Director, Applications Engineering

Job Purpose

The Director, Applications Engineering builds and leads the technical function that connects customer product requirements to VulcanForms' manufacturing capability. You will own how VulcanForms evaluates technical fit early in the sales cycle, scoping out opportunities before they reach our product development teams, and build trust and value-based technical relationships with key customers from first conversation through onboarding & product development. We are looking for a player/coach who will be a senior technical voice alongside sales while building a team of applications engineers and evolving how we deliver value to external and internal customers.

Key Responsibilities

• Build, hire, and develop an Applications Engineering team, moving to vertical specialization as the portfolio matures.
• Set team standards for feasibility assessment, concept design, and requirements documentation, and track metrics that show the function's impact
• Own the technical qualification process of inbound opportunities, filtering out poor-fit parts and programs before they reach BU technical teams.
• Produce or oversee first-cut design concepts and feasibility assessments that highlight risks, constraints, and tradeoffs early, with credibility and customers' trust.
• Design and execute a process to capture “no-go” part data and technical capability requirements to support our product development process
• Serve as the senior technical partner to Commercial leadership on proposals, strategic pursuits, and executive-level customer conversations.
• Ensure customer requirements are fully captured and turned into documentation NPI and BU engineering teams can act on, so nothing is lost between customer intent and internal execution.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in applications engineering, sales engineering, or technical product roles in a manufacturing environment, including 3+ years leading technical customer-facing teams.
• 6+ years in additive manufacturing part engineering
• Track record of building or scaling a technical sales function, including hiring, setting standards, and defining processes across functions.
• Able to assess technical feasibility quickly and explain constraints and tradeoffs to technical, commercial, and executive audiences, both internally and with senior customer stakeholders.
• Comfortable working as a player/coach, carrying key pursuits personally while developing a team.
• Experience working with product or manufacturing cost structures and giving technical input to pricing decisions.
• Strong written communication; able to set documentation standards a team can follow and engineering teams can build from.
• A strong relationship-builder who is credible with sophisticated industrial buyers and trusted by internal engineering peers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Adjacent metal manufacturing experience (precision machining, casting, forging) will be considered if additive-specific background isn't available. Metal vs. Polymer is preferred
• Aerospace & Defense customer experience, including familiarity with qualification and certification requirements.
• Experience in an engineered-to-order or highly customized manufacturing environment with long, technical sales cycles.

VulcanForms offers a competitive salary and equity package. Actual compensation is based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, and experience. In addition, VulcanForms provides comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; generous paid time off; and a 401(k) plan with company match. 

The annual base salary range for this position is $203,980 to $280,470 and is eligible for additional variable compensation.