Industrial Automation Solutions Engineer

Columbia/Okura LLC; Vancouver, Northern (WA, KY); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 111,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k)

401(k) matching

Dental insurance

Employee assistance program

Flexible spending account

Health insurance

Life insurance

Paid time off

Professional development assistance

Referral program

Tuition reimbursement

Vision insurance

Job summary

Columbia Machine in Vancouver, WA seeks an experienced Application Engineer to translate customer objectives into executable solutions. You will work with sales, partners, and internal teams to execute technical discovery, solution development, and proposal validation.

The role emphasizes collaboration, delivering accurate proposals aligned with capabilities, and supporting customers with diverse stakeholders. Travel may be required to engage customers and partners.

Qualifications

• Associate degree in Engineering, CAD, or related field required.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field preferred.
• Experience in applications engineering, technical sales support, or system design preferred.
• Bilingual/Multilingual (Spanish) preferred.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Sales throughout the opportunity lifecycle to align customer requirements with solution direction and commercial strategy.
• Perform technical discovery including site assessments and system requirements to develop viable solutions.
• Lead technical solution development ensuring requirements, site conditions, and challenges are addressed.
• Serve as primary technical authority for solution architecture and component selection during pre-sale.
• Develop and validate concepts, layouts, and system approaches meeting customer needs and capabilities.
• Lead technical engagement with suppliers and partners to validate compatibility and support development.
• Work cross-functionally with Engineering, Production, Supply Chain and Service to confirm feasibility and timelines.
• Identify risks, assumptions, constraints, and information gaps impacting feasibility.
• Develop technical proposals and participate in customer presentations.
• Ensure proposal integrity and alignment with standards and execution capabilities.
• Contribute to resource planning including installation and commissioning considerations.
• Support continuous improvement based on customer and field feedback.
• Travel as required to support customer engagement and project activities.

Skills

Written and oral communication

Technical problem solving

Analytical thinking

Project and process awareness

Customer orientation and collaboration

Cross-functional teamwork

Critical thinking

Technical presentation and documenting

Spanish language

Education

Associate degree in Engineering or related field

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field

Tools

CAD Tools (AutoCAD, Inventor)

Microsoft Office Suite

CRM or business systems

Job description

Columbia Machine in Vancouver, WA seeks an experienced Application Engineer to translate customer objectives into executable solutions. You will work with sales, partners, and internal teams to execute technical discovery, solution development, and proposal validation.

The role emphasizes collaboration, delivering accurate proposals aligned with capabilities, and supporting customers with diverse stakeholders. Travel may be required to engage customers and partners.