Sales Application Engineer

Date Issued:

January 2026

Department:

Strategic Sales

Reports to:

VP Strategic Sales

Location:

Van Nuys, CA

Position Purpose:

The Sales Application Engineer serves as the technical lead bridging the gap between product design and customer-specific power plant requirements. You will be responsible for the "Inquiry-to-Order" (ITO) process, which involves scoping, quoting, and technical validation of integrated energy solutions. The individual should also have the following skills, high level excel experience, TCOM modeling, Financial Modeling, P&L, RFI and RFP C,D,E Risk Review including proposal development and good presentation skills with strong knowledge of design, product selection, integrated power plant to include turbine power generation, absorption chilling, battery energy storage systems including plant level control systems

Key Responsibilities

To excel in this role with a focus on integrated power plants, your skill set must span mechanical, electrical, and control systems.

Core Engineering Skill Set

• Mechanical & Power Design: Proficiency in thermodynamic and mechanical performance calculations to develop turbine power requirements, performance curves, and auxiliary system interfaces.
• Electrical Systems: Expertise in electrical packaging for gensets, including 3-phase synchronization, load balancing, and managing power factors.
• Product Selection: Capability to evaluate customer specifications against product catalogs to determine the optimal turbine configuration (e.g., simple vs. combined cycle) and prepare technical proposals.

Integrated System Expertise

Modern applications engineering requires mastery of how individual components interact within a larger plant ecosystem:

• Turbine Power Generation: Design of "cradle-to-grave" turbine architectures, often coupled with aeroderivative gas generators or steam-driven systems.
• Absorption Chilling: Integrating absorption or adsorption chillers that utilize waste heat from turbine exhaust for district cooling or turbine inlet air cooling, which can improve net plant efficiency to nearly 80%.
• Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Implementation of BESS to manage peak demand and frequency response, utilizing grid-forming technology to stabilize the power system.
• Plant-Level Control Systems: Mastery of Distributed Control Systems (DCS) and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) to coordinate turbines and BESS. These systems manage charge/discharge cycles and maintain grid stability through active and reactive power commands.

Essential Software & Professional Tools

• Design & Modeling: 3D CAD (CREO, SolidWorks), AutoCAD, and system simulation tools like ANSYS or MATLAB.
• Proposal Management: Experience with Microsoft Project for timeline tracking and ERP systems for cost estimation.
• Professional Credentials: Pursuing a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) designation is highly valued for signing off on technical designs.

Strategic Career Resources

• Industry Job Portals: Monitor openings at major manufacturers such as Siemens Energy Careers or Mitsubishi Power Jobs for 2026-specific roles.
• Professional Standards: Review API 617 and API 614 standards, which are critical for mechanical performance and auxiliary system compliance in power applications.

The role of Applications Engineer has evolved into a "Technical-Commercial" (T-Com) hybrid. You are not only designing the physical plant but also proving its financial viability and managing the complex risk profiles associated with integrated energy systems.

Commercial & Financial Mastery

• High-Level Excel & Financial Modeling: Beyond standard spreadsheets, you must build robust financial models for power generation to calculate Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Net Present Value (NPV), and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for integrated projects.
• P&L Ownership: You are responsible for the project's "shadow" Profit & Loss statement during the proposal phase, ensuring that the technical solution (e.g., adding BESS or absorption chilling) aligns with the manufacturer's margin targets and the customer's payback period.
• TCOM Modeling: In this context, TCOM refers to Technical-Commercial modeling, where you simulate the interplay between technical performance (heat rate, efficiency) and commercial variables (fuel pricing, grid tariffs, carbon credits) to optimize the plant's total cost of ownership.

Proposal Development & Risk Management

• The "Inquiry-to-Order" process requires rigorous vetting of RFI (Request for Information) and RFP (Request for Proposal) documents:
• RFP C, D, E Risk Review: This refers to the tiered risk classification systems used by major manufacturers (like GE or Siemens).
• Category C/D: Standard or moderate risk projects.
• Category E: High-risk, complex, or first-of-a-kind integrated systems. You must identify technical "deal-breakers" and draft contingency plans for performance guarantees.
• Proposal Development: You must synthesize engineering drawings, performance data, and financial projections into a cohesive technical proposal that demonstrates a clear value proposition.

Communication & Soft Skills

• Presentation Skills: As the technical face of the company, you must present complex plant architectures-such as how a turbine interacts with a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)-to C-suite executives who may prioritize financial outcomes over mechanical specifications.
• Stakeholder Management: Navigating the gap between internal sales teams and external EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) partners to ensure all contractual technical requirements are met.

Compensation

This position offers a base salary ranging from $125,000 - $160,000, commission, and benefits.

Pay Range: $135,000 - $175,000 per year