The Business Development Engineer role focuses on opening and closing multi million dollar automation engagements for DEVELOP LLC. This position manages the sales pipeline, educates clients on automation, and collaborates with engineers and the founder. It is based in Verona, Wisconsin, with travel to client sites and trade shows.
Responsibilities
- Serve as a business developer and closer with credible manufacturing insight that earns the trust of operations professionals.
- Open and develop accounts, with the founder expanding them; as you mature, expansion responsibilities may transfer to you.
- Travel to client facilities and trade shows, dedicating roughly 30 to 50 percent of time on the road for visits, discovery engagements, and events.
- Convert marketing qualified meetings into lasting relationships and opportunities.
- Represent DEVELOP at three to eight trade shows annually, actively engaging on the floor to build the pipeline.
- Listen attentively to clients, educate them on automation, and uncover the real problems behind stated needs.
- Identify the true drivers for automation such as growth, capacity, quality, and labor, and shape the project scope accordingly.
- Lead roadmapping and end to end assessment engagements, selling, conducting onsite discovery, and presenting findings with engineering depth behind you.
- Sketch a 2D concept during meetings to confirm understanding.
- Qualify and protect the pipeline using the BANT+S framework with honest scoring, differentiating real opportunities from tire-kickers.
- Filter out misaligned projects to protect the engineering team’s time and maintain clean project prioritization.
- Maintain HubSpot with clear ownership, stage, and next actions for every deal.
- Close primarily through paid scoping engagements or scoped machines when aligned with existing builds.
- Coordinate with engineers to bring the right technical depth into client conversations while you lead the relationship.
- Transfer large complex builds and strategic expansions to the founder when appropriate, while owning other opportunities.
- Build a book of accounts that grows year over year, with clients contacting you first for new opportunities.
- Understand that the sales cycle typically spans six months to three plus years, with success measured by relationships and pipeline rather than monthly quotas.
Requirements
- Senior level: minimum five years of hands on experience in or around manufacturing, on the shop floor or in process environments.
- Junior level: real manufacturing exposure through shop floor experience, co op, technical program, or a background in a manufacturing family.
- You listen more than you speak, instinctively and effectively.
- You are a closer who asks for the business, handles objections without hesitation, and advances deals when appropriate.
Technologies
Benefits
- Health insurance
- 401(k) match
- Paid time off
- Profit sharing
Who We Are
DEVELOP LLC designs and builds custom machines and robotic integrations for manufacturers across the United States. We are a FANUC Authorized Systems Integrator and an A3 Certified Robot Integrator, based in Verona, Wisconsin. Our aim is to steadily grow by delivering high quality work and cultivating long term client relationships. We do not pursue being the largest, but rather aim to own the machine building market in North America through excellence and reliability.
Our commitment to lasting partnerships is central to how we operate. We invest in clients over time, which is why deals may take longer to close but often result in multi-year engagements once they do.
Why This Role Exists
- There are more deals in the pipeline than the current team can manage alone.
- The role is designed to support leads and potential customers, convert more deals, and accelerate volume as the operations side scales.
- We are hiring up to two people: a senior business developer ready to lead now and a junior candidate who we are prepared to train.
What You Do
You are a business development professional who commands credibility with manufacturers through genuine manufacturing insight. You open and develop accounts, with the founder guiding expansion early on, and you ultimately take on expanding opportunities as you grow in the role.
How We Operate
- Our team members share three core traits: mission and team first, high velocity, and disciplined execution.
- We emphasize a proactive, momentum-driven approach, with a strong emphasis on updates to stakeholders and teammates and maintaining tidy workspaces.
- Sales and engineering function as a single unit, aligned on every sale. Engineers deliver the technical work, while you identify and bring in clients worth pursuing.
- We operate as a handshake-trust company that adheres to contract standards, avoids unkept promises, and avoids shortcuts on quality. We aim to build something that compounds over time.
- Compensation range is $60,000 to $140,000 per year, and the role is an in person, on site position based in Verona, WI.
