Applications Engineering Manager

Applications Engineering Manager

VeloDyne ("Company") is wholly owned subsidiaries of Cleanwater1, Inc., a global provider of on-site hypochlorite generation equipment, polymer activation systems, chemical feed systems, and potable water mixing and treatment systems serving the water and wastewater treatment industries. Cleanwater1, Inc., through its various operating subsidiaries, is one of the most dynamic and fastest growing companies in the water infrastructure market. The Application Engineering Manager is a hands-on, working manager responsible for leading the Applications Engineering function while remaining actively engaged in day-to-day technical execution. This role balances people leadership, workload prioritization, and time management with direct technical support to Sales and Engineering. The successful candidate will ensure consistent, high-quality application support, timely proposal execution, and effective resource allocation across the team. This role is ideal for an experienced application engineer ready to lead others while continuing to contribute technically to complex opportunities. This is a full-time position based at the Company's Grain Valley, MO facility. The Applications Engineering Manager reports to the Director of Applications Engineering.

Essential Job Functions

• Work directly with the sales team to provide engineering design support for chemical feed and mixing equipment based on customer needs, technical resources, design specifications, and budgetary constraints.
• Develop proposals including design basis, specifications, drawings, and pricing.
• Prepare detailed material and labor cost estimates for the design and supply of equipment per written specifications.
• Develop proposals including process descriptions, work scopes, equipment lists, technical and commercial clarifications, exceptions to bid documents, and system pricing to meet customer requirements.
• Review bid documents and provide feedback to align equipment offering with plan and specification requirements as well as recommendations for alternative designs.
• Approve proposals compiled by the AE team including scopes of work, specifications, drawings, process descriptions, technical and commercial clarifications and exceptions to bid documents and system pricing to fulfill the requirements of customer specifications.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of applications engineers, setting clear expectations and performance standards.
• Actively manage team workload, priorities, and schedules to ensure on-time proposal and engineering deliverables.
• Serve as a technical escalation point for complex or high-risk applications.
• Balance personal technical workload with team leadership responsibilities to maintain responsiveness and quality.
• Coordinate staffing and resource planning to support sales demand and forecasted workload.
• Drive consistency in application engineering processes, proposal quality, and technical standards.
• Partner with Sales, Operations, and Engineering leadership to improve responsiveness, specification positioning, and win rates.
• Identify knowledge gaps, training needs, and process improvements within the Applications Engineering group.

Required Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. degree in mechanical, civil, chemical, or electrical engineering or a related discipline.
• Three to five years of engineering experience in a technical role or similar field.
• Two to five years of experience as a supervisor or manager.
• Ability to work well with others with minimal supervision.
• Strong time management and prioritization skills, including the ability to manage both personal and team workloads.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.
• Excellent technical writing skills and strong written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in applications engineering or sales support roles that included bidding and selling large storage silo equipment.
• Experience or knowledge of water disinfection and mixing technology, particularly equipment sizing.
• Ability to identify and define system design requirements.
• Experience in mechanical design.
• Experience with customer relationship management software (Salesforce).
• 2D CAD design experience (AutoCAD or SolidWorks).

Physical Demands

• Ability to sit for long periods of time.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.
• Ability to look at computer monitors for much of the workday.

Work Environment

• Approximately 90% Office. Occasional travel will be required between two company facilities in NJ & CO.
• Approximately 10% Light Industrial - May be exposed to areas of high noise levels, hazardous propellent chemicals and industrial facilities. Appropriate PPE and training will be provided for all conditions.