Technical Sales Consultant – PLC & Automation Systems

Equipment & Controls, Inc.; United States; On-site; USD 95,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Equipment & Controls, Inc. is a leading Emerson Impact Partner with offices in PA, WV, and OH. We seek a Technical Sales Consultant to partner with account managers and engineers to develop automation opportunities across PLCs, HMIs, networks, and drives.

The role is customer-facing, focusing on translating needs into practical, commercially viable solutions, leading technical discussions, and guiding proposals from discovery to handoff to execution.

Qualifications

• Five+ years of hands-on experience in industrial automation or related technical field.
• Experience with PLC platforms such as DeltaV PLC, PAC systems or other PLCs.
• Demonstrated experience architecting PLC-based systems.
• Ability to discuss PLC applications across multiple industrial markets.
• Customer-facing experience leading technical discussions and discovery sessions.
• Willingness and ability to travel regionally to support sales calls and site visits.
• Valid driver's license and ability to meet customer-site access requirements.

Responsibilities

• Identify, qualify, and advance PLC and automation sales opportunities.
• Participate in customer site visits and front-end engineering activities.
• Develop preliminary control-system architectures.
• Lead technical discussions and proposals during pre-sales activities.
• Translate requirements into clear technical concepts and feasible solutions.
• Coordinate between customers, Account Managers, Inside Sales, Engineering, and Service teams.
• Collaborate on bills of material, estimates, and technical deliverables.
• Conduct effective handoffs to Engineering and Project Management after awards.

Skills

Presentation skills

Customer-facing

Communication skills

Team collaboration

Travel willingness

Driver's license

Tools

DeltaV PLC

PAC systems

Job description

Description

Equipment & Controls, Inc. is a successful and innovative Emerson Impact Partner. ECI provides an entrepreneurial opportunity for each employee to achieve our common mission of Delivering Successful Customer Outcomes 100% of the Time . Our customer base includes oil and gas, chemical, power, food and beverage, mining and metals, life sciences, pulp and paper, refining, petrochemical, OEM and nuclear industries. With offices in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, ECI is the region’s leader in process control and industrial automation products and solutions. We seek individuals that share our passion for excellence.

Business Unit/Department

Process Systems and Solutions

Preferred Locations

Cleveland, OH, Columbus, OH, and Pittsburgh, PA

Position Summary

The Technical Sales Consultant will partner with ECI Account Managers, Inside Sales, Engineering, and customers to identify, qualify, and develop automation opportunities involving PLCs, HMIs, industrial networks, industrial software, drives, MCCs, field devices, and related engineering and service offerings.

This is a customer-facing, pre-sales role. The successful candidate will translate customer needs into practical, commercially viable solutions; lead technical discussions; support the development of proposals; and help guide opportunities from initial discovery through proposal and handoff to execution.

The position is not intended to perform detailed project engineering or PLC programming as its primary responsibility. However, the successful candidate must be technically capable of defining requirements, developing preliminary architectures, challenging assumptions, communicating customer value, and guiding Engineering toward an executable solution.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Partner with Account Managers to identify, qualify, and advance PLC and automation sales opportunities.
• Participate in customer site visits, control-system assessments, network walkdowns, and front-end engineering or consulting activities as appropriate.
• Develop preliminary control-system architectures.
• Serve as the technical lead during pre-sales meetings, presentations, demonstrations, proposal reviews, and customer negotiations as appropriate.
• Translate customer requirements, specifications, I/O lists, process narratives, drawings, and other source information into clear technical assumptions and solution concepts.
• Act as a conduit between customers, Account Managers, Inside Sales, Engineering, Project Management, and service personnel to support accurate and timely proposals.
• Collaborate with Inside Sales and Engineering to develop bills of material, preliminary estimates, proposal scope, exclusions, assumptions, schedules, and technical deliverables.
• Conduct effective technical handoffs to Engineering and Project Management after an opportunity is awarded.

Requirements

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Five or more years of hands-on experience in industrial automation, controls, systems integration, or a related technical field; equivalent industry experience will be considered.
• Experience with PLC platforms such as DeltaV PLC, PAC systems or other PLCs.
• Demonstrated experience architecting PLC-based systems.
• Ability to understand and discuss PLC applications across one or more industrial markets, such as process control, discrete manufacturing, packaging, automotive, food and beverage, power, OEM, or water/wastewater.
• Customer-facing experience leading technical discussions, discovery sessions, site activities, project meetings, or similar engagements.
• Strong presentation, consulting, written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with multiple Account Managers, Inside Sales Engineers, Engineering, Project Management, and service teams.
• Willingness and ability to travel regionally to support sales calls, customer meetings, site assessments, and related activities is required, including regional travel to customer sites and sales meetings and occasional overnight travel.
• Valid driver's license and ability to meet customer-site access requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Emerson PACSystems or comparable PLC and HMI/SCADA platforms.
• Experience with industrial Ethernet, EtherNet/IP, Profinet, Modbus, DeviceNet, or similar communication protocols.
• Experience with PLC modernization, legacy-system migration, control-system networking, cybersecurity, functional safety, or lifecycle support.
• Experience developing proposals, estimates, bills of material, technical specifications, or statements of work.
• Previous sales, applications engineering, consulting, project leadership, or systems-integration experience.

The Ideal Candidate

• Enjoy a role that combines technical problem solving, customer consultation, and commercial activity.
• Demonstrate commercial curiosity and the ability to connect technical solutions to customer business outcomes.
• Be comfortable working with industrial customers, plant personnel, engineers, maintenance teams, operations leaders, and management.
• Act as a trusted technical advisor while recognizing when to involve ECI's Engineering, Project Management, service, or product specialists.
• Be able to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrate sound judgment when defining scope, identifying risks, setting expectations, and determining when additional technical resources are needed.
• Work independently while actively collaborating with the broader sales and technical organization.

Core Competencies

• Work collaboratively - Promote an inclusive and positive work environment that encourages collaboration and team building across all levels of the organization. Work with others to resolve obstacles that may prevent the organization from achieving its mission.
• Customer focus - Demonstrate the desire and knowledge to understand customer needs. Provide personalized, professional and courteous service, accurate information, continuous communication and the ability to handle customer concerns in an appropriate manner.
• Integrity - Behave ethically, act fairly and take responsibility for accomplishing work goals.

Additional Details

We provide our sales force with everything needed for success, including world-class products, industry marketing, excellent initial and ongoing training, sales tools, laptop, cell phone and car allowance. We reward hard work and success with a competitive salary, excellent benefits package, and retirement savings program which includes a 401(k) plan with company match and profit sharing.

EEO/AA/M/F/Veteran/Disability