Outside Sales Associate - Irvine

Rust Automation & Controls; Irvine (CA); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401(k) with company match

Career pathway

Job summary

Rust Automation & Controls, founded in 1976, is seeking an Outside Sales Associate in Irvine, CA. This full-time, hybrid role combines field customer engagement with remote work, requiring residence in the territory.

You'll join a cohort program, spending part of the first twelve weeks in Salt Lake City with leadership and part in your territory, learning products and setting appointments. Travel is expected within the territory as you build key relationships.

Qualifications

• Technical degree or 2–3 years of industrial sales experience (or related field).
• Willingness to travel frequently within the assigned territory, including overnight travel.
• Self-motivated with the ability to set ambitious goals and achieve them.

Responsibilities

• Learn and maintain working knowledge of all products and solutions offered by Rust Automation & Controls.
• Prospect and promote products, services, and solutions within assigned accounts.
• Grow territory sales and gross margin by increasing penetration and establishing relationships with new customers.
• Analyze specifications and requirements to prepare quotations with Inside Sales.
• Conduct joint sales calls with management and partners to strengthen relationships.

Skills

Highly-motivated

Excellent communication

Strong organizational

Willingness to travel

Self-motivated

Education

Technical degree or equivalent experience

Tools

CRM/ERP tools (NetSuite, Salesforce)

Job description

Rust Automation & Controls started in 1976 and while we’ve grown significantly since our humble beginnings, we are still family owned and operated. We represent best-in-class industrial control manufacturers including Endress+Hauser across more than two million square miles of the Western US. Most of our customers have worked with us for decades and count on our experience and partners to keep their facilities safe, efficient, and productive.

Position Overview

Position: Outside Sales Associate
Location: Irvine, CA (Remote role but must reside in this territory)

We're hiring a small group of Outside Sales Engineers into a new cohort program. You'll spend part of your first twelve weeks in Salt Lake City with our leadership team and part of it in your home territory, riding with experienced salesmen, learning the products, and setting your own appointments. You're hired full-time from day one.

The job itself: you become the person a plant engineer calls when they're deciding which flow meter or valve goes into a system that has to run for the next twenty years without failing. You represent the manufacturers we've partnered with for decades, and you build the kind of relationship where customers call you before they call anyone else.

What we're looking for

We can teach the technical stuff. Loops, valves, control theory, all of that comes with time in the field. What's harder to teach is the drive to go find business, the ability to foster and develop key relationships paired with a positive can-do mentality that sees challenges as opportunities to serve. If you're naturally curious, communicate well, and would rather be out talking to people than sitting at a desk, that matters more to us than your major or your resume. A few standout traits we select for include:

• Highly-motivated, goal-oriented, and resilient individuals with a positive attitude
• Excellent communication and active listening skills
• Strong organizational and time-management

Core Responsibilities

• Learn and maintain working knowledge of all products and solutions offered by Rust Automation & Controls
• Prospect and promote products, services, and solutions within assigned commercial, industrial, and municipal accounts
• Grow territory sales and gross margin by increasing penetration in existing accounts and establishing relationships with new customers
• Analyze specifications, application requirements, and related documents to prepare quotations in collaboration with the Inside Sales team
• Conduct joint sales calls with management and manufacturing partners to strengthen customer relationships and maximize opportunities
• Perform site walkdowns in industrial and commercial environments to assess needs and recommend tailored solutions
• Maintain a robust CRM database, including accounts, contacts, opportunities, and projects
• Clearly articulate customer solutions and collaborate with internal teams to ensure effective execution

Qualifications & Profile

• Technical degree or 2–3 years of industrial sales experience (or related field)
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently within the assigned territory, including occasional overnight travel
• Self-motivated with the ability to set ambitious goals and achieve them
• Strong desire to learn, grow, and be coachable
• Resilient, adaptable, and solution-oriented with a positive, can-do attitude
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with a customer-first mindset
• Strong organizational and time-management skills
• Ability to work independently while leveraging internal resources
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and CRM/ERP systems (e.g., NetSuite, Salesforce)
• Remote role but must reside in this territory

Pay and path

The program starts from $85,000 - $90,000. Complete the 12 week program, get placed into your territory, and that moves to a target of $110,000. From there its performance based, and our top OSEs make well beyond that. Rust Automation offers health and 401(k) benefits, including a company match, and a clear career pathway through our organization.

Is This You?

• Do you have a pioneering spirit and enjoy working for a growing company with a strong culture?
• Do you thrive in a motivated, team-oriented environment focused on customer solutions?
• Do you enjoy solving problems and taking on challenges?
• Do you strive to exemplify excellence in everything you do?

If you answered YES , Rust Automation & Controls would love to welcome you to our family.

The pay range for this role is:

85,000 - 90,000 USD per year (Hybrid (Irvine, California, US))