Director, Application Engineering

Company Overview

Nikkiso Clean Energy & Industrial Gases is a leading provider of cryogenic pumps, heat exchangers, process systems, services, and solutions for the LNG and industrial gases industry with over $250 M in annual revenue. We are a subsidiary of Nikkiso Company Ltd, a leading industrial manufacturer headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with over $1.5 B in annual revenue, 8000 + employees worldwide, and publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Job Overview

Nikkiso Applied Technologies is seeking a Director, Application Engineering to serve as a strategic leader within our global Application Engineering organization. This role reports directly to the Senior Vice President, Applications & Product Management and is responsible for leading all Application Engineering activities worldwide for our Standardized and Configurable product lines. The Director, Application Engineering will provide functional and strategic leadership across global regions, ensuring alignment between Application Engineering, Sales, Manufacturing, and Executive Leadership. The role is accountable for driving consistent processes, scalable solutions, and customer-focused execution in support of annual bookings and long-term business growth.

Responsibilities

Process & Procedure Development

• Define, implement, and continuously improve global application engineering processes to support sizing, costing, and proposal generation for standard and configurable products.
• Establish standardized tools and documentation, including:
  • One-page review documents to enable fast approvals in accordance with Executive Team authority levels
  • Proposal templates for standard and configurable offerings
  • Region-specific, standardized Sales Order Writeups

Talent & Organization Management

• Recruit, develop, and retain Application Engineering talent across both management and non-management roles.
• Establish regional staffing strategies supported by financial and functional justification to ensure appropriate coverage and performance.
• Coach and develop Regional Application Engineering Managers to build strong, high-performing teams aligned with business objectives.

Workload & Performance Management

• Define, implement, and monitor localized KPIs and performance metrics across all regions.
• Ensure Regional Application Engineering Managers consistently track and drive performance against key measures, including but not limited to:
  • Quoted value (local currency and/or USD) per month
  • Number of quotes generated per month
  • Capture amount and capture percentage
  • Time to quote
  • Response time following support request
  • Follow-up timing after quote submission

Reporting & Executive Communication

• Prepare and deliver consolidated performance reporting for the Executive Team, providing both high-level insights and actionable detail.
• Reporting cadence includes:
  • Weekly activity updates
  • Monthly summaries and performance results
  • Quarterly business reviews and results

Customer Satisfaction & Service Excellence

• Design, implement, and manage a closed-loop customer satisfaction process for the Application Engineering function.
• Drive engagement and satisfaction across both internal and external customers, including:
  • Internal stakeholders such as Business Line Managers, Sales Managers, General Managers, and Operations leaders
  • External stakeholders such as Purchasing Managers, Engineering Managers, Estimators, and Expeditors
• Ensure continuous feedback, corrective actions, and process improvements based on customer input.

Strategy & Business Growth

• Define and execute global and regional Application Engineering strategies that directly support bookings growth and business expansion.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Sales and Product teams to support regional sales strategies and growth initiatives.
• Actively support Key Customer relationships in alignment with regional sales approaches.

Global Presence & Leadership

• Travel internationally as required to provide in-region leadership, training, and team development.
• Foster alignment, accountability, and consistency across global regions while respecting local market needs.

Global Bookings Growth

• Year-over-year growth in bookings for standard and configurable products, measured in total dollars and percentage growth.

Market Share Expansion

• Year-over-year market share growth in relevant markets.
• Where direct market data is limited, proxy measures such as win/loss rates against key competitors and growth within key customer accounts will be used.

New Product Introduction (NPI) Success

• Effectiveness of new product launches in collaboration with Product Directors and Sales.
• KPIs include:
  • Time to market penetration (orders received versus launch date)
  • Percentage of annual revenue generated from products launched within the last 1-3 years

Product Adoption & Sales Mix

• Adoption rates of standard and configurable products across regions, measured by units sold and revenue contribution.
• Monitoring product mix to ensure alignment with customer demand and appropriate application support.

Customer Satisfaction (Quality & Service Metrics)

• Customer satisfaction scores related to application engineering support and ease of doing business.
• Measurement tools may include Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) surveys, or equivalent metrics.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of industry best practices and standards of excellence
• Extensive experience in both an engineered and high-volume sales environment
• Specific industry experience and knowledge in the following (amongst others):
• LNG
• Industrial Gas
• Clean Energy
• Hydrogen
• Exceptional problem solving, negotiating, time management, and general management skills
• Ability to grow and motivate a result driven team of engineering and sales professionals

EEOC Statement

Nikkiso Clean Energy & Industrial Gases Group companies are proud to be equal opportunity employers. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.