Applications Engineer

Lead and coordinate all customer-facing quotation and technical requests for complex actuation projects. Provide technical review and cost analysis to deliver timely and accurate quotations, while ensuring compliance with site procedures and relevant regulatory codes and standards as applicable.  Pursue the specific goal of achieving the annual financial and operational goals of both the Lynchburg site and FCD global.  Promote a positive and professional working atmosphere, where the status quo is challenged to improve, and the team is driven toward creating an exceptional experience for our customers. 
 

Provide direct support to customers by leading the internal quotation process and customer specification review process for assigned products or accounts. During the technical specification review provide comments, clarifications and alternatives to customer requirements.  Prepare technical quotations utilizing sales and data manuals, charts, catalogs, product brochures, articles, and engineering data and drawings.  Accurately size actuators with available tools and perform additional sizing calculations and analysis for quotations. Coordinate with other technical departments (product management, engineering, R&D, QA, etc.) as required, to minimize technical and cost risk while ensuring maximum compliance to customer specifications. Maintain responsibility for ensuring that all elements of the quotation process are completed accurately and on-time, including all technical and commercial elements, terms and conditions reviews, sales approval processes, and customer documentation requests. 
 

Collaborate with supply chain and manufacturing to develop cost estimates and margin analysis spreadsheets (including analyses for material, burden, and labor costs) for non-standard priced quotations.  Ensure maximum profitability and order success rate are achieved and business risk is minimized. 

Understand and establish proficiency with basic finance measurements, profit and loss analysis, terms and conditions to mitigate risks, and other financial skills attributed to the business culture. 
 

Review customer purchase orders for compliance to quotations (technical, pricing, delivery, and terms of sale), specification requirements, and processes in accordance with site procedures and relevant regulatory codes and standards as applicable 

Assist others (management, SSR’s, QA, the outside sales team, etc.) by providing feedback to customers for technical based customer complaints or concerns. 

Display business acumen and proficiency for working in a fast-paced environment. 

Education Preferred: 

Bachelor's degree (B. A.) in Engineering from four-year college or university; plus three to five years related experience and/or training. 

Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 
LANGUAGE SKILLS 
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical journals, financial reports, and legal documents.  Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or members of the business community.  Ability to effectively present information to management. 

 
REASONING ABILITY 
Ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to a wide range of intellectual and practical problems.  Ability to deal with nonverbal symbolism (formulas, scientific equations, graphs, etc.,) in its most difficult phases.  Ability to deal with a variety of abstract and concrete variables. 

REQUIRED SKILLS 

• Learn Avante and know Microsoft Word and Excel in a productive manner. 

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills. 

• Ability to work effectively in challenging and fast-paced environments. 

• Ability to learn technical knowledge of actuator specifications, engineering drawings. 

• Time management skills are essential as work load normally exceeds available time. 

• Organization of projects, files, workload. 

• Prioritization of workload. 

• Basic knowledge of commercial issues including payment terms, shipping terms, and contract review.   

Beneficial Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: 
Previous experience with Actuation 
Foreign language skills are desirable.   
Computer skills for Microsoft Office. 

Physical Demands: 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 
 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; talk or hear.  The employee is occasionally required to stand and walk.  The employee must also occasionally lift twenty-five pounds or less.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision and the ability to adjust focus.