Sales Application Engineer

KUKA; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

KUKA is seeking a Sales Applications Engineer to act as a trusted technical advisor and drive account success in automation solutions. You will translate customer needs into KUKA’s value propositions and provide pre-sales support across robotics systems in electronics manufacturing.

The role blends technical depth with customer relationship management, requiring independent judgment and frequent travel to customer sites and events.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering and five years of related experience or equivalent.
• Masters or Doctorate in applicable field preferred.
• AutoCAD experience and KUKA robotics expertise required.
• Cognex vision and machine-vision familiarity is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain strong technical relationships with OEMs, EMS providers, and Tier suppliers.
• Elicit and define customer requirements; develop automation concepts and system architectures.
• Support sales with technical presentations, demos, and analyses on efficiency and line optimization.
• Lead pre-sales engagements, validate applications, and address production challenges.
• Provide hands-on technical support across robotics systems including electrical, mechanical, and programming issues.
• Collaborate with engineering, product, and service teams to ensure manufacturability and quality.
• Manage project timelines and communicate risks and deviations to customers.
• Travel to customer sites and events to support deployments and business development.

Skills

Pre-sales support

Customer relationship management

Technical presentations

Project coordination

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree (BSEE / BSC / BSME)

Masters or Doctorate preferred

Tools

AutoCAD

KUKA robot programming

KUKA Tech Packages

KMC configuration

Vision systems (Cognex)

Job description

Serves as a trusted technical advisor to key customers, helping them leverage KUKA’s automation products and solutions. The role blends technical expertise with customer relationship management to drive account success. A successful Sales Applications Engineer understands customer requirements and aligns KUKA’s value proposition to address customer needs. Provides technical/engineering support in response to end-customer and system integrator pre-sales inquiries. Supports sales team in pre-sales efforts within designated area of responsibility. Assesses robot applications, tests, proves-out, and demonstrates software and/or hardware solutions on KUKA robots per customer requirements. Provides limited post-sales project support. This position is predominately intellectual in character and requires advanced knowledge and the exercise of independent judgment and discretion.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The following statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required. The successful candidate may perform other duties as assigned:

• Build and maintain strong technical relationships with OEMs, EMS providers, and Tier suppliers, establishing credibility in KUKA robotics and automation solutions for high-volume consumer electronics manufacturing.
• Elicit and define customer requirements for assembly, material handling, inspection, and test processes; develop automation concepts and recommend optimized system architectures to improve throughput, yield, and cycle time.
• Partner with Account Managers to execute account-specific technical strategies aligned with production scaling, cost targets, and pipeline growth.
• Support sales by developing and delivering technical presentations, demos, and analyses focused on manufacturing efficiency and line optimization.
• Lead pre-sales engagements and customer visits to advance automation opportunities, validate applications, and address production and integration challenges.
• Provide hands‑on technical support and troubleshooting across robotics systems, including electrical, mechanical, and programming issues in fast‑paced manufacturing environments.
• Collaborate with engineering, product, and service teams to ensure solutions meet customer specifications, quality standards, and manufacturability requirements.
• Manage and communicate project timelines, risks, and technical deviations, ensuring alignment with customer production schedules and ramp‑up milestones.
• Apply industry expertise (e.g., electronics assembly, PCB handling, micro‑assembly, vision systems) to identify new opportunities and drive adoption of automation technologies.
• Deliver technical training and act as a subject matter expert for customers, partners, and internal teams on robotics applications in electronics manufacturing.
• Support escalations and provide responsive technical assistance via onsite, phone, and remote channels to minimize downtime and production impact.
• Ensure compliance with quality systems, ESD, safety standards, and customer‑specific manufacturing requirements while driving continuous improvement initiatives.
• Document technical solutions, issues, and customer feedback to improve product offerings and application performance.
• Travel as required to customer sites, partner facilities, and industry events to support deployments and business development.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Periodically responsible for a team of 2 - 4 engineers and/or service technicians as required for successful demonstration and/or project completion.
• Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization’s policies and applicable laws.
• Responsibilities include planning, assigning, and directing work; direct work contribution; assessing/reporting performance to applicable manager.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree (B.S.E.E./B.S.C/B.S.M.E.) from four‑year college or university and five years of related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Masters or Doctorate in applicable/related field preferred.

Experience with the following is preferred.

• AutoCAD
• KUKA robot advanced programming and operations
• KUKA “Tech Packages” as applicable for assigned area(s) of expertise
• KMC configuration and operations/programming
• Vision applications and implementation – Cognex experience preferred
• Control design and system support

KUKA is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to building an inclusive and diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other factor protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.