VP Application Engineering
Vention
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Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
Vention seeks a senior Pre-Sales & Solutions leadership role to guide Application Engineers and Solution Architects partnering with sales to close complex deals. You will scale from SMB/Commercial to Enterprise engagements, driving multi-system deployments and professional services scoping while bridging commercial goals with technical feasibility.
You will lead a global team, shape engagement models, and collaborate across Product, Engineering, and Marketing to accelerate the MAP platform
Qualifications
- 12+ years in industrial automation, robotics, or manufacturing technology.
- 5+ years leading pre-sales or solutions engineering teams in a commercial tech environment.
- Demonstrated track record of partnering with quota-carrying sales teams to close complex, high-value deals.
- Experience scoping and selling professional services or project-based engagements alongside a product platform.
- Exposure to all commercial segments — SMB to Fortune 500 manufacturers.
Responsibilities
- Lead, coach, and grow a team of Application Engineers and Solution Architects across segments.
- Own the technical win by ensuring compelling, credible, and competitive solution architecture.
- Define and enforce rigorous scope validation standards for deliverable projects.
- Ensure efficient use of pre-sales resources and support enterprise engagements.
- Collaborate with post-sales, product, engineering, and marketing to drive pipeline and content.
Skills
Job description
Headquartered in Montreal, Detroit and Munich, Vention helps manufacturers automate their operations in record time with the only hardware and software AI-powered platform built for the factory floor. Our technology powers over 25,000 machines across 4,000 factories across 5 continents and we have the privilege to work with a significant proportion of Fortune 500 manufacturers, from space rockets, to electrical cars, to robotics.
At Vention, you’ll work alongside driven and talented people who care deeply about their craft and the impact they create. We’re a team of high achievers who grow through meaningful work, solving complex challenges, learning fast, and seeing the results of our efforts every day.
We move quickly and aim high, but we do it together with care, collaboration, and respect. Our culture celebrates diverse perspectives and supports your growth through intentional development, strong leadership, and opportunities to make a real difference.
This is a pivotal leadership role at the heart of Vention’s commercial engine. You will lead the Application Engineers and Solution Architects who partner with our quota-carrying sales teams to win technically complex deals — ensuring every solution we sell is one our customers can successfully deploy to achieve their manufacturing automation objectives. Beyond supporting today's business across SMB, Commercial, and Enterprise, you will spearhead our evolution into larger, more complex Enterprise engagements — including multi- ystem deployments, professional services scoping, and solutions that stretch the boundaries of the MAP platform. You will be a bridge between what is commercially possible and what is technically sound.
- Lead, coach, and grow a team of Application Engineers and Solution Architects; align
- capacity and expertise to deal complexity and segment requirements
- Build career paths and a coaching culture that attracts and retains top automation and robotics engineering talent.
- Educate the team on best machine design practices, from EOL solution, to conveyor, to gantry robots, etc.
- Global team management
- Drive constant improvement in process, ways of working, template ad tools
- Deploy the right talent model: high-velocity support for SMB/Commercial; deeper, consultative engagement for Enterprise pursuits.
- Partner tightly with quota-carrying sellers and leadership across all three segments to qualify opportunities, shape the technical approach, and drive closure.
- Own the technical win — ensuring Vention’s solution architecture is compelling, credible, and competitive at every stage of the sales cycle.
- Define and enforce rigorous scope validation standards so that every committed solution is deliverable within budget and timeline.
- Ensure that pre sales engineering resources are utilized effectively and efficiently
- Support client visits and business development activities
- Support complex RFQ/RFP responses, executive-level presentations, and technical workshops for Enterprise prospects.
- Lead the design of pre-sales motions, solution frameworks, and engagement models
- suited to Enterprise complexity — multi-system, multi-site, and professional services–inclusive deals.
- In close partnership with Post Sales Engineering, work with customers and prospects to scope and price professional services engagements that set realistic expectations and protect project margins.
- Push the boundaries of the MAP platform: champion creative solutions, collaborate with
- Product and Engineering on feasibility, and help define what's next.
- Serve as the critical bridge between pre-sales and the post-sales engineering team —
- ensuring clean, detailed handoffs that set delivery up for success.
- Feed structured field intelligence to Product and Engineering: win/loss insights, recurring
- technical gaps, customer requirements that should shape the roadmap.
- Act as the stakeholder representing pre-sales in the Vention TMP product development process.
- Collaborate with Marketing on technical content, reference architectures, demo assets,
- and event presence that accelerate the pipeline.
- Build and continuously refine pre-sales processes, qualification frameworks, and design
- review cadences that scale across segments.
- Define and track pre-sales KPIs: technical win rate, time-to-proposal, scope change rate,
- and NPS at handoff.
- Develop tools, templates, and playbooks that multiply team output without sacrificing
- solution quality.
- 12+ years in industrial automation, robotics, or manufacturing technology, including deep hands-on technical expertise.
- 5+ years leading pre-sales, application engineering, or solutions engineering teams in a commercial technology environment.
- Demonstrated track record of partnering with quota-carrying sales teams to close complex, high-value deals.
- Experience scoping and selling professional services or project-based engagements alongside a product platform.
- Exposure to all commercial segments — from transactional SMB to large Enterprise / Fortune 500 manufacturers.
- Fluency in automation system design: mechanical, controls architecture, robotics, and
- AI enabled software integration.
- Comfort with the full pre-sales technical toolkit: concept design, BOM estimation, feasibility assessment, ROI modelling, and TCO business cases.
- Enough technical credibility to earn respect from your engineers and challenge assumptions in customer discovery.
- Strong commercial instincts — you understand deal economics, margin implications, and
- how pre-sales investment drives win rates.
- Exceptional communicator: equally effective presenting to a CTO, coaching a junior
- engineer, or aligning with a product team.
- Energized by ambitious targets, comfortable with ambiguity, and capable of building
- structure in a scaling organization.
- Bilingual (English/French) an asset; experience working across North America and Europe a plus.
- Career pathing: Real opportunities to grow through personalized development plans, bi-annual employee reviews, and mentorship program
- Professional development: Continuous training in performance management, inclusive leadership, leadership operating model, team building, and giving/receiving feedback
- Gender diversity & inclusion: Pay equity reviews, inclusive policies, and a Women’s Employee Resource Group offering networking, mentorship, and quarterly learning sessions.
- Hybrid work: Enjoy flexibility with our hybrid model, allowing you to work from home on select days.
- Community engagement: Two paid volunteering days per year to give back to causes you care about.
- Team events: All year round employee events including annual kick-off, employee summit, quarterly happy hours, and department events.
- Comprehensive benefits: A complete group benefits plan for you and your family that start day one.
- Top-up and benefits for new parents: Additional financial support and resources to support employees during their transition to parenthood.
- Initial Call
- Meet the Team
- Case or take-home interview
- Decision & Offer
We’re committed to making every step of the process inclusive and accessible. If you require accommodations at any stage, please let us know, we’ll ensure you have what you need to succeed.
Vention is an uplifting environment for high achievers. Thinking that Vention’s culture would keep you energized? See our full culture guide here.
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Other Links You Might Find Useful:
Demo day video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRSc_brCQAw
Culture video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eszZu4c4ipE
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