Automation Sales Manager Jobs in Chehalis, WA (NOW HIRING)

Please visit our website to learn more about Emtech and our values at www.emtechengineering.com

Our culture is not just about hard work--we are also about having fun, working together, and making a real difference.  We are committed to creating a positive, accepting environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to grow.

Position Overview

The Business Development Manager is responsible for identifying, developing, and growing strategic customer relationships that align with Emtech's engineering and industrial automation capabilities. This role focuses on creating qualified opportunities, expanding existing accounts, and positioning Emtech as a trusted engineering partner.

Success comes from building credibility with engineering leaders, understanding customer technical challenges, and collaborating closely with operations and engineering teams to deliver practical solutions. This is a relationship-driven role that values long-term partnerships over transactional sales.

Primary Responsibilities

Strategic Business Development

•  Identify and qualify new business opportunities within robotics, automation, manufacturing, industrial technology, aerospace, defense, and emerging engineering markets.
• Build relationships with engineering leaders, program managers, operations leaders, and executive decision makers.
• Develop account strategies for target customers.
• Research market trends and identify industries aligned with Emtech's capabilities.
• Represent Emtech at conferences, trade shows, networking events, and customer meetings.

Relationship Management

• Build trusted relationships before opportunities exist.
• Maintain regular communication with prospects and existing clients.
• Coordinate executive introductions when appropriate.
• Help customers understand where Emtech creates value.
  

Opportunity Development

• Qualify opportunities using agreed-upon sales criteria.
• Lead discovery meetings.
• Coordinate technical discussions with engineering subject matter experts.
• Work with operations to develop scopes of work, pricing, and proposals.
• Manage opportunities through the CRM pipeline.

Internal Collaboration
Partner closely with Engineering, Operations, Recruiting, and Leadership to ensure opportunities align with Emtech's capabilities and resource availability. Bring opportunities to the organization—not promises that cannot be delivered.

Market Intelligence

• Monitor competitor activity.
• Identify emerging robotics and automation trends.
• Track customer investment areas.
• Recommend new markets worth pursuing.
  

Success Metrics

• Qualified opportunities created
• Pipeline value
• Customer meetings conducted
• Proposal activity
• Revenue generated
• Gross margin quality
• Customer retention
• Strategic partnerships developed
• Expansion within existing accounts

Required Qualifications

•  Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and professional experience.
•  5+ years of business development, account management, client relations, strategic partnerships, consulting, public administration, project management, or related leadership experience. 
• Demonstrated success building long-term relationships with customers, stakeholders, or executive leaders.
• Strong communication, presentation, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to quickly learn technical concepts and confidently facilitate conversations between customers and engineering subject matter experts.
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities, opportunities, and customer relationships.
• experience using CRM systems or other customer relationship management tools.
• Self-motivated with strong organizational and time management skills.
  
• Willingness to travel as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience selling engineering services, industrial automation, robotics, manufacturing, technology, construction, aerospace, defense, or other technical industries.
  
• Experience selling or supporting professional services, consulting, or technical solutions.
• Existing network within manufacturing, industrial, technology, or engineering organizations.
•  Experience working with R&D, product development, or operations teams.
• Understanding of project-based services and customer delivery models.
• Experience responding to RFPs, RFQs, or developing proposals and Statements of Work.
• Familiarity with Amazon Robotics or similar industrial automation environments is a plus.
  

Key Competencies
Relationship Building, Strategic Thinking, Curiosity, Technical Aptitude, Executive Presence, Communication, Collaboration, Business Acumen, Persistence, Integrity, Self-Motivation.

What Success Looks Like
First 90 Days:

•  Learn Emtech's services, capabilities, and differentiators.
•  Build a target account list.
•  Establish a consistent customer outreach cadence.
•  Attend industry events and begin building relationships.
•  Generate qualified opportunities.

First Year:

• Develop a healthy, diversified sales pipeline outside existing customer relationships.
• Help secure new strategic customers.
• Expand existing accounts.
• Become a trusted advisor to engineering and operations leaders.
• Establish Emtech as a recognized engineering partner in targeted markets.

About Emtech
Emtech delivers managed engineering services, robotics integration, industrial automation, and hands-on technical execution for organizations developing and deploying advanced technologies. Our teams work alongside customers to solve complex engineering challenges, from research and development through field deployment. 

We believe the best business relationships are built through technical excellence, operational reliability, and a commitment to delivering results. Our goal is to become an extension of our customers' engineering teams.