Help develop and refine our quoting standards, templates, and sales processes.

Travel to Customer Sites:

• Regular regional travel in northwest Ohio and surrounding areas for site walks and customer meetings.
• Occasional overnight travel to customers across the U.S.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum of eight years of experience in controls engineering, systems integration, or technical sales in industrial automation.
• Four-year Engineering Degree (Electrical, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering Technology), or equivalent experience.
• Strong understanding of control panel design, including UL 508A requirements.
• Proficiency with Rockwell or Siemens controls equipment and PLCs.
• Familiarity with HMI/SCADA software.
• Proven ability to scope and estimate controls projects accurately.
• Strong communication and presentation skills with engineers, maintenance, and management.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Excel and Word.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with the ability to manage multiple quotes and deadlines.

Bonus Qualifications:

• Experience working for a systems integrator or panel shop
• Project management experience
• Experience with CRM or estimating software

Job Type:

Full-time

Salary:

$90,000 – $120,000 per year plus annual performance bonus (Based on level of experience and capability)

• Competitive salary plus annual performance bonus
• Dental, Health, and Vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Paid Vacations
• 401(k)

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday, day shift
• In-office position at our Napoleon, OH engineering office
• Travel as needed for customer visits (estimated 5-20%)