THE NO-NONSENSE SUMMARY: This position is intended for technically strong sales engineering professionals who love to work with engineers from other high-tech companies to solve their manufacturing challenges using adhesives, chemicals, and plastics. Reporting to the Regional Sales Manager, this position is meant for engineering professionals with 3 – 10 years of experience in any related engineering field. Be sure to read to the end of the description to be sure you don’t miss an important detail.
THE ROLE
Yes, you read that right – we’re looking for a ROCKSTAR. If the title sounds unconventional, it’s because CAPLINQ is too. We’re looking for that special someone who has not one, but two complementary skills – the amazing ability to grasp and explain technical concepts and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Let me come right out and say that we welcome Sales Engineering professionals from any related field with 3-5 years of experience who are interested in proving themselves as Sales Engineering professionals before being promoted to the Country Sales Manager role. At the same time, if you have 5-8+ years of experience and think you are ready to handle the Country Sales Manager role immediately – then you are also welcome to apply. Salary and benefits will be commensurate with experience and skill set.
Our customers don’t respond to old-fashioned sales pitches, and the term “Applications Engineer” better describes the work you’ll be doing than sales. Though the title will be “Sales Engineer”, this title refers more to your ability to close sales based on your technical knowledge and customer support. There will be little prospecting, and there will be no aggressive sales tactics or cold-calling involved. Your leads and projects will mostly all come to you and it will be your responsibility to service, support, and coordinate a very diverse range of activities and requests.
You will be successful in this position if you love diving into the technical details of our many products and helping customers understand how to select and use the right products for their applications. If you consider yourself more someone who wants to help the customer than a pushy salesman – keep reading
As a fast-growing multinational, our products and services have found a sweet spot in the market. Our marketing and development teams have created products and content that attract new multinational customers and now we’re looking for that special rockstar that is able to sell and support them in the region.
Do you describe yourself as a proactive, super-organized, enthusiastic, multitasking rockstar that likes to work with engineers on the technologies that will shape the next 20 years? Our customers are mainly American and European multinational manufacturers in the Semiconductor, eMobility, Renewable Energy and Electronics Assembly industries, looking to define the next generation 5G chips, electric vehicles, batteries, fuel cells, and major infrastructure redesigns. Our customers will rely on you to recommend and support projects with epoxies, alloys, adhesives, thermal interface materials, conductive plastics, and ion-exchange membranes. Cool, right?
Does this type of work inspire and motivate you? Then I encourage you to read on. If on the other hand, you’re already exhausted reading this, I recommend you take a nap and check out another job post.
So, what will you be doing?
The position and responsibility will grow along with you. As a small, but fast-growing company, the role will be exciting for you if you like working in a small team and having a lot of freedom to define your roles and responsibilities. No two days will likely be the same.
Broadly speaking, your work will revolve around the following three activities:
1. Sales Applications Engineer (about 45% of your time)
You will inherit an existing customer base of projects and products and new leads will come in from our ticketing system (which will pre-screen them). You will be responsible to help customers to select products as well as the application methods to use them successfully.
Examples of activities:
- Reply to ticket inquiries and send detailed emails to customers with product and application data
- Work with Marketing to research and recommend products for customers’ applications
- Work with Application Engineering to support customer projects with samples, data and test results
- Put together PowerPoint and sales presentations highlighting product features and applications
2. Project Management (about 40% of your time)
Since the sales cycle is long (approx. 2 years), you will be responsible for approx. 60 – 80 projects big and small all at various stages of development. You will need to prioritize the most important ones on a weekly basis to make sure each has a status and next action items to keep the projects moving forward.
Examples of activities:
- Update CRM weekly to include current status and “Next Action Items” for yourself & team members
- Call customers to make sure they have what they need to move forward
- Call suppliers to update them on current projects and inform them of anything you need from them
- Send monthly summary reports to suppliers and review status and next action item
3. Outside Sales Engineer (about 15% of your time)
About 4-5 days per month you will travel to customers to give demos, make presentations and generally follow up on projects and initiate new ones. You will have face-to-face meetings with the engineers, purchasers, and project managers who use our products and expect technical support and follow-up.
Examples of activities:
- Arrange meetings with customers to review existing and initiate new projects
- Line trials of our products where you will be testing alongside the engineers
- Meeting with purchasing managers to discuss our product offerings
- Generally, maintain a relationship with the customers by being available and supportive
DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
What mindset do you require?
Skills can be learned. Mindsets, though they can be learned too, are more often a part of who you are. We value the mindset at least, if not more than either experience or hard skills.
- Technically Curious – Our products are chemicals, adhesives & plastics that can be boring unless you love digging into details that solve complex application problems. You will be very successful if you love to dive into the products and applications your customers are working on to understand what problems they are trying to solve and how our products can help them solve them.
- Personal Development & Continuous Improvement – People and processes can always get better. We’re looking for someone who questions every process to see if there’s no room for improvement. Likewise, there are opportunities for advancement if you want to be more than just a sales engineer and can prove you can learn.
- Independent Learner – Our European teams will teach & train you technically, but part of the training will be to watch videos and do independent study when time zones don’t overlap. You will be successful if you love to learn independently.
- An Over-Deliverer – Customers often send short emails for a product recommendation. Instead of a one-line email reply with the product, you will be successful if you prefer to give them the product recommendation, detailed reason for the choice of product, application notes, TDS & SDS and links to other products that they might be interested in.
What skills do you NOT need?
Before we list the skills you do need, it is important that you know what skills or experience we do NOT require:
- Detailed Product knowledge: Though it will be helpful if you already have a background in adhesives, chemicals, & plastics, all will be taught on the job. Furthermore, if you are curious and an independent learner, you will be up to speed in no time.
- Lots of work experience: This is meant to be a mid-level position. CAPLINQ is different. Too much experience and we need to actually UNTRAIN bad habits from old school employers. You will learn and train on the job. If the activities described sound just the kind of work you want to do, but may not have enough experience, you are encouraged to apply. Training and coaching will be provided.
What skills do you require?
There are very few hard skills that are required, but the ideal candidate would be one who:
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- Has a technical degree or equivalent experience in Engineering, or Bachelor of Science
- Has a professional level of written and spoken English – especially when replying by email
- Asks questions, then asks more questions, then asks even more questions
- Is very organized, and likes to have a place for everything and everything in its place
- Is a strong planner and organizer and thrives in getting things done
- Is a Google power-user, forever asking Google questions for answers he/she doesn’t know
- Pays attention to detail. The very last paragraph of this job vacancy has very important information. Be sure you read it twice before applying.
Skills not required, but that get bonus points (any of them count):
The job we have in mind may not require these skills, but they will give you a head’s start:
- An Engineering Degree: You do not need to be an engineer, but our products are by nature technical, so you will need to be able to grasp the concepts. If you want to learn, we’re able to teach.
- Project management experience: You will need to manage multiple projects simultaneously. This means reporting internally as well as externally to both customers and suppliers. Strong project management skills will help you enormously.
- Presentation skills: You will be presenting all the time, be it internally or to customers or suppliers. If you are comfortable in front of a public audience you will be able to use those skills here.
WHY WORK FOR CAPLINQ?
- Collaborate with outstanding people: We hire only the best. Our standards are high and our employees enjoy working alongside other high achievers.
- Sales engineers receive commissions on sales
- Make an immediate impact: New employees can expect to be given real responsibility for the growth of the company. You are empowered to perform as soon as you join the team!
- Gain well-rounded experience: CAPLINQ offers a diverse and dynamic environment where you will get the chance to work directly with executives and develop expertise across multiple areas of the business.
There is no need to send your CV unless it looks awesome and you want to impress us with how it looks. Otherwise, we will use your LinkedIn profile (better make sure it is complete!).
Instead, candidates wishing to apply are requested to send an email to hr@caplinq.com that includes:
- A link to your LinkedIn profile (not a CV)
- A one-page, personal cover letter
Let me repeat that last part in a different way… We are looking for people who stand out from the crowd with a well-written, enthusiastic one-page letter telling us why this position speaks to you and what you could bring to the team.
If all you do is send a CV (we told you not to), and no cover letter your application will be discarded without even being read.
