Technical Sales Engineer

The Technical Sales Engineer – Molecular Sieves will report to the Sr. Account Manager for the Oil & Gas applications.  It will provide advanced technical leadership and sales enablement for Arkema Molecular Sieves applications throughout North, Central, and South America, supporting the Oil & Gas, LNG, Petrochemical, and Industrial Gas markets. The position combines advanced engineering expertise, industry thought, and cross-functional influence to support, technology advancement, and customer success across the region.  Willing and able to travel approximately 40% domestic and international, including possible trips to Europe as business needs require, 2-4 trips to Canada and/or LatAm.

This role functions as the regional technical authority for adsorption and dehydration technologies and is responsible for: 

• Leading complex technical escalation points for customers, evaluations, troubleshooting efforts, and performance optimization projects.  
• Designing, reviewing, and validating adsorption system solutions for strategic customers.
• Supporting business growth through technical differentiation and value-based selling.
• Maintaining direct commercial sales responsibility for at least one defined market sub-segment, including customer account development, sales target setting, prioritization of opportunities, quotation follow-up, and execution of activities required to deliver assigned sales, volume, margin, and growth objectives.
• Organizing and leading customer meetings, technical-commercial presentations, and value proposition discussions to convert technical differentiation into commercial opportunities.
• Driving technical innovation through collaboration with Global R&D, Product Development, Manufacturing, and Commercial leadership.
• Identifying emerging industry trends and translating market needs into new service offerings and product development opportunities.
• Providing thought leadership internally and externally through technical publications, conference presentations, and customer training programs.
• The role requires substantial interaction with customer engineering, R&D, operations, project management, procurement, and executive leadership teams.
• Providing after-sales service and support directly to customers and/or in collaboration with Arkema partners, distributors, sales agents, and internal technical, customer service, supply chain, and quality teams to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business.
• Support global projects team including coordination of business development activities for some engineering firms (EPC’s)and licensors in the USA
• Identify customer pain points and coordinate with global team to deliver innovative solutions and/or new product developments to address market needs

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Customer Solutions (60%)

• Lead technical application activities for strategic and complex customer accounts across the Americas. Lead the technical and execution of complex customer projects, including system design, adsorbent selection, process optimization, performance evaluations, troubleshooting, and reliability improvements.
• Develop advanced molecular sieve sizing, adsorption system designs, and performance optimization recommendations.
• Serve as technical adsorption expert during customer consultations, troubleshooting activities, site visits, startups, and unit optimization projects.
• Perform root cause analyses on adsorption unit performance issues and develop corrective action plans.
• Independently evaluate customer process conditions and recommend optimized technical solutions.
• Support large capital projects and major molecular sieve change-outs.
• Lead customer technical reviews and present recommendations to plant engineers, operations teams, project managers, and executive stakeholders.
• Develop best-practice methodologies, tools, and technical standards for the business.

Strategic Commercial Support and Direct Market Sales Responsibility (20%)

• Hold commercial sales responsibility for at least one assigned market sub-segment, including defining account priorities, developing opportunity plans, setting annual sales targets, and executing actions necessary to achieve sales, volume, margin, and growth objectives.

• Partner with Sales and Business Leadership on key account strategies and growth initiatives.
• Translate customer requirements into technical and commercial value propositions.
• Organize customer meetings, site visits, and commercial or technical presentations; deliver Arkema’s technical value proposition in a manner that supports customer qualification, opportunity advancement, and conversion to orders.
• Support pricing, competitive positioning, and technical differentiation efforts.
• Prepare, coordinate, and follow up on customer quotations in alignment with Sales, Business

Leadership, pricing guidance, supply chain, and customer requirements, drive execution through order placement, delivery coordination, and achievement of assigned sales numbers.

• Participate in customer negotiations as the technical authority.

• Provide after-sales service, troubleshooting, customer follow-up, and commercial/technical support directly and/or through Arkema partners, distributors, and sales agents to maintain customer satisfaction, resolve issues, and support repeat or expanded business.
• Identify opportunities for increased market penetration, new applications, and expanded service offerings.

Innovation & Cross-Functional Collaboration (10%) 

• Collaborate with Global R&D and Product Development teams on new product evaluations and field trials.
• Provide voice-of-customer feedback influencing development priorities.
• Lead technical projects involving new technologies, adsorption processes, and emerging market applications.
• Contribute technical expertise to strategic business planning initiatives.

Industry Leadership & Knowledge Development (10%) 

• Serve as an industry expert on molecular sieves and dehydration technologies.
• Present technical papers at industry conferences, trade associations, and customer events.
• Develop and deliver customer, distributor, and internal training programs.
• Mentor junior technical and commercial personnel.
• Monitor industry trends, competitor technologies, and market developments and provide recommendations to leadership.

Years of Experience

• 3+ years of relevant industry experience required in technical support, application engineering, technical sales, process engineering, technology, operations, process design or similar. 5-7+ years preferred. 
• Demonstrated experience within gas or liquid purification, molecular sieves, catalysts, adsorbents, gas processing, LNG, refining, petrochemical, industrial gas, syngas, zeolites, alumina, carbon or related industries or materials
• Strong understanding of adsorption processes, dehydration technologies, gas treating, and process design principles.
• Experience using modelling software a plus (Aspen, Hysis, etc.)
• Experience leading technically complex customer engagements and troubleshooting activities.
• Experience presenting technical solutions to senior customer stakeholders.

Education and areas of focus

• Bachelors’ degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry or similar required
• Masters degree and/or PhD a benefit

Competencies, Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Proactive self-starter with a growth mindset
• Demonstrated professionalism, confidence, and strong customer-facing presentation skills.
• Ability to build credibility and maintain a positive professional presence with customers and internal stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, listening, and relationship management skills.
• Strong customer focus with a consultative, solution-oriented approach.
• Ability to effectively communicate complex technical and business concepts to audiences at all organizational levels, including senior leadership.
• Strategic thinker with strong business acumen and the ability to identify opportunities for growth and change.
• Recognized technical expertise and capability to serve as a trusted advisor.
• Advanced analytical, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong project leadership, organizational, and execution capabilities.
• Proven ability to influence stakeholders and drive cross-functional alignment to achieve business objectives.
• Effective prioritization, time-management, and follow-through skills with the ability to manage multiple complex priorities independently.
• Commitment to mentoring, knowledge sharing, and developing others.
• Proficiency in Salesforce CRM and Microsoft Office applications, including advanced Excel, PowerPoint, and Word skills.
• Fluent in English; additional proficiency in Spanish, Portuguese, or French is highly preferred.

HES Requirements

• Supports the site HES policy and complies with all regulatory and internal requirements
• Participates in HES activities provided by site management and Arkema Inc. (e.g., Behavioral Base Safety, SafeStart, etc.)
• Supports and promotes the reporting of all health, safety, environmental, near-miss, accident or injury incidents

Physical Demands/Working Conditions:

• May occasionally require working additional hours outside of normal workday/workweek to meet certain deadlines throughout the year.