Product Sales Specialist - PLC & Controls Focus in Everett, Washington at Maple Systems Inc

Join a team that values your well-being, supports your growth, and celebrates shared success. When you join Maple Systems, you'll receive:

• Competitive Pay: starting at $38 per hour
• 100% Employer-Paid Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(k) Plan with Company Match
• Paid Sick Leave and Vacation that start accruing on Day One
• Employee Ownership: As an ESOP company, we all share in the success we build

Have you programmed PLCs, commissioned control panels, or troubleshot a line at 2 a.m.? Do you want to use that experience to help customers find the right solution? This role is for you.

As part of our PLC & Controls Product Team, you'll be the go-to technical authority for our PLC and automation product lines. You'll talk with engineers, integrators, and OEMs about their applications. You'll recommend the right controller, I/O, and HMI combination, and you'll back it up with demos and sample programs. You'll own the sale from the first technical conversation to the final order. You'll also work closely with our Technical Support team and the rest of the Sales Department.

This role is a fit for someone who knows PLCs from real, hands-on work and enjoys explaining them. Prior sales experience is a plus, but it isn't the most important requirement.

• PLC Application Consulting: Review customer applications and recommend the right controller, I/O modules, communication options, and HMI pairings. That includes I/O counts, motion or analog needs, and network architecture.
• Drives and Process Control Applications: Help customers apply VFDs and PID control in their systems, including drive sizing and selection, PLC-to-drive communication, and setting up and tuning PID loops for speed, pressure, flow, level, and temperature.
• Control Circuit Guidance: Answer customer questions about relay and hardwired control logic, interposing relays, motor starters, and how they interface with PLC I/O.
• Product Demonstrations: Show customers how our PLCs, HMIs, and drives work together in live video demos, including programming, tag setup, and communication configuration.
• Demo and Sample Programs: Build and maintain example ladder logic and structured text programs (including PID and drive control examples), application notes, and demo setups that show our products in real use cases.
• Technical Discovery: Ask the right questions to uncover the customer's real requirements: protocols, existing equipment, environmental conditions, and future expansion.
• Own the Sales Cycle: Lead the process from lead qualification through technical discovery, proposals, and closing.
• Drive Revenue Growth: Build and carry out sales plans to meet or exceed annual targets for your product lines.
• Content Creation: Write technical sales collateral, comparison guides, and launch materials for new products and features.
• Market Intelligence: Know the competitive PLC and drive landscape and spot new business and cross-selling opportunities.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work with Technical Support and Engineering on complex pre-sale and post-sale application questions.
• CRM Management: Keep accurate records of customer conversations, pipeline, and opportunities in our CRM.
• Onsite Role: This position is based in our Everett office. It is not remote.
• Travel: Attend 1–2 trade shows or customer visits per year.

• 3+ years of hands-on industrial controls experience in a role such as controls technician, automation or controls engineer, systems integrator, application engineer, field service technician, or industrial/maintenance electrician with programming duties.
• PLC programming: experience writing and editing PLC programs, including ladder logic. Experience with other IEC 61131-3 languages (structured text, function block diagram) is a plus.
• PLC platforms: experience on at least one major platform, such as Allen-Bradley/Rockwell (Studio 5000, RSLogix), Siemens (TIA Portal, Step 7), Mitsubishi, Omron, AutomationDirect, or CODESYS-based controllers.
• Relays and control circuits: hands-on experience wiring and troubleshooting relay logic and hardwired control circuits, including control relays, interposing relays, timers, contactors, motor starters, and overloads. Familiarity with safety relays and E-stop circuits is a plus.
• Variable frequency drives (VFDs): hands-on experience selecting, wiring, parameterizing, and troubleshooting VFDs, including drive control from a PLC over hardwired I/O or a network, and diagnosing drive faults. Experience with brands such as Allen-Bradley PowerFlex, ABB, Yaskawa, Siemens, Danfoss, or AutomationDirect is a plus.
• PID control: practical experience configuring and tuning PID loops in a PLC or standalone controller for applications such as speed, pressure, flow, level, or temperature control, and understanding how analog signals (4–20 mA, 0–10 V) and feedback devices fit into the loop.
• Industrial communication protocols: working knowledge of Modbus RTU/TCP, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, or serial communication.
• Schematics and I/O: ability to read electrical schematics and ladder diagrams and understand digital and analog I/O, wiring, sensors, and field devices.
• Troubleshooting: experience diagnosing PLC, drive, relay, communication, and I/O issues in a live or production setting.
• Communication: strong written and verbal skills. Most of this role happens by email, phone, and video, so you need to explain technical concepts clearly to both engineers and non-technical decision-makers.
• Organization: detail-oriented, able to manage several customers and deadlines at once.

• Experience integrating PLCs with HMIs, operator interface terminals (OITs), or SCADA systems.
• Experience with motion control, servo systems, or industrial PCs.
• Experience building or modifying control panels.
• Technical sales, application engineering, or distributor experience in industrial automation.
• Bachelor's degree, technical certificate, or electrical apprenticeship in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Industrial Technology, or a related field. Equivalent experience is welcome.
• Experience with CRM software (Salesforce, HubSpot, NetSuite) and Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, Word).

Please include a short note describing a controls project you worked on: the PLC, drives, or control circuits involved, what you programmed, tuned, or troubleshot, and the result.