Senior Sales Engineer

Key Skills

Aartificial intelligence, AI Robotic systems, Data Analytics, Data Visualization, Design, Effective communication skills, Mechanical, Operations, Python Programming, Sales

Job Description

Our mission is to build the Covariant Brain, a universal AI to give robots the ability to see, reason and act on the world around them. Bringing AI from research in the lab to the infinite variability and constant change of our customer’s real-world operations requires new ideas, approaches and techniques.

Success in the real world requires a team that represents that world: diversity of backgrounds, points of view, and experiences. Our common denominator: ambitious expectations, love of learning, empathy for those around us, and a team-first mindset.

THE ROLE

Sales Engineers help our customers choose our solutions by designing systems that use robotic arms powered by the Covariant Brain to automate manual operations. They design comprehensive end-to-end solutions including components like conveyors, sensors, sorters, and cameras, and the orchestrating software application. They start early in the presales process, presenting our technology and capabilities, visiting customer sites to discover their needs and specific workflows, and helping our sales leaders qualify for opportunities or provide technical feedback during contract negotiations. They should develop a deep understanding of the physical capabilities of our solutions and act as the subject matter expert for our customers, advising them on what is feasible today and what the partnership with Covariant will look like. Designing a solution will also include leading our engineering teams, including mechanical engineers, software engineers, and project managers, to ensure solutions can be deployed quickly and successfully, and serve as the voice of the customer with our product managers to drive prioritization of new features and development. Covariant SEs represent Covariant to the world in all situations and support managing the customer relationship in all aspects.

AREAS OF FOCUS

• Customer Communication: lead our customers on the journey to successfully adopt and benefit from solutions powered by the Covariant Brain, grounded on a deep understanding of the customer’s problems
• Solution Design: Translate that customer understanding into an automation solution inclusive of physical components and software workflows, and write clear specs for our engineering teams
• Curiosity: The role will require you to learn about our technology stack and how to operate it effectively, discover the intricacies of countless customers across industries, and effectively bring new ideas to the team

YOU WILL

• Be a key contributor from day 1 on a small team that’s growing fast
• Push the boundary of what’s possible together with a world-class AI research and engineering teams
• Design robotic cells that have never been made before, and watch the ideas go from your head to the physical reality

YOU HAVE

• 2+ years of professional experience in an enterprise technology presales role in any field and/or in a customer-facing warehouse automation design technical role
• Balance of big-picture thinking and attention to details that are relevant for materializing ideas into the physical world
• Proficiency in utilizing CAD software to engineer mechanical solutions, adept at leveraging an extensive internal component library to address and resolve real-world technical challenges
• Proficiency in project management, with a keen ability to negotiate and balance expectations against realistic timelines and deliverables, ensuring optimal outcomes for all stakeholders
• Proficiency in writing, reading, and understanding mechanical and enterprise software technical specs
• Professional fluency in English
• Bachelor's degree in a technical field (robotics, mechanical engineering, physics, etc.) or relevant technical experience
• Desire to meet with our customers in person nationally and internationally within North America (travel 15-30%)

NICE TO HAVES

• Experience with warehouse automation systems ideally in presales, solutions engineering/development, or sales engineering
• Experience with robotics and/or controls and PLC
• Experience with data analytics and visualization
• Proficiency in reading and writing code (Python)
• Work on complex mechanical and software integrations

SAMPLE WEEK IN THE LIFE

• Monday - Draft the layout for a robotic cell that fits within an existing space at the customer site and connects to existing conveyor systems inclusive of a six-axis robot that picks items from a tote and drops them into a pocket connected to a pocket sorter and finding the best position for a safety cage surrounding the area. After that, review the design from a junior engineer and provide feedback based on your experience on best practices and promptly update the internal engineering team of challenges or modifications you have made to update the anticipated deployment timeline.
• Tuesday - Travel to Atlanta to visit the nearby order fulfillment center of a prospect. You want to understand the whole workflow and see how our robotic solutions can fit into their operations. Take notes, pictures and videos to help you translate what you saw into a written document that will serve as the backbone of the solution design. Make sure that the prospect sees you as a technical expert in the field of AI robotics. Report the highlights of your findings internally to build internal energy towards the opportunity. Travel home.
• Wednesday - Thursday - Write Python or similar scripts to analyze historical data from the site you visited on the previous day. Extract from the data the relevant metrics to compare manual workflows to robotic picking, the number of robots that could be installed and their expected performance. Build a slide deck to present the results both internally and to our customers with convincing and easily understandable takeaways and supporting visuals.
• Friday - Talk with the lead developer at the software vendor whose software is upstream of our robot at the pilot site. You want to make sure they will be able to modify their communication protocol so that they become robot-suitable. Communicate the changes necessary to the prospect, report the update to all relevant stakeholders internally and let them know what they should expect as the next steps

$100,000 - $150,000 a year

Base pay is one element of our total rewards package which may also include comprehensive benefits, equity, etc., depending on eligibility. The actual base pay offered will be determined by factors such as years of relevant experience, skills, education, etc. Decisions will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

COMPANY CORE VALUES

LEARNING CONSTANTLY

STRIVING FOR EMPATHY

TAKING ON THE IMPOSSIBLE, TOGETHER

BENEFITS (US)

Health, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family

Unlimited PTO and Flexible work hours

401(k) plan and company match

Lunch and dinner each day (for on-site employees)

Monthly Health & Wellness budget

Quarterly Learning budget