Senior Sales Application Engineer

Cummins Inc.; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 121,000 - 164,000; Full time

Job summary

Cummins Inc. is seeking a Senior Sales Application Engineer in Chicago, IL to drive long-term sales influence. In this role, you will build strategic relationships with key influencers and serve as the technical expert, ensuring customer needs are met through tailored solutions.

The ideal candidate will have a degree in engineering along with over 4 years of relevant technical sales experience. The position offers a compensation range of $121,000 to $164,000 based on qualifications.

Qualifications

• Experience in technical sales, application engineering, or project management required.
• This position may require licensing for compliance with export controls.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead strategic relationships with key customers.
• Set and execute the influencer strategy to expand influence.
• Act as a technical subject matter expert providing guidance.

Skills

Articulating Value Proposition

Developing Account Strategy

Sales Pipeline Management

Education

University or college degree in engineering

4+ years of experience in technical sales or engineering

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

We are looking for a talented Senior Sales Application Engineer to join our team specializing in Technical Sales for Cummins Inc. in Chicago IL.

In this role, you will make an impact in the following ways:

• Build and lead strategic relationships with key influencer customers across regions (e.g., architects, engineers, contractors, OEMs, dealers, and channel partners) to drive long‑term sales influence.


• Set and execute the influencer strategy, targeting existing priority firms while identifying and cultivating new firms and individuals to expand influence.


• Serve as the technical subject matter expert, providing code, standards, and solution guidance to consulting engineers, end users, and sales teams.


• Identify customer needs and market opportunities by leveraging customer insights, market trends, and competitor research to prospect and shape demand.


• Manage opportunity flow and rigor, ensuring sales opportunities are identified, reported, tracked in Salesforce, and passed to the appropriate sales owners.


• Create and maintain key influencer account strategies, measuring customer perception, team credibility, and the overall impact of influence efforts.


• Act as an industry thought leader and customer advocate, sharing market insights internally, representing the company externally, and aligning influence activities with business targets (sales plans, margin, market share).

To be successful in this role you will need the following:

• Articulating Value Proposition - Deeply interpret both internal and external customer needs. Clearly explain and demonstrate how your products, solutions, and services meet these needs. Highlight strengths and address any weaknesses to differentiate from competitors.


• Developing Account Strategy - Evaluate the current relationship, financial status, product competitiveness, barriers, quality, and service levels of your accounts. Balance customer requirements with business capabilities to set achievable targets that align with your business strategy.


• Sales Pipeline Management - Develop and execute account/territory-level sales strategies based on your current pipeline. Regularly assess the size, contents, and progress of your pipeline. Adjust your sales strategy and plans as needed.

Education/Experience

• University or college degree in the field of engineering, or an acceptable combination of education and experience.


• This position may require licensing for compliance with export controls or sanctions regulations.


• Significant level of relevant work experience required. Experience in technical sales, application engineering or project management required.

Additional Responsibilities

• University or college degree in the field of engineering, or an acceptable combination of education and experience required.


• 4+ years of experience in technical sales, application engineering or project management desirable.


• Responsible for building relationships with Consulting Engineers in the Illinois, Western Michigan and Eastern Missouri markets.


• Clear communication with leadership, peers on the Northern Region SAE/UI Team, and the local Power Generation Sales Representatives on key projects, relationships, and sales initiatives.


• Project and relationship management/tracking will be documented in Salesforce.


• Technical aptitude to quickly ramp up on the products we are responsible for selling.


• Ability to execute technical presentations with external customers and internal sales teams.

Compensation

Please note that the salary range provided is a good faith estimate on the applicable range. The final salary offer will be determined after considering relevant factors, including a candidate’s qualifications and experience, where appropriate.

This role is on an 80/20 sales compensation plan.

Min Salary: $121,000

Max Salary: $164,000

At Cummins, we are an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer dedicated to diversity in the workplace. Our policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to race, gender, color, disability, national origin, age, religion, union affiliation, sexual orientation, veteran status, citizenship, gender identity and/or expression, or other status protected by law. Cummins validates the right to work using E‑Verify and will provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with information from each new employee’s Form I‑9 to confirm work authorization. Visit http://EEOC.gov to know your rights on workplace discrimination.