Manager, Applications Engineering – Handling Systems

Schmalz USA; Raleigh (NC); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Schmalz USA is seeking a hands-on leader to manage the Handling Systems Applications Engineering team. You will coordinate engineers across sales territories and projects, drive quotation quality, and establish strong performance metrics to improve customer service.

The role requires a track record in leading technical teams, strong customer-facing communication, and the ability to collaborate with product management and sales to deliver high-quality solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, engineering technology or related technical discipline (or equivalent).
• Minimum of seven years in applications engineering, industrial automation, material handling or related field.
• Proven people-leadership experience; direct management preferred.
• Ability to evaluate complex technical applications and guide engineers to safe, viable solutions.
• Strong customer-facing communication, presentation and conflict-resolution skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations of the Handling Systems Applications Engineering team for customers, distributors and sales.
• Manage team capacity, workload and priorities; assign engineers to territories and projects.
• Establish performance goals and KPIs for quotation responsiveness, quality, workload and customer service.
• Coach, mentor and develop team members with regular feedback and training plans.
• Recruit, onboard and retain applications engineering talent; build depth and succession.

Skills

Leadership

Customer-facing communications

Conflict resolution

Prioritization

Time management

Travel ability

MS Office

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related technical field

Equivalent combination of education and experience

Tools

DraftSight

SolidWorks

CAD software

Job description

Schmalz is the global leader in vacuum technology, serving the automation, handling systems and CNC clamping industries. Established in 1910 and headquartered in Glatten, Germany, Schmalz is a privately held multinational manufacturer with subsidiaries and sales partners in more than 50 countries.

Position Overview:

• Lead the day-to-day operations of the Handling Systems Applications Engineering team, ensuring responsive, accurate and technically sound support for customers, distributors and the sales organization.
• Manage team capacity, workload and priorities; assign Applications Engineers to sales territories and projects based on business needs, technical complexity and available resources.
• Establish clear expectations, performance goals and key performance indicators for the team, including quotation responsiveness, application quality, workload, rework and customer service.
• Coach, mentor and develop team members through regular feedback, technical guidance, performance reviews, training plans and career development discussions.
• Recruit, onboard and retain Applications Engineering talent while building team depth, succession capability and shared technical knowledge.
• Develop and standardize application-review practices, quotation tools, templates, documentation and best practices to improve quality, consistency and efficiency.
• Provide technical leadership and engineering judgment on complex, high-risk, semi-custom and custom customer applications, including review of proposed solutions when appropriate.
• Establish clear prioritization and escalation processes, and serve as the primary escalation point for application, capacity, quality and customer-support issues.
• Resolve customer complaints and technical escalations by coordinating investigation, evaluating potential resolutions, making recommendations to leadership and communicating professionally with the customer through resolution.
• Build strong working relationships with Regional Sales Managers, Sales Engineers, Key Account Managers, distributors and selected strategic customers.
• Partner closely with Outside Sales, Inside Sales, Product Management, Design Engineering and Project Management to ensure complete technical and commercial handoffs and smooth execution of customer projects.
• Identify recurring process, product and quality issues that extend beyond the department; lead cross-functional efforts to determine root causes and implement sustainable improvements.
• Communicate team capacity, priorities, risks, performance and resource needs clearly to leadership and affected stakeholders.
• Coordinate with the parent company in Germany on technical applications, products, processes, training and issue resolution.
• Provide market, product and competitive feedback to Product Management and company leadership.
• Lead team meetings related to workload and capacity, interdepartmental coordination, quality, technical best practices and continuous improvement.
• Develop and deliver professional technical presentations and training for national sales meetings, distributors, customers and internal teams as needed.
• Represent Schmalz at trade shows, conferences, industry events and customer meetings as required.
• Maintain the work location, travel and in-office presence necessary to lead the team and support customers effectively, consistent with company policy.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications (Including Educational Requirements):

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, engineering technology or a related technical discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and demonstrated technical experience.
• Minimum of seven years of relevant experience in applications engineering, industrial automation, material handling, capital equipment or a closely related technical field.
• Demonstrated people-leadership experience, including coaching, performance management, prioritization, delegation and employee development; prior direct management experience is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate complex technical applications and guide engineers toward safe, practical and commercially viable solutions.
• Strong customer-facing communication, presentation and conflict-resolution skills, with the professionalism to represent Schmalz in high-visibility and technically demanding situations.
• Experience managing workload, capacity, priorities, performance metrics and cross-functional processes in a deadline-driven environment.
• Strong judgment and decision-making skills, including the ability to balance customer urgency, technical risk, product capability and commercial objectives.
• Ability to build trust and collaborate effectively with engineering, sales, operations, product management, senior leadership and international colleagues.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills, with a customer-focused, adaptable and continuous-improvement mindset.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and the ability to learn new business and engineering systems.
• Ability to travel domestically approximately 15%, with occasional international travel as business needs require.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with vacuum handling systems, ergonomic material handling, cranes, lifting devices or industrial automation.
• Prior experience leading an Applications Engineering or comparable technical team.
• Working knowledge of DraftSight and SolidWorks or comparable CAD software and the ability to review technical drawings and specifications.
• Experience supporting distributors, outside sales teams, key accounts and custom-engineered solutions.
• Experience delivering technical training and presentations to customers, distributors and sales organizations.
• Experience collaborating with an international parent company or global engineering organization.