Sales Engineer - Florida Panhandle

Gilder Search Group; Panama City (FL); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Base salary plus uncapped commission

Vehicle allowance

Company-provided phone and laptop

Full benefits package

Ride-alongs for onboarding

Job summary

Gilder Search Group is seeking a technically grounded machining professional for a combined capital equipment and industrial products sales role based in the Florida Panhandle. You will own the territory from Pensacola to Tallahassee, including Panama City, blending machine tool sales with consumables.

The role emphasizes hands-on machining knowledge, involvement with customers from quote to installation, and building long-term relationships while earning uncapped commissions; travel and

Qualifications

• A genuine machining background with a solid understanding of basic machining principles, including speeds and feeds, depth of cut, inch per revolution, and programming fundamentals.
• Working knowledge of CNC turning and milling.
• Comfort discussing cost per part, cycle time, and ROI with owners and production managers.
• Ability to work independently, self-start, and manage a largely field-based territory with minimal day-to-day supervision, running a territory from a home office.
• Comfortable prospecting through cold calling, email, and LinkedIn outreach, and visiting manufacturing facilities in person.
• Valid driver's license and willingness to travel daily within the territory, with occasional overnight travel for training and vendor events.
• Motivation to build a territory around uncapped commission potential.
• Must reside in or be genuinely planning to relocate to the Florida Panhandle area.
• Sales experience, ideally selling cutting tools, tooling, machine tools, or other manufacturing products, with an understanding of commission-based compensation.
• An applications engineering background, particularly experience with machine tools, G-code/M-code, programming, tooling, and solving customer production problems.
• Swiss-type machining experience.
• Background as an independent tooling representative, machine tool salesperson, applications engineer, or experienced machinist ready to transition into sales.
• Prior machine tool capital equipment sales experience is helpful but not required if the technical foundation is strong.

Responsibilities

• Prospect, qualify, and close new machine tool and industrial products sales across the territory, managing the full cycle from application review and quoting through delivery, installation, and follow-up; identify contacts and develop new business through phone, email, LinkedIn, and in-person outreach, including selecting counties or areas to target and visiting manufacturing facilities directly.
• Grow cutting tool, toolholding, and fluid sales at existing and new accounts by running trials and documenting cost savings; maintain a disciplined call schedule with shop owners, plant managers, production managers, and machinists; partner with applications engineers, OEM regional managers, and manufacturer reps on time studies, turnkey proposals, tooling packages, joint calls, and runoff acceptance; ensure a smooth handoff to service after the sale and remain the customer's primary point of contact.
• Keep the CRM current with pipeline, activity, and forecasts; provide accurate territory forecasts, competitive intelligence, and account plans to management; represent the company at open houses, OEM events, and regional trade shows, including hosting customer visits to demo facilities as needed.

Skills

Machining background

CNC turning & milling

Territory management

Prospecting & outreach

Job description

Company Summary

Our client is an established, Florida-based distributor of machine tools and industrial manufacturing products, serving job shops, contract manufacturers, aerospace and defense suppliers, and production facilities across the state. Sales, applications engineering, and service teams stay engaged with each customer from the initial quote through installation, tooling, and ongoing production support, giving customers a single source for machines, consumables, and support.

Job Summary

This is a combined capital equipment and industrial products sales role covering a build-from-the-ground-up territory based in the Florida Panhandle.The company is looking for a technically grounded machining professional, not necessarily an experienced salesperson, to own the territory. The right candidate has real CNC machining knowledge and a genuine drive to solve customer production problems. The role blends two revenue streams: selling capital machine tools, which builds the long-term relationship with ownership, and selling the consumable industrial products that keep those machines running, which builds frequency and trust on the shop floor.

Responsibilities

• Prospect, qualify, and close new machine tool and industrial products sales across the territory, managing the full cycle from application review and quoting through delivery, installation, and follow-up; identify contacts and develop new business through phone, email, LinkedIn, and in-person outreach, including selecting counties or areas to target and visiting manufacturing facilities directly.
• Grow cutting tool, toolholding, and fluid sales at existing and new accounts by running trials and documenting cost savings; maintain a disciplined call schedule with shop owners, plant managers, production managers, and machinists; partner with applications engineers, OEM regional managers, and manufacturer reps on time studies, turnkey proposals, tooling packages, joint calls, and runoff acceptance; ensure a smooth handoff to service after the sale and remain the customer's primary point of contact.
• Keep the CRM current with pipeline, activity, and forecasts; provide accurate territory forecasts, competitive intelligence, and account plans to management; represent the company at open houses, OEM events, and regional trade shows, including hosting customer visits to demo facilities as needed.

Requirements

• A genuine machining background with a solid understanding of basic machining principles, including speeds and feeds, depth of cut, inch per revolution, and programming fundamentals.
• Working knowledge of CNC turning and milling.
• Comfort discussing cost per part, cycle time, and ROI with owners and production managers.
• Ability to work independently, self-start, and manage a largely field-based territory with minimal day-to-day supervision, running a territory from a home office.
• Comfortable prospecting through cold calling, email, and LinkedIn outreach, and visiting manufacturing facilities in person.
• Valid driver's license and willingness to travel daily within the territory, with occasional overnight travel for training and vendor events.
• Motivation to build a territory around uncapped commission potential.
• Must reside in or be genuinely planning to relocate to the Florida Panhandle area

Preferred Requirements

• Sales experience, ideally selling cutting tools, tooling, machine tools, or other manufacturing products, with an understanding of commission-based compensation.
• An applications engineering background, particularly experience with machine tools, G-code/M-code, programming, tooling, and solving customer production problems.
• Swiss-type machining experience.
• Background as an independent tooling representative, machine tool salesperson, applications engineer, or experienced machinist ready to transition into sales.
• Prior machine tool capital equipment sales experience is helpful but not required if the technical foundation is strong.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base salary is $40,000 after territory begins bearing fruit, with a higher starting base or a nonrefundable draw possible based on experience; exact figure and duration to be determined with the candidate.
• Commission structure of approximately 25% of net profit on machine tool sales and 25% on industrial and tooling sales, uncapped.
• Realistic first year earnings potential above $100,000, with longer-term earnings in the $170,000+ range
• Vehicle allowance, plus reimbursement of reasonable business expenses.
• Company-provided phone, laptop, and a full benefits package.
• Substantial onboarding support rather than being left fully autonomous, including regular ride-alongs with senior sales, service, and applications personnel; recent hires received ride-along support nearly every week for their first six months.

Location

Florida Panhandle territory generally extending from Pensacola through Tallahassee, including Fort Walton Beach, Panama City, and the surrounding manufacturing corridors. Occasional industrial supply coverage into South Alabama and South Georgia as accounts warrant. The role is primarily field-based, typically working from a home office for appointment-setting and administrative work, with most of the week spent visiting customers throughout the territory and approximately 3-5 hotel nights per month for travel outside daily driving range.