Senior Application Engineer

Position Summary

The Senior Application Engineer is the technical authority responsible for supporting customers, sales teams, and channel partners with engineering expertise in compressed air purification and gas generation systems. This role provides advanced product selection, system design support, sizing calculations, and technical proposals for air treatment equipment such as desiccant dryers, refrigerated dryers, filtration systems, condensate management, and on?site gas generation. This position also plays a key role in driving solution accuracy, improving engineering tools, and mentoring junior engineers.

Key Responsibilities

1. Application & Technical Support

• Provide expert-level application guidance on compressed air and gas treatment solutions.
• Select and size air dryers, filtration, and gas generation equipment based on customer operating conditions, ISO 8573.1 requirements, dew point specifications, and environmental factors.
• Evaluate customer data on pressure, flow, inlet temperature, ambient conditions, and contamination levels to recommend optimal solutions.
• Review engineering drawings, P&IDs, and customer specifications to ensure compliance and identify risks or deviations.

2. Proposal & Solution Development

• Prepare detailed technical proposals, system schematics, tender responses, and custom configuration documents.
• Develop system layouts including dryers, filters, aftercoolers, condensate drains, receivers, controls, and interconnecting piping.
• Perform dew point calculations, purge air calculations, and pressure drop estimations.
• Collaborate with Product Management and Engineering to ensure feasibility of custom configurations.

3. Cross?Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Sales, Product Engineering, Manufacturing, Service, and Quality to support winning project bids.
• Provide technical input for New Product Introduction (NPI) and voice-of-customer data.
• Assist Field Service with complex troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and corrective actions.
• Support Operations with technical clarification needed for build?to?order systems.

4. Customer Interaction & Training

• Participate in customer meetings, technical workshops, on?site assessments, and presentations.
• Deliver training to distributors, internal teams, and customers on air treatment technologies, system balancing, and proper installation.
• Build credibility through responsive, accurate, and high?quality technical communication.

5. Documentation & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain and improve sizing tools, configurators, technical databases, and engineering templates.
• Develop standard work, application guides, and best?practice documents for internal and external use.
• Mentor junior application engineers through guidance, coaching, and technical reviews.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related technical field required.

Experience

• 5-8+ years of experience in application engineering or technical support within industrial air treatment, compressed air systems, or related process equipment.
• Strong experience with desiccant dryers, refrigerated dryers, filtration, gas generation, or HVAC/process air handling preferred.
• Experience with ISO 8573.1, NFPA, OSHA, and industry air quality standards is advantageous.

Technical Skills

• Deep understanding of adsorption/absorption principles, heat transfer, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, and pneumatic systems.
• Ability to perform dew point, heat load, pressure drop, purge loss, and filtration efficiency calculations.
• Familiarity with CAD tools (AutoCAD, SolidWorks) for system layout support.
• Strong ability to interpret P&IDs, GA drawings, technical specifications, and electrical schematics.
• Proficiency with MS Office, CRM/ERP systems, and engineering sizing software.

Soft Skills

• Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to translate complex engineering concepts.
• Highly analytical with strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills.
• Strong project management and multitasking ability in a fast-paced environment.
• Customer-first mindset with a collaborative working style.
• Ability to mentor junior engineers and lead by example.

Key Competencies

• Technical Mastery in Air Treatment
• Application & System Design
• Customer Engagement
• Cross?Functional Collaboration
• Analytical Decision Making
• Engineering Documentation
• Project Coordination
• Continuous Improvement
• Coaching & Mentoring

Working Conditions

• Mix of office, manufacturing, and occasional customer site environments.
• Travel requirement: typically 10-20%, including customer visits and field troubleshooting.