Entry Level Product Engineer Jobs in Illinois (NOW HIRING)

Join UCC Environmental, a leader in sustainable technology solutions:

Looking for a career where your work has real impact? At UCC Environmental, you’ll join a company built on solving complex industrial challenges while advancing sustainable solutions for air, water, and solids handling around the world.

We’re a privately held, family-owned business with more than a century of experience supporting mission-critical industries. Our teams work with utility power providers and heavy industrial customers globally, delivering innovative solutions in environmental compliance, material handling, and high-performance aftermarket technologies.

At UCC Environmental, you’ll collaborate with a diverse, global team that values technical expertise, problem-solving, and long-term customer relationships. With continued growth across North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific, we offer opportunities to contribute meaningfully to an expanding international business.

Headquartered in Waukegan, Illinois, UCC owns and operates sales, manufacturing, assembly, and warehousing facilities across the United States, Canada, Germany, India, and China. If you're looking for a place where your ideas matter, your work has purpose, and your career can grow alongside a global organization, UCC Environmental could be the right fit!

The Application Engineer serves as the technical bridge between the Parts Sales team (inside sales support, organized by region) and the Product Management team (technical sales support, organized by product family). It provides first-line technical support for parts identification, competitor cross-referencing, and non-standard, retrofit, and performance-parts quotations.

The position exists to accelerate quote turnaround for the Parts Application Specialists and Field Sales Offices while protecting Product Engineer capacity for the product-development roadmap. The Application Engineer triages incoming technical requests — resolving those within scope and routing genuine design or engineering work to the appropriate Product Engineer — and helps convert technical opportunities into booked parts sales.

This is an entry-level engineering position and a deliberate development path into the Product Engineer role. Through daily exposure to UCC products, drawings, pricing, and customer applications — and structured mentorship from the Product Engineers — the Application Engineer builds the product and engineering depth required to progress onto the Product Management team.

• Technical part identification & cross-referencing: Serve as the first-line technical resource for identifying service parts from UCC contract, standard, and vendor drawings, and for competitor cross-referencing that supports retrofit opportunities. Respond to application inquiries from the Parts Application Specialists (PAS) and Field Sales Offices. Process part-number add requests and Engineering Work Requests as needed.
• Non-standard, retrofit & performance-parts quotation support: Own the technical review and pricing coordination for non-standard, retrofit, and performance-parts quotations — the work that sits between a standard PAS quote and full Product Engineer engineering. Coordinate with Product Engineers for product-family pricing and with PAS for quote generation and order entry in AX.
• Technical request triage & routing: Act as the central intake point for technical questions from PAS and Field Sales. Resolve requests within scope, and route true design or engineering work to the appropriate Product Engineer. Track request volume, turnaround, and disposition, and publish a periodic summary.
• Growth-opportunity & data support: Support the Performance Parts Opportunity (PPO) log and the competitor-retrofit funnel operationally — feeding quotes to PAS and product ideas to Product Engineers. Maintain cross-reference data, Standard Product List content, and the technical portions of Contract Spare Parts (CSP) lists. Contribute technical “Did You Know” content to the Selling Boldly program.
• Continuous improvement & other duties: Identify and implement AX, Prism, and Smartsheet enhancements and tools that improve technical-support efficiency. Support technical and sales presentations and marketing literature as assigned.
• Perform all other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering required.
• Entry-level position: 0–2 years of experience. Internships, co-ops, or coursework involving mechanical or industrial products, engineered drawings, or manufacturing are a plus.
• Ability to read and interpret engineered design drawings is required.
• Familiarity with ERP systems (Microsoft Dynamics AX) and technical or parts databases is a plus; training will be provided.

Characteristics and Skills:

• Strong technical aptitude with mechanical and industrial products, and the ability to translate customer needs into part solutions.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills; comfortable interfacing with Field Sales, customers, and engineering.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to prioritize and triage competing requests under time pressure.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to act with integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite; strong Excel and data skills; Smartsheet preferred.

Essential Physical Abilities:

• Ability to sit or stand at a computer for approximately 80% of the day.
• Ability to travel up to 10–15% of the time for occasional customer, supplier, or UCC plant visits as needed.

Core Values and Beliefs

Must be aligned with Core Values and Beliefs that drive UCC’s existing corporate culture;

• People – we trust and invest in our people, unlocking their full potential and they always come first
• Teamwork – we respect others and create a collaborative working environment of inclusion and inspiration
• Integrity – we are truthful and respectful to customers, employees, community and suppliers
• Customer Satisfaction – we keep existing customers by delivering exceptional customer service
• Innovative –we encourage resourceful problem solving in the face of adversity

Compensation and Benefits:

Base Pay Range:              $72,000 to $80,000 annual pay based on skills and experience

Benefits:             

• Insurance:  Medical, Dental, Life, Disability, Employee Assistance Programs and Voluntary Options such as Vision, HSA, FSA (Medical, Dental, Vision and Dependent Care), Accident, Identity Theft, Legal coverage
• Retirement: 401(k) with up to 4% company match, Pre-Tax and Roth Options, and discretionary Annual Profit-Sharing contribution
• Time Off:  10 days of Vacation, Vacation Purchase Plan up to 10 days purchased per year, 5 days of Sick and 10 Holidays, Parental Leave, FMLA
• Miscellaneous: Student Debt Assistance, Tuition Reimbursement, Certification and License Reimbursement, Personalized Professional Development Plans and Career Path Options.

How to Apply:

If interested in this position, please apply online via our website at https://uccenvironmental.com/careers/  and select Explore Current Openings to apply for this position online.

UCC Environmental is an Equal Opportunity Employer: Disability/Veteran. If you have difficulty applying for this job online, by e-mail, or need accommodations, please call us at 847-473-5900 and ask for Human Resources.