Outside Sales Associate - San Diego in San Diego, California at Rust Automation & Controls

Rust Automation and Controls is a family-owned industrial instrumentation and automation sales company founded in 1976 and headquartered in West Jordan, Utah. For more than 50 years, we have supported customers across the Western United States with measurement and control solutions that keep critical operations running. While headquartered in Utah, our experienced sales team is located throughout our territory, delivering responsive local support backed by deep technical expertise. We serve industries including oil and gas, water and wastewater, power generation, manufacturing, food and beverage, and life sciences, offering products, application support, training, and ongoing service.

Position: Outside Sales Associate
Location: Irvine, CA (Remote role but must reside in this territory)

We're hiring a small group of Outside Sales Engineers into a new cohort program. You'll spend part of your first twelve weeks in Salt Lake City with our leadership team and part of it in your home territory, riding with experienced salesmen, learning the products, and setting your own appointments. You're hired full-time from day one.

The job itself: you become the person a plant engineer calls when they're deciding which flow meter or valve goes into a system that has to run for the next twenty years without failing. You represent the manufacturers we've partnered with for decades, and you build the kind of relationship where customers call you before they call anyone else.

We can teach the technical stuff. Loops, valves, control theory, all of that comes with time in the field. What's harder to teach is the drive to go find business, the ability to foster and develop key relationships paired with a positive can-do mentality that sees challenges as opportunities to serve. If you're naturally curious, communicate well, and would rather be out talking to people than sitting at a desk, that matters more to us than your major or your resume. A few standout traits we select for include:

• Highly-motivated, goal-oriented, and resilient individuals with a positive attitude (add character to first line)
• Excellent communication and active listening skills
• Strong organizational and time-management
• A collaborative mindset

• Learn and maintain working knowledge of all products and solutions offered by Rust Automation & Controls
• Prospect and promote products, services, and solutions within assigned commercial, industrial, and municipal accounts
• Grow territory sales and gross margin by increasing penetration in existing accounts and establishing relationships with new customers
• Analyze specifications, application requirements, and related documents to prepare quotations in collaboration with the Inside Sales team
• Conduct joint sales calls with management and manufacturing partners to strengthen customer relationships and maximize opportunities
• Perform site walkdowns in industrial and commercial environments to assess needs and recommend tailored solutions
• Maintain a robust CRM database, including accounts, contacts, opportunities, and projects
• Clearly articulate customer solutions and collaborate with internal teams to ensure effective execution

• Technical degree or 2–3 years of industrial sales experience (or related field)
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently within the assigned territory, including occasional overnight travel
• Self-motivated with the ability to set ambitious goals and achieve them
• Strong desire to learn, grow, and be coachable
• Resilient, adaptable, and solution-oriented with a positive, can-do attitude
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with a customer-first mindset
• Strong organizational and time-management skills
• Ability to work independently while leveraging internal resources
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and CRM/ERP systems (e.g., NetSuite, Salesforce)
• Remote role but must reside in this territory

The program starts from $85,000 - $90,000. Complete the 12 week program, get placed into your territory, and that moves to a target of $110,000. From there its performance based, and our top OSEs make well beyond that. Rust Automation offers health and 401(k) benefits, including a company match, and a clear career pathway through our organization.

• Do you have a pioneering spirit and enjoy working for a growing company with a strong culture?
• Do you thrive in a motivated, team-oriented environment focused on customer solutions?
• Do you enjoy solving problems and taking on challenges?
• Do you strive to exemplify excellence in everything you do?

If you answered YES, Rust Automation & Controls would love to welcome you to our family.