Industrial Automation Provider Hires Technical Sales Engineer Who Closes 120% of Quota in Year One
Technical Sales Engineer · Industrial Automation & Digital Industries · Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
- Industry
- Industrial automation and digital industries technology
- Company Type
- Global technology provider
- Territory
- Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
- Compensation
- $110K base · $200K+ OTE
- Search Launch
- April 2, 2025
- Offer Accepted
- April 19, 2025
A Rare Hybrid Profile in a Competitive DFW Territory
A global industrial automation and digital industries technology provider needed a Technical Sales Engineer for the Dallas-Fort Worth territory. The product portfolio helps manufacturers design, simulate, automate, and optimize production end to end. Buyers include manufacturing engineers, plant managers, operations leaders, and C-level executives at the largest accounts. The sales motion required someone who could move from a PLC specification conversation with a controls engineer to an ROI conversation with a CFO inside the same account on the same day.
The profile was difficult to fill because the role demanded two skill sets that rarely sit in the same person. Candidates needed verifiable technical fluency in automation systems including PLCs, SCADA, HMI, MES, drives, motion control, and industrial software. They also needed proven ability to prospect into manufacturing accounts, run multi-stakeholder sales cycles measured in months or years, and defend a higher-priced solution against lower-cost competitors. Most candidates the client had reviewed leaned hard one direction. They were either strong engineers who could not sell, or strong sales reps who could not credibly walk a plant floor and earn engineer respect.
Urgency was elevated because the client had recently made a bad sales hire in the territory. That mistake cost months of pipeline development and forced the team to restart with a more disciplined search.
From Intake to Accepted Offer in 17 Days
The Technical Sales Engineer profile rarely appears on job boards. The strongest candidates are passively employed at competitors and only respond to direct outreach from a recruiter who can speak credibly about the role and the product space. PSR worked from its existing candidate network of industrial automation sales talent and evaluated candidates using The PRECISION Method™, a three-layer vetting framework built on Skills, Mindset, and Behavior.
| Phase | Detail |
|---|---|
| Day 0 · Apr 2, 2025 | Intake. Aligned on the technical fluency required, territory expectations, the multi-stakeholder selling motion, and the lessons learned from the prior failed hire. Defined the non-negotiable behavioral profile: hunter mindset, consultative selling discipline, and comfort presenting to engineers and executives in the same week. |
| Days 1 to 7 · Apr 3-9 | Sourcing and screening. Profiles were narrowed using the three-screen process. Skills screen verified automation product fluency and territory ownership history. Mindset screen used the SPQ behavioral sales assessment to confirm prospecting drive and rule out call reluctance. Behavior screen used a structured interview against consultative selling competencies. |
| Day 7 · Apr 9, 2025 | Presentation. First finalist presented to the client. PSR participated in the initial interview to ensure alignment on technical depth and sales motion fit. |
| Day 17 · Apr 19, 2025 | Close. Offer extended and accepted within 48 hours of the final interview. |
$1.2M Closed Against a $1M Quota in Year One
The hired candidate was sourced from PSR's active candidate network of industrial automation sales professionals.
In year one, the candidate closed $1.2 million against a $1 million quota, hitting 120% of plan. The largest individual deal was $150,000, and implementations across the territory contributed to a 22% production increase at one of the client's flagship manufacturing accounts. The candidate had spent the prior three years selling competing automation and digital industries solutions into manufacturing accounts, which is exactly the experience profile the role required. Twelve months after start, the candidate is still in the role, confirmed active as of April 15, 2026.
- Verified technical credibility
- Three years selling competing automation, drives, and industrial software gave the candidate immediate fluency on the plant floor. Engineers did not have to teach them the basics.
- Quantified business acumen
- The candidate had a documented track record of translating technical capability into ROI conversations involving downtime, throughput, and energy efficiency. They could move from a PLC discussion to a CFO discussion without losing the room.
- Multi-stakeholder sales discipline
- Proven ability to navigate engineer validation, procurement pricing pressure, and executive ROI approval inside the same account.
- Hunter behavioral profile
- The SPQ assessment confirmed low call reluctance and high prospecting drive, the specific behavioral failure mode of the prior hire.
| Salespeople recruiting salespeople | Industrial automation sales is its own discipline. PSR recruiters who have sold and recruited inside this space recognized the difference between a candidate who had memorized product specs and one who could defend a higher-priced solution against a procurement team. |
| Behavioral assessment over gut feel | The SPQ assessment surfaced the candidate's prospecting drive directly, which was the specific failure mode of the prior hire. The data, not the resume, made the difference. |
| Active headhunting of passive talent | The hired candidate was not on a job board. They were employed at a direct competitor with no public job-seeking signal, and PSR identified them through existing relationships in the industrial automation candidate network. |
| Engineer plus seller filtering | The role required a rare hybrid profile. PSR screened out pure engineers without sales execution and pure sellers without technical depth, narrowing the finalist pool to candidates who could pass both an engineering interview and a sales leadership interview. |
Learn more about how our structured hiring process delivers results, or browse all case studies to see additional placements across manufacturing and industrial sales.
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Every PSR placement is backed by a 12-month replacement guarantee. If a placed candidate leaves or is terminated within 12 months for any reason, we conduct a full replacement search at no additional cost. Most recruiting firms offer 30 to 90 days. Our guarantee reflects our confidence in who we deliver.
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