Sales Application Engineer

Apera AI; Detroit (MI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity that empowers

Personal development budgets

Time for innovation

Competitive base salary

Job summary

Apera AI, a Vancouver-based leader in robotics, AI, and machine vision, seeks a Sales Application Engineer in the United States. You will deliver demos, translate requirements into winning proposals, and act as a trusted advisor on automation and vision systems.

Join a team that values hands-on technical excellence and cross-functional impact, offering equity, development plans, and a competitive salary with strong OTE.

Qualifications

• 3–5+ years in application engineering, solutions engineering, or pre-sales.
• Strong background in robotics, machine vision, or factory automation.
• Proven ability to lead POCs, demos and technical proposals that close deals.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high-impact technical demos and proof-of-concept solutions.
• Translate customer requirements into tailored proposals that win deals.
• Act as a trusted advisor on robotics systems, machine vision platforms, and automation solutions.
• Drive shorter sales cycles and improved win rates.
• Support strategic account planning, pre-sales materials, and cross-functional collaboration.

Skills

Application engineering

Solutions engineering

Technical pre-sales

Robotics

Machine vision

Factory automation

Technical communication

POCs

Job description

Apera is an innovative, Vancouver-based company at the forefront of robotics, AI, and machine vision recognized with the 2025 Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Leadership Award and the 2024 BC Tech "Company of the Year, Growth" award. We're on a mission to redefine AI-driven robotic vision.

Apera AI helps manufacturers make their factories more flexible and productive. Robots enhanced with Apera's software have 4D Vision and the ability to see and grasp objects with human-like capability. Challenging applications such as bin picking, sorting, packaging, and assembly are now open to fast, precise, and reliable automation. We work with the world's leading automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.

Our portfolio spans Vue (our 4D Vision software), Forge (a no-code simulation and AI training studio where customers build, validate, and de-risk robotic cells before any hardware is bought), and VuePod, our new turnkey, productized bin-picking cell.

We’re looking for Sales Application Engineers to join our growing team. Individuals who thrive at the intersection oftechnology, customer success, and industrial automation.

What You’ll Do

As the technical arm of our Sales team, you’ll:

• Deliver high-impact technical demos and proof-of-concept solutions
• Translate customer requirements into tailored proposals that win deals
• Act as a trusted advisor on robotics systems, machine vision platforms, and automation solutions
• Drive shorter sales cycles and improved win rates
• Support strategic account planning, pre-sales materials, and cross-functional collaboration

What Makes This Role a Career Move

This isn’t just another pre-sales engineering role, it’s a platform to:

• Work on high-visibility automation projects with global manufacturers
• Influence customer adoption of cutting-edge robotics and vision systems
• Develop reusable tools, demos, and content that drive impact
• Build a career path in technical sales, product, or solution architecture
• The satisfaction that comes from empowering users via knowledge transfer so that they own their path to success

What We’re Looking For

You’re a hands-on technical expert with:

• 3 - 5+ years in application engineering, solutions engineering, or technical pre-sales
• Strong background in robotics, machine vision, or factory automation
• The ability to clearly communicate value to developers, engineers, and executives
• A verifiable and proven track record of leading POCs, demos, and technical proposals that close deals

What do we offer?

• A chance to make a difference. Aperians are friendly, smart, and driven to build amazing products; we tackle challenges as a team, we are close-knit and scrappy. Our teams are motivated, talented, hardworking and have both an intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial spirit. We enjoy making a large impact, solving challenging problems rooted in real-world robotic vision optimization using science, imagination, creativity, and persistence.
• Build your skills. Build your career. We don’t just promise opportunities—we back them with personalized development plans, learning budgets, and time dedicated to innovation. Come for the mission, stay for the mastery.
• Equity that empowers. As an employee-owned company, every Aperian receives a meaningful stock-option package, because we succeed together. You don’t just contribute; you get a share of the upside.
• Straightforward compensation. At Apera AI, we believe that transparency and fairness are key to building a thriving team. For this Sales Application Engineer role, we offer a competitive base salary range of $90,000–$110,000 USD per year, with a target OTE of $99,000 to $121,000 USD.

This range reflects the base salary for a highly qualified candidate. The final offer will depend on a range of factors including your unique skills, experience, contributions to team intellectual diversity, and the value you bring to our vision of transforming industrial automation with AI-powered vision systems.

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