Senior Sales Engineering

Senior Sales Engineer

Our client is a growing advanced aerospace automation and manufacturing technology company seeking a Senior Sales Engineer to support continued expansion across North American aerospace and advanced manufacturing markets. This is a newly created role for a customer-facing technical professional who can combine engineering knowledge, commercial judgment, and strong relationship-building skills to help develop and close complex engineered systems opportunities.

This role is focused on consultative technical sales for advanced automation, tooling, robotics, and capital equipment solutions used in production environments. The right candidate will be comfortable working directly with customers to understand manufacturing challenges, define requirements, shape practical technical solutions, and partner with internal teams to develop proposals that are both competitive and executable.

As the Senior Sales Engineer, you will serve as a technical lead during the business development and sales process. You will work with customers, engineering, program management, supply chain, and commercial stakeholders to identify opportunities, develop solution concepts, support proposal strategy, and help convert customer needs into contracted business.

Our client is expanding its presence in the North American aerospace and advanced manufacturing market. The Senior Sales Engineer will help build customer relationships, uncover new opportunities, and position advanced automation and tooling solutions for complex production environments. This person will also help ensure that customer commitments are aligned with internal capabilities, cost assumptions, schedule expectations, and execution plans.

This is a strong opportunity for someone who enjoys complex technical sales, customer discovery, proposal development, and long-cycle relationship building in aerospace or advanced manufacturing environments.

Aerospace tooling or automation companies

Technical sales roles supporting robotics, automation, tooling, or capital equipment

Applications engineering or systems engineering roles with customer-facing responsibility

Custom machinery or factory automation companies

Aerospace, defense, space, or advanced manufacturing environments

Companies selling complex engineered systems into production or manufacturing settings

The best candidates will bring a combination of engineering knowledge, technical sales experience, proposal experience, customer-facing communication skills, and established relationships in relevant markets.

Develop and support new customer opportunities across aerospace, defense, space, and advanced manufacturing markets

Build and maintain trusted relationships with engineering, operations, manufacturing, procurement, and leadership stakeholders

Conduct customer discovery, site visits, production assessments, technical workshops, and requirements discussions

Translate customer needs into clear technical requirements, solution concepts, and executable scopes

Lead or support technical solution development across robotics, tooling, controls, vision systems, factory integration, and related automation systems

Partner with engineering, program management, supply chain, and commercial teams to develop cost estimates, schedules, resource plans, assumptions, and risk profiles

Support RFIs, RFQs, RFPs, technical volumes, proposal responses, presentations, and customer reviews

Contribute to capture strategy, proposal positioning, value propositions, and customer-facing technical messaging

Evaluate technical feasibility, risks, assumptions, and tradeoffs during early opportunity development

Identify expansion opportunities, change proposals, and additional customer needs

Provide technical continuity from early sales engagement into program kickoff and execution

Help ensure a clear handoff from sales to program delivery, including scope, assumptions, risks, and customer expectations

Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, robotics, industrial engineering, or a related technical field preferred

• 7+ years of experience in technical sales, sales engineering, applications engineering, systems engineering, business development, or program engineering for complex engineered systems
• Experience with aerospace tooling, robotics, automation, capital equipment, custom machinery, or advanced manufacturing systems
• Demonstrated ability to develop technical solutions for complex hardware/software systems in industrial or production environments
• Ability to translate customer requirements into technical concepts, system architectures, and executable scopes
• Experience working directly with customers to define requirements, present solutions, and support pre-contract discussions
• Strong understanding of mechanical systems, controls, robotics, automated manufacturing, tooling, factory integration, or related technical domains
• Experience with RFIs, RFQs, RFPs, proposal development, cost estimation, technical volumes, scope definition, or customer-facing technical documentation
• Ability to evaluate technical feasibility, risks, assumptions, and commercial impacts during early solution development
• Strong customer-facing communication, presentation, relationship-building, and follow-through skills
• Ability to coordinate effectively across engineering, program management, commercial, supply chain, and manufacturing teams
• Comfort with regular domestic and international travel
• Ability to work onsite in the Greater Seattle area when not traveling
• Established relationships across aerospace, defense, space, or advanced manufacturing customers

Experience supporting or closing large, complex capital equipment opportunities

Experience with aerospace OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, space companies, defense contractors, or advanced manufacturing organizations

Background in robotic drilling, fastening, inspection, assembly automation, precision tooling, or factory automation

CAD proficiency, ideally with SolidWorks or CATIA, for concept development, layouts, and technical discussions

Experience with systems engineering principles, including requirements definition, interface management, and validation planning

Experience with industrial automation safety standards

Experience with international programs, suppliers, or customer coordination

Experience helping build or expand a commercial function, market, or territory

French language skills are a plus

Compensation and Incentive Structure

Travel expenses are covered. A performance-based bonus structure tied to successful deal closure and revenue impact.

Because this role supports market expansion, the person hired will help build long-term customer relationships, support successful deal closure, and contribute to revenue growth through high-value technical opportunities.

Opportunity to support complex aerospace automation and advanced manufacturing solutions

Ability to work on high-value engineered systems rather than commodity products

High visibility with customers, leadership, engineering, program management, and commercial teams

Strong technical environment where customer needs, engineering capability, and business strategy intersect

Relocation may be considered for the right candidate

Regular domestic and international travel to customer sites and industry opportunities