Sales Engineer - Greater Sacramento Area

Sales Engineer - Greater Sacramento Area

Department: Sales

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Swagelok Northern California

Reporting To: Director, Sales & Engineering

Compensation: $103,459.49 - $178,467.62 / year

Description

The Sales Engineer owns customer relationships and territory performance, combining technical expertise and consultative selling to deliver fluid system solutions that drive customer value, profitable growth, and long-term partnerships. Operating with full autonomy, this role anticipates customer needs and market dynamics, solves complex, non-standard application challenges, and serves as a trusted advisor to executive-level customer stakeholders.

The Sales Engineer leads opportunity strategy through consultative selling, designs integrated solutions that balance technical, operational, and commercial factors, and applies strong commercial judgment to negotiate complex deals. For experienced candidates, the role also shapes solution strategy for complex, high-impact customers, influences customer executive decisions, and is recognized as a technical authority in the region.

Beyond managing their own portfolio, the Sales Engineer coaches less-experienced Sales Engineers on complex designs, pipeline management, and forecasting accuracy, and contributes to capability-building across the Sales team. Starting level is based on experience and demonstrated skills.

In addition to a competitive base salary, the Sales Engineer earns uncapped commissions on an assigned book of business under the company’s commission plan.

Key Responsibilities

Customer Focus:

• Demonstrate active listening and empathy in all customer interactions in support of the company’s Vision to “Be the Fluid System Experts the World Relies On.”

Customer & Market Understanding:

• Anticipate customer needs, market dynamics, and competitive shifts, and translate them into account and territory strategy.

• Serve as a recognized advisor to complex customers, shape the customer and market approach for the territory, and identify new applications for Swagelok products.

Opportunity Identification & Account Strategy:

• Lead opportunity strategy using consultative selling, and align solutions to customer ROI.

• Develop executive-level relationships and serve as a trusted technical advisor across the customer organization.

• Develop and maintain account strategies and territory plans that maximize growth and align with the company’s Strategic Plan, including portfolio-level growth planning for key accounts.

Pipeline Management:

• Use CRM data to manage pipeline health, prioritize opportunities, and support forecast accuracy, advancing new-business opportunities through each stage of the sales process to close.

• Model standards for opportunity management and pipeline discipline, and coach junior Sales Engineers on effective CRM use, opportunity qualification, and forecasting.

Business Acumen:

• Apply commercial judgment to negotiate complex deals that maximize profitability.

• Balance technical, commercial, and growth objectives, including long-term relationship health, when shaping customer-specific growth strategies.

Fluid System Optimization:

• Design integrated fluid system solutions that balance technical, operational, and commercial factors through project support or onsite troubleshooting, including complex P&IDs.

• Perform and oversee system evaluations of customer fluid systems to identify plant efficiencies and improvement opportunities across systems and processes.

• Solve complex, non-standard technical and application challenges, and propose alternative products or processes to optimize functionality.

Product Expertise Application:

• Select and recommend products and assemblies for complex customer applications, and serve as a technical resource on application standards and design direction.

• Provide feedback to Swagelok personnel on product and service improvements, and represent Swagelok Northern California in support of existing installations and product returns.

Leadership & Development:

• Mentor junior Sales Engineers on complex designs, assemblies, and account strategy, and model Swagelok Northern California’s values and best practices.

• Lead high-impact meetings and complex technical discussions, articulating solutions in the customer’s business language and influencing customer decisions on strategy and growth.

• Pursue professional development through internal and external training, continuing education, and job rotation where relevant.

Work Environment & Travel:

• Frequent travel to customer sites, including industrial, laboratory, and manufacturing facilities, with regular on-site presence at the Fremont office.

• Valid driver's license and personal vehicle required for travel to customer sites (monthly vehicle allowance provided).

• Ability to meet customer site access requirements, which may include identification and site safety or security procedures.

• Work in customer plant and production environments, including plant floors; personal protective equipment (PPE) is required when specified by site safety policies.

• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position. 

Skills, Competencies, Education & Work Experience

Skills & Competencies

• Accountability.  Owns revenue growth and opportunity conversion for an assigned portfolio, anticipates risks in account performance, and coaches others on ownership to drive sustained growth.

• Collaboration.  Leads cross-functional efforts with Field Engineers and internal teams to drive complex opportunities, and builds strategic partnerships that enable broader growth.

• Effective Communication.  Persuasively connects Swagelok capabilities to customer value and growth through presentations, proposals, and technical discussions, and influences customer executive decisions on strategy and growth.

• Problem-Solving.  Balances technical, commercial, and growth objectives to resolve complex customer challenges and unlock new growth opportunities.

• Growth Mindset.  Continuously sharpens sales and technical skills, contributes to team learning, and leads capability-building across the Sales team.

• Planning & Prioritizing.  Develops account strategies to maximize growth, prioritizes efforts by profitability, growth potential, and strategic fit, and shapes portfolio-level growth plans.

• Self-Awareness.  Demonstrates emotional intelligence in high-stakes situations, uses feedback to refine leadership and sales skills, and models professional maturity as a trusted advisor.

Education & Work Experience Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, technical sales, or a related business field OR completion of a two-year degree or comprehensive certification program in a relevant technical discipline.

• Minimum of 4 years of progressively responsible experience in technical sales or sales engineering.

• Demonstrated track record of managing complex accounts and projects independently and mentoring less-experienced team members.

Preferred:

• 7 or more years of technical sales or sales engineering experience, including management of strategic or high-impact accounts.

• Experience with fluid control systems or related products in industries such as Oil & Gas, Clean Energy, Semiconductor, or other General Market applications.

Benefits

• 100% covered employee Medical, Dental, & Vision Insurance

• Up to 80% dependent coverage for Medical, Dental, & Vision Insurance

• Life Insurance

• Health Care Flexible Spending Account

• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account

• 401k Plan & Company Matching up to 4%

• Short-Term and Long-Term Disability

• Competitive Pay

• Generous PTO

• Paid Holidays

• Tuition Reimbursement

• Gym Membership Reimbursement up to $50/month

• Professional Coaching

Equal Opportunity Employer Swagelok Northern California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion (including religious dress and grooming practices), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, reproductive health decision-making, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Swagelok Northern California provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities, and for sincerely held religious beliefs and practices, throughout the application and hiring process. If you need an accommodation to apply or interview, please contact HR@imdfst.zendesk.com.