Director of Engineered Solutions

Sentry Equipment; Town of Oconomowoc (WI); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Sentry Equipment in Wisconsin is seeking a Director of Engineered Solutions to lead engineering, proposals, and customer support through order execution. This role drives cross-functional collaboration with Sales, Engineering, Manufacturing, and Quality to ensure customer success.

You will manage applications engineering, proposal development, and project management through order approval, ensuring all commercial, technical, quality, and documentation commitments are defined before kickoff.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field.
• Professional Engineer certification strongly preferred.
• Advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years in engineered-to-order manufacturing or related industries.
• 5+ years leading engineering, proposals, or technical teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Technical Engineering and Proposal teams in developing technical and commercial proposals for engineered-to-order products and solutions.
• Establish standards for bid specification review, technical evaluation, costing, and proposal development.
• Ensure customer requirements, industry codes, and project specifications are accurately interpreted and incorporated into proposals.
• Oversee proposal drawings, conceptual designs, technical clarifications, and compliance matrices.
• Drive consistency, accuracy, and responsiveness throughout the quotation process.
• Lead the review and approval process for customer specifications, technical requirements, and commercial terms and conditions.
• Partner with Sales, Legal, and Executive Leadership to identify and mitigate contractual and project risks.
• Ensure all deviations, assumptions, exceptions, and clarifications are documented and approved.
• Maintain governance processes for proposal and order approval.
• Provide leadership for the team serving as the primary technical point of contact throughout the proposal and pre-execution phases.
• Ensure timely communication and resolution of customer questions, technical inquiries, and documentation requirements.
• Support key customer meetings, specification reviews, and project kickoff activities.
• Oversee project management activities through order approval and handoff.
• Ensure all projects meet established readiness criteria before transfer to operations teams.
• Lead cross-functional reviews to confirm scope, schedule, technical requirements, and commercial obligations are fully defined.
• Ensure your teams complete accurate order packages to prepared and released, including technical specifications, commercial terms and conditions, and documentation.

Skills

Leadership

Proposal management

Project management

Customer interface

Cross-functional collaboration

ASME codes

ERP/PLM

Engineering documentation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Professional Engineer certification preferred

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

Position Summary

The Director of Engineered Solutions is responsible for leading the teams and processes that transform customer requirements into executable orders. This role oversees applications engineering, proposal development, customer technical support, project management activities through order approval, and order package development to ensure all commercial, technical, quality, and documentation requirements are accurately defined and communicated prior to project execution.

The Director of Engineered Solutions is responsible for leading the teams and processes that transform customer requirements into executable orders. This role oversees applications engineering, proposal development, customer technical support, project management activities through order approval, and order package development to ensure all commercial, technical, quality, and documentation requirements are accurately defined and communicated prior to project execution. The Director serves as the primary leader responsible for ensuring customer specifications, contractual obligations, engineering requirements, and execution deliverables are fully reviewed, approved, documented, and transferred to operations. This role partners closely with Sales, Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and Customer Service to deliver a seamless customer experience while minimizing execution risk.

Essential Responsibilities

Proposal and Applications Engineering Leadership

• Lead the Technical Engineering and Proposal teams in developing technical and commercial proposals for engineered-to-order products and solutions.
• Establish standards for bid specification review, technical evaluation, costing, and proposal development.
• Ensure customer requirements, industry codes, and project specifications are accurately interpreted and incorporated into proposals.
• Oversee proposal drawings, conceptual designs, technical clarifications, and compliance matrices.
• Drive consistency, accuracy, and responsiveness throughout the quotation process.

Commercial and Technical Review

• Lead the review and approval process for customer specifications, technical requirements, and commercial terms and conditions.
• Partner with Sales, Legal, and Executive Leadership to identify and mitigate contractual and project risks.
• Ensure all deviations, assumptions, exceptions, and clarifications are documented and approved.
• Maintain governance processes for proposal and order approval.

Customer Interface Management

• Provide leadership for the team serving as the primary technical point of contact throughout the proposal and pre-execution phases.
• Ensure timely communication and resolution of customer questions, technical inquiries, and documentation requirements.
• Support key customer meetings, specification reviews, and project kickoff activities.

Project Readiness and Order Management

• Oversee project management activities through order approval and handoff.
• Ensure all projects meet established readiness criteria before transfer to operations teams.
• Lead cross-functional reviews to confirm scope, schedule, technical requirements, and commercial obligations are fully defined.

Order Package Development

Ensure your teams complete accurate order packages to prepared and released, including:

• Technical specifications
• Commercial terms and conditions
• Material specifications and compliance documentation (MTRs, PMI, etc.)
• Quality assurance and quality control requirements
• Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) requirements
• Bill of Materials (BOM)
• List of Components (LOC)
• General Arrangement (GA) drawings
• Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs)
• Electrical Wiring Diagrams (EWDs)
• Process Design Documents (PDDs)
• Customer submittal documentation
• Wind, seismic, ASME code, and other project-specific calculations
• Order-specific Installation, Operation, and Maintenance manuals (IOMs)
• New manufactured part number creation and documentation
• New purchased component qualification, sourcing requirements, lead times, and supplier quotations

Process Improvement and Team Leadership

• Develop and implement standardized processes for proposal development, order review, and project handoff.
• Establish performance metrics for proposal cycle time, order quality, customer satisfaction, and project readiness.
• Lead, mentor, and develop engineering, project management, and technical support personnel.
• Foster collaboration across Sales, Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Supply Chain functions.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to improve efficiency, scalability, and customer experience.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related technical discipline required.
• Professional Engineer certification is strongly preferred, or willing to obtain within 6 months of starting at Sentry.
• Advanced degree preferred.

Experience

• 10+ years of experience in engineered-to-order manufacturing, industrial equipment, process equipment, automation, or related industries.
• 5+ years of leadership experience managing engineering, applications engineering, proposal management, project engineering, or technical solutions teams.
• Experience reviewing customer specifications, contracts, technical requirements, and commercial terms.
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional teams and customer-facing technical organizations.

Knowledge And Skills

• Strong understanding of engineered-to-order manufacturing processes.
• Knowledge of project management principles and execution methodologies.
• Familiarity with ASME codes, quality systems, material certifications, and customer documentation requirements.
• Strong commercial acumen and contract review capabilities.
• Excellent customer-facing communication and leadership skills.
• Experience with ERP, PLM, and engineering documentation systems.
• Ability to balance technical excellence, customer responsiveness, and operational efficiency.