What are the responsibilities and job description for the Sales Engineer - Industrial Automation at ROLAND ELECTRONIC GMBH position at German American Chambers of Commerce?
Position: Sales Engineer – Industrial Automation, full-time
Location: Cleveland, OH (Strongsville area). Regional travel within driving distance, occasional travel across North America (10-15%).
Company Overview:
ROLAND ELECTRONIC GmbH is a German manufacturer of specialized sensor systems and quality control technologies used in industrial manufacturing environments. For more than 60 years, ROLAND has helped manufacturers improve production reliability by detecting defects and monitoring critical processes across industries such as automotive, metal processing, and industrial equipment manufacturing.
The company already serves a broad customer base across North America and has an established installed base of equipment in the field. As ROLAND continues to expand its presence in the region, the company is seeking a proactive, relationship-driven Sales Engineer to support existing customers and help grow its US business. To learn more about the company and its products, please visit https://www.roland-electronic.com/en/
Why This Role is Unique
ROLAND already has an established customer base in North America and an installed base of equipment in the field.
Your role will be to:
- reconnect with existing customers and proactively develop relationships with new contacts inside those organizations
- identify the right contacts within their organizations
- understand their manufacturing challenges
- help them improve their processes using ROLAND technology
- develop and execute targeted sales initiatives to acquire new customers
This role is ideal for someone who enjoys building relationships, learning about and applying industrial technology, and taking initiative in a highly autonomous environment - including proactively reaching out to customers and spending time in the field.
Training & Onboarding
ROLAND provides comprehensive onboarding and technical training.
This includes:
- approximately one month of product training at the company’s headquarters in Germany, incl. product and application training
- ongoing mentorship and structured onboarding tasks during the first months in the role
The goal of this onboarding program is to ensure that the candidate develops a strong understanding of the technology and customer applications while gradually building independence in the role.
Key Responsibilities
- Reconnect with existing customers and strengthen relationships across the United States
- Identify relevant contacts within customer organizations
- Build relationships with engineers, production managers, and technical decision makers
- Understand customer manufacturing processes and identify opportunities for improvement
- Support customers in selecting appropriate sensor and quality control solutions
- identify opportunities to expand business within existing customer accounts and contribute to the growth of ROLAND’s installed base
- Proactively travel to customer sites across the region to build relationships, understand manufacturing processes, and identify improvement opportunities.
- Provide market feedback to the engineering and leadership teams in Germany
- Develop and execute targeted sales initiatives to acquire new customers
Who Should Apply
This position is best suited for individuals who enjoy combining technical curiosity with customer engagement and who are comfortable working in a small, entrepreneurial environment.
Preferred qualifications include:
- experience working in technical or industrial environments such as manufacturing, automation, or engineering
- experience working in customer-facing roles or interacting directly with customers within a B2B environment
- a proactive mindset and strong personal initiative
- curiosity about industrial technologies and manufacturing processes
- strong communication and relationship-building skills
- willingness to travel regionally to visit customers
- ability to manage priorities and take initiative while working in a small team environment
Strong candidates may have experience in areas such as:
- technical sales
- application engineering
- field service engineering
- industrial automation
- manufacturing technology environments.
A technical or engineering background is helpful but not strictly required.
Compensation & Benefits
Compensation depends on experience and includes base salary and performance incentives.
ROLAND offers:
- competitive salary depending on experience
- performance-based bonus opportunity
- monthly stipend to support individual health insurance and retirement contributions
- company laptop and phone
- travel expense reimbursement
- international training and mentorship
- long-term career growth as the US organization expands
Salary : $10 - $15