CORPORATE SUMMARY
The Company
Beacon EmbeddedWorks is a full-service provider of embedded solutions. Its innovative System on Modules (SOMs) are backed by an extensive suite of customization, security, and support services and its dedicated team of experts provide in-house manufacturing and support to accelerate development and reduce risk.
All Beacon EmbeddedWorks SOMs are designed, manufactured, and supported in its US-based facility in Eden Prairie, MN. As dependable, pre-certified, and feature dense solutions, Beacon EmbeddedWorks SOMs serve the most strenuous applications, including medical, aerospace and defense, and industrial markets. Beacon EmbeddedWorks operates mostly in the US but also has a small customer base in continental Europe and the APAC.
Beacon EmbeddedWorks is part of the Design & Manufacturing division of discoverIE Group plc, a British company listed on the main London stock exchange where it is a member of the FTSE 250 index.
What does joining Beacon mean for you?
- We are a Top 200 Workplace as voted by our employees
- Multiple options for medical and dental coverages
- Paid life insurance and disability coverage
- 401k with match
- 128 hours of time off per year to start
- Paid holidays
- Working for a company that helps save lives with some of our products
POSITION SUMMARY
The Senior Sales Engineer is the technical lead in Beacon's presales process. Working alongside Business Development Directors and distribution partners, this role turns a customer's application requirements into a winning Beacon solution, whether an off-the-shelf SOM, a custom carrier board, or a full custom design. This position owns technical discovery, solution architecture, evaluations, the engineering inputs to quotes, and the application notes and sales documentation that support them, so that opportunities move from first conversation to design-win faster. This position requires a strong interest in working directly with customer engineering teams and the credibility to be their trusted technical advisor through long design-in cycles.
Reports to: Sales Organization
Location: Eden Prairie, MN office, with customer travel
Starting Salary Information: $100,000+ plus commissions
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
Supervisory Responsibilities
- This is an individual contributor role and will not have direct supervision responsibilities
Essential Responsibilities for this role
- Lead technical discovery to understand application requirements, including processing, memory, I/O, power, thermal, environmental, certification, and product lifecycle needs
- Translate customer requirements into recommended Beacon solutions (standard SOMs, development kits, custom carrier boards, or full custom designs) and clearly articulate the technical and business value of each
- Develop solution architectures, block diagrams, author technical proposals, and statements of work in support of new business opportunities
- Provide BOM-level, engineering-effort, and schedule inputs to quotes so that pricing is fast, accurate, and protects margin
- Work directly with the operations team on ECO, changes to BOM and new component selection for existing SoM modicication
- Plan and drive customer evaluations, including development kit setup, demonstrations, and proof-of-concept builds including integration to displays, cameras and other I/O, through to design-win
- Support customers during early design-in with system-level schematic reviews and board support package (BSP) bring-up guidance for Linux, Android, FreeRTOS, and other required operating systems
- Working knowledge and experience in architectural design of ARM-based embedded processor platforms utilizing common peripherals including USB, video (HDMI, LVDS, MIPI-DSI), MIPI-CSI, audio, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, flash memory, DRAM, CAN, SPI, UART, etc.
- Partner with Business Development Directors on account and opportunity strategy, qualifying technical fit early and focusing engineering effort on the highest-value, best-fit programs
- Present Beacon's technical capabilities at customer meetings, design reviews, trade shows, and webinars
- Write and publish application notes, white papers, and technical briefs that show how Beacon SOMs solve real customer design challenges (e.g., display and camera integration, power optimization, wireless certification, secure boot)
- Create the initial library of sales enablement documentation, including product selection guides, solution briefs, competitive comparisons, standard presentation decks, FAQs, and quote and evaluation templates, and keep it current as products and positioning evolve
- Train and support distribution partners and their field application engineers so they can position and support Beacon products independently
- Ensure a clean handoff to Beacon’s engineering and program management, with documented requirements, so that what is sold can be delivered on schedule and on budget
- Gather voice-of-customer and competitive information and feed it to product management to shape Beacon's product roadmap
- Understand regulatory and compliance requirements of target markets (medical, aerospace and defense, industrial) and how they affect design and product selection
- Maintain accurate technical opportunity records, evaluation status, and activity in the CRM (e.g., Zoho)
- Manage workload across multiple simultaneous opportunities with a strong sense of urgency
Essential Responsibilities of all Beacon EmbeddedWorks employees
- Support, demonstrate and drive our core values
- Lead, don't follow
- Consistently deliver
- Never stand still
- Create relationships not transactions
- Interact positively and professionally with all employees and customers
- Maintain reliable attendance
- Perform work safely and adhere to all safety requirements
- Complete required training as scheduled
- Perform other duties as assigned
JOB QUALIFICATIONS
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related Engineering discipline with 10 years of experience in embedded hardware or software design, applications engineering, or field applications engineering, including at least 5 years in a customer-facing presales or sales engineering role
- Experience with embedded processors (ARM), such as NXP i.MX or similar application processors
- Experience with embedded operating systems (Linux, Android, FreeRTOS) and board support packages
- Ability to perform system-level schematic reviews and understand hardware and software interaction
- Experience working with logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and JTAG debuggers
- Proven ability to translate customer requirements into technical solutions and proposals that win business
- Excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills, with the ability to engage engineers, program managers, and executives
- Demonstrated experience writing customer-facing technical content such as application notes, white papers, or user guides; writing samples will be requested
- High degree of self-motivation and strong sense of urgency, with the ability to manage and prioritize multiple opportunities and meet deadlines
- Willingness to travel up to 30%, including occasional international travel
- Exposure to CRM tools like Zoho or Salesforce
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with an embedded computing, SOM, or single-board computer provider, a semiconductor company, or an electronics distributor in a field applications role
- Direct design experience designing embedded systems and controls
- Track record of winning design-ins with OEMs in medical, aerospace and defense, or industrial markets and supporting them through long development cycles
- Familiarity with market standards and certifications such as IEC 60601, ISO 13485, AS9100, and wireless regulatory certifications (FCC, CE)
- Knowledge of embedded security (secure boot, encryption) and product lifecycle management
Physical Demands
The physical demands and work environment described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands and fingers to handle, feel, or operate objects, tools or controls, and reach with hands and arms
- Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and ability to adjust focus
- The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds
- While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to work at a computer/laptop, including but not limited to use of keyboard, mouse and monitors
Work Environment
- The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet, like that of an office setting
- The noise level in the manufacturing area is moderate
- Travel is required up to 30% to customer sites, partner offices, and trade shows, primarily domestic with occasional international travel
Work Authorization
- The candidate must meet the definition of “US Person” under ITAR/EAR regulations.
Position Type/Expected Hours of Work
- This is a full-time, on-site position with regular customer travel
- Typical days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm, but does allow for some flexibility
- It may be necessary to work more than 40 hours per week at times, including occasional evenings to support customers in other time zones
Beacon EmbeddedWorks is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer