Sales Engineering Manager

About the role

Pelican is seeking a customer-focused Sales Engineering Manager to lead the development of custom protective packaging solutions from concept through production.

Responsibilities

• Design innovative solutions.
• Lead complex projects.
• Protect what matters.
• Partner with customers, Sales, Engineering, and Manufacturing to solve complex technical challenges and deliver innovative packaging solutions that protect some of the world's most valuable equipment.
• Combine engineering expertise, project management, and customer collaboration to deliver high-quality, manufacturable solutions that exceed expectations.
• Partner with Sales and customers to develop innovative technical packaging solutions that meet performance, cost, and manufacturability requirements.
• Lead customer projects from concept through production, managing scope, priorities, timelines, and technical execution.
• Serve as the primary technical advisor and day-to-day customer contact throughout the project lifecycle.
• Collaborate with customer engineering and procurement teams to define requirements and develop custom packaging solutions.
• Design engineered foam cushioning systems, shock-isolated assemblies, reusable transport containers, and other custom protective packaging solutions.
• Evaluate new opportunities by balancing technical feasibility, manufacturing capability, commercial viability, and project risk.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams across Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Estimating, and Sales to ensure successful project execution.
• Manage multiple customer programs simultaneously while proactively identifying and resolving technical and operational challenges.
• Drive process improvements that enhance manufacturability, design standardization, and quoting efficiency.
• Support customer presentations, technical training, and solution demonstrations for customers and internal teams.
• Identify emerging technologies, market trends, and customer needs to support innovation and business growth.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in technical sales, sales engineering, packaging engineering, program management, product development, or a related customer-facing technical role.
• Experience developing and supporting custom packaging solutions, protective packaging systems, engineered foam applications, reusable transport packaging, or related industrial products.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, design for manufacturability (DFM), cost drivers, and operational execution within a production environment.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple customer programs simultaneously while balancing technical requirements, timelines, budgets, and business objectives.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and coordinating efforts across Sales, Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and Operations.
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to evaluate project profitability, margin impact, risk, and overall business viability.
• Excellent customer-facing communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to effectively engage engineering, procurement, operations, and executive-level stakeholders.
• Proven problem-solving and analytical skills with the ability to assess technical challenges, identify risks, and develop practical solutions.
• Experience supporting proposal development, technical presentations, customer requirements gathering, and solution development.
• Strong project management skills, including planning, prioritization, resource coordination, and execution tracking.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook.
• Experience with ERP, CRM, CAD, or project management systems preferred.