Field Account Manager

ASUS; Randburg; On-site; ZAR 600 000 - 800 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology company in Randburg is seeking a Field Application Engineer to act as the primary technical interface with customers. The ideal candidate will have over 3 years of experience in hardware design and proven abilities in managing technical proposals and RFQ responses. This role involves significant collaboration with sales and design teams, making strong commercial acumen essential. Competitive compensation and benefits are offered.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in hardware design or applications engineering.
• Experience in responding to RFQs/tenders or creating technical proposals.
• Strong commercial acumen, understanding gross margin and lead-time trade-offs.
• Proficiency with Salesforce and Excel tools.

Responsibilities

• Act as the primary technical point of contact for assigned key accounts.
• Support the full design cycle including architecture discussions and reviews.
• Deliver technical presentations and hands-on training.
• Debug complex hardware/software issues on-site.
• Collaborate with sales to drive design wins and achieve revenue targets.

Skills

Hardware design

Applications engineering

Technical proposal creation

Salesforce

Excel

Job description

Role Summary

The Field Application Engineer is the primary technical interface to customers and supports early‑stage product‑management and commercial activities such as opportunity qualification, RFQ/tender response, and project scoping.

Key Responsibilities

Core FAE Technical Responsibilities

• Act as the primary technical point of contact for assigned key accounts and distributors.
• Support the full design cycle: architecture discussions, schematic/layout review, part selection, bring‑up, validation, and certification.
• Deliver technical presentations, workshops, and hands‑on training.
• Debug complex hardware/software issues on‑site using standard lab equipment.
• Develop reference designs, application notes, evaluation kits, and demos.
• Collaborate with sales to drive design wins and achieve revenue targets.

Additional Product Management & Commercial Responsibilities (Entry‑Level)

• Partner with sales to qualify new opportunities and projects early in the funnel (NBO identification, technical feasibility checks).
• Lead or co‑lead the technical portion of RFQ, RFP, and tender responses, including: – Creation of compliance matrices – Risk assessment (technical, supply chain, certification) – Proposed Bill‑of‑Materials (BOM) and costed BOM preparation – Definition of deliverables, milestones, and acceptance criteria – Writing technical proposal sections and executive summaries
• Generate and maintain accurate quoting packages (standard pricing, project‑specific NRE, special pricing requests, MOQ, lead‑time exceptions).
• Coordinate multi‑department input (R&D, operations, quality, legal) for large bids and framework agreements.
• Track and report opportunity pipeline health, win/loss analysis, and design‑win forecasts in CRM tools (Salesforce).
• Support product roadmap feedback by consolidating regional customer requirements and competitive intelligence.
• Assist in defining and launching customer‑specific derivatives or small platform extensions (light product‑management duties).
• Own the internal approval workflow for special pricing, free‑of‑charge samples, and dev‑kit allocations tied to strategic projects.

Required Qualifications

(Unchanged technical requirements plus the following additions)

• 3+ years of experience in hardware design or applications engineering.
• Demonstrated experience in responding to RFQs/tenders or creating technical proposals (even if co‑owned with sales/PM).
• Strong commercial acumen: ability to understand gross margin, NRE recovery, MOQ, and lead‑time trade‑offs.
• Proficiency with Salesforce and Excel tools.

Preferred Skills & Experience (Additions)

• Previous exposure to product management, program management, or bid management.
• Familiarity with public/private tender processes in automotive, industrial, or infrastructure markets.
• Experience negotiating technical scope and commercial terms directly with customers.
• Knowledge of export control and industry‑specific certification requirements.