About Us

Maxi-Lift, Inc. is a member of the DuraPlas family of brands. DuraPlas, Inc. has been in business for over 50 years. The business has evolved and flourished and now has a family of brands that span multiple industries. Today, we serve customers in the United States and 65 countries around the world. We develop new and innovative plastic products used in the transporting and handling of commodities for a variety of industries and companies. Our plastic products replace wood, metal, and wire to make customers’ jobs easier and more efficient.

We manufacture a wide range of products that are used in industries such as agricultural food production to warehousing in our 300,000 square foot headquarters facility in Dallas, Texas. We use state‐of‐the‐art injection molding equipment and economies of scale. With our deep understanding of plastics, we create true value for our customers. Grit and tenacity, along with lean operations, have made the company what it is today. DuraPlas retains its original entrepreneurial spirit with a customer-focused, growth orientation.

Company Purpose & Vision: Our purpose is to make a positive difference in the lives of our employees, customers, and communities. Our vision is to be the leader in replacing wood, wire, and metal products with creative plastic solutions.

Learn more about our products on our company websites:

Maxi-Lift - https://maxilift.com/
DuraPlas - https://duraplasinc.com/

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced and driven Applications Engineer to join our team. As an Applications Engineer, you will be responsible for supporting the sales team with engineering solutions and maintaining existing customers as well as growing the potential customer base in the material handling industry across North America for the Maxi-Lift product line, which consists primarily of elevator buckets and products that are centered around the conveyance and movement of agriculture and industrial products that become the building blocks for food, feed, building supplies/material, and infrastructure. As a subject matter expert in agricultural/industrial engineering, you will also provide remote technical support and consultation to our International Sales Team to help the entire team better serve our customers and positively impact the bottom line.

Our ideal candidate for this position is an experienced engineer in bulk material handling (grain, sand, feed products, etc.), with the ability to optimize the use of bucket elevators in different environments. We are looking for an engineer who has strategic, technical and sales skills and enjoys helping customers solve challenges; someone who can sell our products by providing creative solutions.

This position will be part of an experienced and dynamic sales team and will report directly to the North American Sales Manager. While this role will not have any direct reports, they must be able to work in a collaborative fashion alongside the sales team and other business functions to best serve our customers. This position requires the ability to work onsite in our Addison, Texas location and travel up to 50% of the time. The role will be mostly onsite during the first year with a heavy focus on building out a library of templates and optimizing our capabilities through Ansys Rocky software. The role will likely be an 80/20 split between engineering/sales during the first year and will grow toward a 50/50 split once the foundation is in place to support sales. Success in this role relies on developing trusting relationships with internal team members and having strong working relationships with key vendors.

A successful Applications Engineer will be a self-motivated problem-solver who enjoys being surrounded by a driven and ambitious sales team who hold one another accountable to the highest standards. Traits that tie to success include curiosity, confidence, resilience, and impatience with the status quo. This multi-functional role has the opportunity to create a significant impact within a successful, growing business. An understanding of what it means to be part of a team is a requirement.

Responsibilities

Take ownership of the engineering design capabilities for the sales team.
Become the subject matter expert of Ansys Rocky software and optimize its capabilities for our sales team.
Develop a library of 2D and 3D templates using auto CAD, SolidWorks, and Ansys Rocky.
25-50% travel requirement to meet with current and prospective customers, network, and attend trade shows
Establish sales strategies together with National Sales Manager for the area of responsibility.
Support Maxi-Lift customers in all matters related to bulk material handling, elevator belting, technical questions, troubleshooting, training, and service.
Identify potential opportunities and possible barriers and establish strategies to overcome them.
Utilize the Microsoft Dynamics CRM to track all customer activity.
Provide consultative and technical support to sales team in a timely fashion.
Identify and acquire new Maxi-Lift customers through relationship development and consultative sales.
Be a positive brand ambassador of our family of brands both inside and outside the company by exemplifying integrity, entrepreneurship, and admirable character.

Education & Experience

Bachelor’s degree in agricultural or mechanical engineering or a related field is a plus
5+ years of engineering experience in a manufacturing and/or commodity environment
Previous experience interfacing directly with customers and/or sales experience is a plus
Experience in feed, grain, or other bulk material handling industries is a plus
Experience with elevator buckets, heavy weight belting and/or agricultural design engineering is a plus
Experience with interpreting and generating technical drawings
Experience with CAD software
Experience with Rocky Ansys software, DEM (Discreet Element Modeling), or 3D modeling programs is a plus
Experience with Microsoft Dynamics or another CRM is a plus
Experience that demonstrates value creation in a team environment
Experience interfacing directly with leadership and participating in cross-functional teams
Career experience in both a large company (Fortune 500, for example) and in a small to mid-size company (such as a family-owned or founder-led company) is a plus

Skills & Character Traits

Strong analytical and technical skills
High willingness to travel
High social and communicative competency
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Ability to communicate directly and gain buy-in by understanding others’ perspectives and providing data to back up recommendations.
Resilient and resourceful; natural inclination toward viewing challenging situations as puzzles to solve
A commitment to standards of excellence; unwilling to settle
A sense of urgency, hands-on approach, and a bias for action
Tech savvy; able to learn and optimize the use of various technologies (ex: Excel, Access, data lake systems), as well as build models and create reporting
Inclination to take responsibility, self-manage, and be very hands-on in doing whatever needs to be done to push toward outcomes

We value diversity and commit to making hiring decisions based on the skills and traits needed to be successful in this role. We are an equal opportunity employer and we welcome your application.

All candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

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How did you learn of this opportunity (Example: LinkedIn, Indeed, or employee referral)?

This position requires the ability to work onsite in our Addison, Texas location when not traveling to see customers, so the Sales Engineer must live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In what city do you currently reside? If you are outside of Dallas-Fort Worth, please indicate your interest in relocating.

What interests you most about this opportunity?

We are looking for at least 5 years of engineering experience in a manufacturing and/or commodity environment. How many total years of experience do you have in this type of environment?

We are looking for some experience in feed, grain, or other bulk material handling. What type of bulk materials do you have experience with? If you don't have experience with bulk materials, please indicate which experience from your background is most relevant.

Tell us briefly about your experience with creating and reading technical drawings. For example, are you able to both design and read drawings created in CAD or some other tool?

We are interested in someone who has experience in both a large company (Fortune 500, for example) and a smaller company (such as a family-owned or founder-led company). The reason is we value the training and structure gained in the large corporate environment, but we are an entrepreneurial business with a lean team, so knowledge of what it's like working in a smaller company is also valuable. Do you have experience in both? Feel free to add commentary.

Which of the following do you have experience with: elevator buckets, heavy weight belting, and/or agricultural design engineering. Note: these are not required, but this is helpful for us to know. Feel free to add commentary since this is especially relevant info.

Optional: Please tell us briefly what information you would MOST like to know to explore if this opportunity is the right fit for you (besides compensation - we will address that on the first call!). You are also welcome to share any additional information you’d like us to know here.

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