Applications Engineer

Description

Thermal Care, part of the Piovan Group, is a leading manufacturer of process cooling equipment and systems for applications worldwide. As an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer, Thermal Care provides heat transfer equipment for over 50 industries and specializes in meeting the specific needs of our customers by offering both standard and custom designed industrial process cooling solutions. Some of the industries served include plastics, laser, heat treating, food processing, machine tool, plating, anodizing, chemical, die casting, optical coating, and printing.

Role

The Application Engineer is a technical sales position that works in tandem with an inside sales associate supporting the outside regional sales managers, industrial market managers, and their respective sales representatives in generating revenue through the sale of equipment and presenting technical solutions to customers. The application engineer responds to requests for information and requests for quotations, supports customers with evaluations of the products, and acts as a technical resource during the entire sales cycle. This role also serves to coordinate the activities of the sales, engineering, production, and customer service departments as needed to successfully fulfill the requirements of a project from the quotation stage to start-up of the system, if necessary. The application engineer must be willing to travel when required and participate in industry trade show events. This position will report to the Director of Sales and is located in Niles, Illinois.

Duties and Responsibilities

System Specification/Application Review

• Evaluate customer requests for product sizing, pricing, and determining specific requirements suitable for the application
• Collaborate with the Regional Managers, Industrial Markets Managers, Sales Representatives, OEM accounts, and Engineering to determine concept designs for system configurations and product selections that fit the customer’s application
• Explain the system design and product options that meet the requirements and performance expectations to all parties involved in clear and consistent written and verbal presentations
• Prepare internal requests for costing and delivery purposes based on customer specifications or expectations

System Quotation Preparation

• Obtain or prepare cost and delivery estimates for equipment using established templates and cost estimating formulae and establish a selling price for the product and/or system
• Identify long lead-time system components and other delivery parameters and work with production planning and vendors to determine a valid shipment lead-time
• Coordinate the preparation of a formal system quotation that specifies the customer requirements, system design, component product specifications, price and delivery lead-time, describing in sufficient detail in order to communicate exactly what is being provided for the price being quoted
• Provide submittal drawings and other documents that are needed during the quotation process, with assistance from engineering and vendors, as needed to present a professional final proposal
• Work closely with the appropriate sales manager and customer to successfully negotiate the sale; this may include travel to the job site
• Work closely with the inside sales associate as the technical leader, sharing technical information in order to accelerate their training
• Keep up to date with emerging technologies and understand their potential impact on our business solutions
• Learn and analyze the competition to fully understand and articulate the differences between competitors

Systems Order Fulfillment

• Manage the order fulfillment process for system orders. Verify that what was sold is accurately written up by the inside sales associate
• Communicate information to engineering and be available to answer all questions pertaining to the job
• Become the primary contact for the customer until the equipment is started up
• Coordinate the process for submitting and obtaining signoff of approval drawings and locking in the design requirements for the system at the time of order
• Manage the process for making system price adjustments for engineering change notices necessary to adjust the design from the requirements of the original quotation
• Communicate a system shipment date for the order and keep customers, the regional managers, industrial markets managers, OEM accounts, and sales representatives posted of any changes to promised delivery dates during the design and manufacturing process of the system

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering
• Some experience in an application engineering or technical sales role is preferred
• Proven track record of driving multiple concurrent projects successfully from start to completion
• Ability to understand technical subjects and emerging technologies and their relevance to the marketplace
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Exceptional organizational, analytical, planning, communication, interpersonal, and problem solving skills
• Leadership, management, and team motivation skills
• Remain flexible and adaptable within a fast-paced, changing environment
• Ability to work with minimal supervision and to make quick decisions with a high degree of accuracy
• Demonstrated successful experience providing technical quotations for industrial equipment
• Experience interfacing effectively with manufacturing operations
• Proficient in the use of MS Office Applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook
• Working knowledge of AutoCAD or other similar drafting is a plus
• Must be legally able to work in the United States

PiovanGroup is a world leader in the development and production of systems for the automation of production processes for the storage, transport and treatment of polymers, plastic, and food powders. The Group is close to its customers, on a global basis, through continuous technical assistance and support from the design phase to the installation and start-up of the system.

Customers, People, Innovation. These are the pillars of our philosophy that have led us to grow in a path that began more than fifty years ago, pursuing our development objectives with honesty, integrity, and transparency.

PiovanGroup offers an outstanding compensation and benefits package including profit sharing, bonus plans, 401(k) with company match, medical insurance, dental, vision, life insurance, short- and long-term disability, health club reimbursement, tuition reimbursement, employee assistance, and employee referral bonus program.

PiovanGroup is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) and offers employment opportunities to all qualified persons regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability (except where physical or mental abilities are a bona fide occupational requirement), veteran status, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, HIV-positive status, possession of the sickle cell trait, genetic characteristics, political views, and any other basis protected by federal, state or local laws.