Sr. Applications Engineer

Steven Douglas Corp.; Kentucky; On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Paid vacation

401(k) retirement plan

Parental leave

Job summary

Steven Douglas Corp. in Kentucky seeks a Sr. Applications Engineer to translate customer manufacturing challenges into robust automation concepts.

This role sits at the intersection of sales, engineering, estimating, and our customers, shaping what we build and how we deliver. You will develop creative automation concepts, prepare technical proposals, and collaborate with mechanical, electrical, controls, and project teams to validate concepts and estimates.

Qualifications

• Significant experience designing or developing custom industrial machinery, automation systems, or complex manufacturing equipment.
• Strong estimating and technical judgment, including the ability to recognize project risks early.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain technical concepts clearly to customers and internal teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop creative, technically sound automation concepts based on customer requirements, specifications, cycle times, processes, and production goals.
• Translate customer manufacturing challenges into practical machine concepts that SDC can confidently design, build, and support.
• Prepare technical proposals, scopes of work, cost estimates, and customer presentations for custom automation projects.
• Work closely with sales to understand customer needs and develop the right technical approach.
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, controls, project management, manufacturing, and build teams to validate concepts and estimates.
• Participate in customer meetings, design discussions, and project-scoping activities.

Skills

Industrial machinery design

Technical proposal development

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Description

Build Solutions. Move Fast. Make an Impact.

At Steven Douglas Corp. (SDC), we design, engineer, and build custom automation systems that solve complex manufacturing challenges. Because every project is different, our team is constantly developing new concepts, solving technical problems, and finding practical ways to make automation work.

We’re looking for a Sr. Applications Engineer who can take a customer’s manufacturing challenge and turn it into a technically sound, practical automation concept.

This is a highly collaborative role that sits at the intersection of sales, engineering, estimating, and our customers. You’ll help define what we should build, how we should build it, and what it will take to deliver a successful system.

Why SDC?

Move Fast & Make Decisions
SDC is a growing, family-owned company without layers of corporate structure slowing things down. Our teams have direct access to decision-makers, and good ideas can turn into action quickly. We expect people to use good judgment, communicate clearly, and help move projects forward.

Challenging Work That Stays Interesting
We build custom machines—not the same product over and over. You’ll work across technologies, applications, and industries, solving new engineering challenges with every project.

Real Ownership
Your work has a direct impact on the projects we win and ultimately deliver. Applications Engineering isn't a small piece of a large corporate process—you'll see how your decisions affect the machine from initial concept through engineering and build.

A Team-Oriented Culture
Our best work happens when sales, applications, engineering, project management, manufacturing, and build work together. We value people who share information, ask for input, help teammates, and care about the success of the entire project—not just their individual responsibilities.

What You’ll Do

• Develop creative, technically sound automation concepts based on customer requirements, specifications, cycle times, processes, and production goals.
• Translate customer manufacturing challenges into practical machine concepts that SDC can confidently design, build, and support.
• Prepare technical proposals, scopes of work, cost estimates, and customer presentations for custom automation projects.
• Work closely with sales to understand customer needs and develop the right technical approach.
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, controls, project management, manufacturing, and build teams to validate concepts and estimates.
• Participate in customer meetings, design discussions, and project-scoping activities.
• Travel up to 10% to customer facilities for discovery meetings, application reviews, project scoping, and technical discussions.
• Maintain accurate project documentation and follow SDC’s estimating and project-release processes.
• Support engineering after project award to ensure a strong transition from concept and proposal into detailed design.
• Apply lessons learned from previous projects to continuously improve future machine concepts, estimates, and proposals.

What We’re Looking For

• Significant experience designing or developing custom industrial machinery, automation systems, or complex manufacturing equipment.
• Strong mechanical aptitude and understanding of machine design principles, automation components, manufacturing processes, and system integration.
• Ability to take an incomplete or loosely defined manufacturing challenge and develop a practical technical solution.
• Strong estimating and technical judgment, including the ability to recognize project risks early.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain technical concepts clearly to customers and internal teams.
• Ability to manage multiple opportunities and priorities in a fast-moving environment.
• Comfortable making decisions with the information available, identifying what still needs to be learned, and moving the process forward.
• Strong attention to detail without allowing perfection to unnecessarily slow progress.
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 10%.

Requirements

How We Work

The pace at SDC can be fast, but it’s rewarding. Customer needs change, priorities shift, new opportunities come in, and technical challenges don't always have obvious answers. Successful people here are comfortable operating in that environment.

We’re looking for someone who:

• Takes ownership. If you see a problem, help solve it. Don't assume someone else will pick it up.
• Moves with urgency. We value thoughtful decisions, but we don't need layers of meetings and approvals to make progress.
• Works as part of the team. Share information, ask questions, offer help, and recognize when your decisions affect someone downstream.
• Communicates early. Raise concerns, risks, and questions before they become bigger problems.
• Is comfortable with change. Custom automation requires flexibility. Priorities and technical approaches sometimes need to change quickly.
• Balances creativity with practicality. A great concept still has to be buildable, reliable, maintainable, and financially viable.
• Respects the people doing the work. Applications, engineering, project management, fabrication, assembly, controls, and sales all bring important perspectives to a project.
• Represents SDC well. Build trust with customers through technical credibility, responsiveness, integrity, and straightforward communication.
• Shares knowledge. Help develop less-experienced engineers and contribute to making the entire team stronger.

What We Offer

At SDC, we believe in taking care of our team professionally and personally. Our benefits include:

• Competitive compensation based on experience and contribution.
• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, with supplemental insurance options available.
• 15 days of paid vacation to start, accrued sick leave, and 10 company-paid holidays.
• 401(k) with a 4% employer match each pay period, with employees 100% vested after 90 days.
• Paid parental leave.
• The opportunity to work on challenging, high-impact automation projects across a variety of industries.

Build Machines That Matter.

At SDC, you won't be one engineer buried inside a large corporate organization. You'll work directly with the people making decisions, collaborate with the teams actually designing and building the equipment, and have a visible impact on the projects we pursue and deliver.

If you enjoy moving quickly, solving difficult technical problems, working as part of a strong team, and seeing your ideas become real machines, we'd like to talk with you.

I especially like adding the “How We Work” section. Your existing posting already mentions integrity, continuous learning, mutual respect, teamwork, and ownership, but those qualities are somewhat buried. This version makes them actual expectations and gives candidates a much clearer picture of what it feels like to work at SDC.