Robotics Application Engineer US - [Pre-Sales] (Senior Level)

Inbolt; Detroit (MI); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock-options package

Team-building events & off-sites

Bring-your-dog-to-work policy

Health coverage

Travel — customer site visits

Job summary

Inbolt in Detroit seeks a Senior Pre-Sales Robotics Application Engineer to partner with Account Executives from discovery through purchase orders, qualifying applications, running demonstrations, and defining feasible solutions for real robots.

You will scope solutions, support proposals, and lead technical validation while collaborating with Sales, R&D, and Product teams. This US-based role requires relocation and frequent travel to customer sites and trade shows.

Qualifications

• Min. 4+ years in Sales/Pre-Sales or Applications in industrial automation.
• Hands-on robot programming experience with industrial robots.
• Experience presenting to engineers and executives.
• Ability to scope, propose and validate applications.
• Willingness to relocate to Detroit and travel.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Account Executives on discovery calls and customer meetings, from plant engineers to C-level, to qualify use-cases and drive technical confidence.
• Run demos, in-office tests and on-site proofs of concept on real robots (FANUC, KUKA, ABB, UR…) to validate feasibility.
• Scope solutions: reach studies, cycle-time and accuracy assumptions, cell layout and integration requirements.
• Contribute to proposals, quotes and RFI/RFP responses as the technical lead, together with Sales.
• Make go/no-go calls on new applications and be the voice that keeps promises realistic.
• Hand over well-scoped projects to the RAE team, and support small integrations and customer trainings when needed.
• Bring structured customer and market feedback to Product and R&D to shape the roadmap.
• Build and structure the pre-sales function in the US: reusable demo setups, test protocols, application notes and a clear Sales RAE process.
• Act as the senior technical reference for Sales and coach junior engineers on customer-facing work.

Skills

Pre-Sales Engineering

Industrial Robotics

Robot Programming

Customer-facing Communication

Demo & Prototyping

English Fluent

Travel Ready

Tools

FANUC

KUKA

ABB

UR

Vision Systems

Job description

The position

Our pipeline is growing fast, and many of our largest deals now hinge on one thing: technical validation before the PO is released. This role exists to make that step fast, credible and repeatable.

As our Senior Pre-Sales Robotics Application Engineer, a near-lead role, you will be the technical partner of our Account Executives from the first discovery call to the purchase order: qualifying applications, running demos and feasibility tests, scoping solutions. Your impact will be measured by a shorter sales cycle, a higher technical win rate, and clean, well-scoped handovers to our deployment team. You will work closely with Sales, the Lead RAE US, and our R&D and Product teams in Paris.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Account Executives on discovery calls and customer meetings, from plant engineers to C-level, to qualify use-cases and drive technical confidence.
• Run demos, in-office tests and on-site proofs of concept on real robots (FANUC, KUKA, ABB, UR…) to validate feasibility.
• Scope solutions: reach studies, cycle-time and accuracy assumptions, cell layout and integration requirements.
• Contribute to proposals, quotes and RFI/RFP responses as the technical lead, together with Sales.
• Make go/no-go calls on new applications and be the voice that keeps promises realistic.
• Hand over well-scoped projects to the RAE team, and support small integrations and customer trainings when needed.
• Bring structured customer and market feedback to Product and R&D to shape the roadmap.
• Build and structure the pre-sales function in the US: reusable demo setups, test protocols, application notes and a clear Sales RAE process.
• Act as the senior technical reference for Sales and coach junior engineers on customer-facing work.

Position details

• Role: Senior Pre-Sales Robotics Application Engineer (US)
• Team: Sales / Robotics Application Engineering
• Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA (relocation required)
• Start date: ASAP
• Contract: Full-time
• Work mode: On-site, with regular travel to customer sites and trade shows

Benefits

• Prime office location
• Stock-options package
• Team-building events & off-sites
• Bring-your-dog-to-work policy
• Health coverage
• Travel — customer site visits

Inbolt values end-to-end ownership, high rigor, and a hands-on curiosity. We move fast while staying precise, with a proactive, autonomous, results-driven mindset and strong collaboration with engineering teams.

Preferred experience

• Min. 4+ years of experience as a Sales/Pre-Sales Application Engineer, Applications Engineer or Robotics Integrator in industrial automation, with several years in a customer-facing pre-sales role.
• Ideally from a robot OEM (FANUC, KUKA, ABB, Yaskawa…) or a robotics integrator, with real pre-sales exposure: scoping, proposals, technical validation, demos.
• Hands-on industrial robot programming (FANUC strongly preferred), able to set up and run a test cell yourself.
• Experience with vision-guided robotics: bin picking, pick & place, 2D/3D vision systems.
• Excellent communication skills: comfortable presenting to both engineers and executives, and challenging sales when needed.
• Fluent English; able to work with teams in France.

Additional plus

• Robot simulation and CAD for reach and feasibility studies.
• PLC / industrial communication (EtherNet/IP, PROFINET) basics.
• Python scripting.
• Experience leading or mentoring a small technical team.
• Automotive / Tier-1 manufacturing background.
• French is a plus.