Inside Sales Engineer at Zonatherm Products, Inc – Buffalo Grove, Illinois

JOB SUMMARY

With over 50 years of proven performance, Zonatherm Products and ThermFlo provide complete, end-to-end solutions for essential and mission critical power and cooling systems—serving industries from data centers, hospitals, and municipalities to industrial and commercial facilities. From initial planning and expert guidance to custom equipment, system design, installation, and ongoing support, we deliver a fully integrated approach that keeps operations running smoothly.

The Inside Sales Engineer plays a key role in driving revenue growth and delivering mission critical solutions for our customers. They serve as the technical backbone of the sales process—supporting Outside Sales, engineering teams, and end users by providing solution design, product expertise, and fast moving commercial support.

They specialize in positioning advanced power and thermal technologies from industry leaders such as Vertiv and Generac Mission Critical, helping customers navigate complex infrastructure needs across data centers, healthcare, industrial facilities, telecommunications, and other always on environments.

Essential Responsibilities

• Creates technically sound and commercially competitive proposals, including equipment selections, bill of materials, submittals, project configurations, and engineered solutions that support customer requirements.
• Functions as the customer’s trusted advisor and resource for technical expertise and product application solutions by effectively communicating product line offerings, features, and benefits to promote the ThermFlo and Zonatherm advantages.
• Provides dedicated support to answer or coordinate responses for customer inquiries, project specifications, application questions, design requests, requests for quote, and solution-based discussions.
• Proactively collaborates with Outside Sales to qualify new opportunities, identify technical fit, and develop strategies that win business in the mission-critical market.
• Provides information on product availability, pricing, competitive, or legacy portfolio status and cross-references suggestions.
• Generates, updates, and tracks CRM opportunities—whether originated or assigned—while maintaining accurate logs of all sales activity and progress.
• Maintains product and technical knowledge by performing ongoing company and represented manufacturer training.
• Partners with engineering teams, to interpret drawings, recommend product selections, and support customers through the design-assist process.
• Supports customers through the full project lifecycle—from initial concept through order entry, delivery coordination, and post-sale follow-up—to ensure a seamless and positive experience.
• Communicates effectively with our manufacturers, customers, vendors, sales, engineering, accounting, service, and distribution center teams.
• Attends monthly sales and industry-related social and networking events to educate and promote products and services.
• Acts as a brand ambassador for Vertiv and Generac Mission Critical solutions within the fast-expanding data center and mission-critical infrastructure ecosystem.

Secondary Responsibilities

• Comprehends and adheres to all safety, quality, and Company guidelines specified in the Employee Handbook, the safety policy manuals, quality procedures, or any official Company documents.
• Other duties, as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Education: Associate's degree.
• Experience: 3-5 years of experience customer service and/or coordination for dispatched service delivery.
• Communication Skills. Effective verbal and written communication skills. Ability to maintain a fair, firm, and friendly approach with customers. Collaborative communication skills and the ability to convey information effectively through excellent written and verbal communication. Ability to listen effectively to understand the needs of internal and external customers. Ability to talk with customers, coworkers, and vendors, and appropriately adjust technical content to meet different audience knowledge.
• Computer Skills: Expert knowledge Microsoft Office suite, experience with Power BI and other analysis software, and experience with customer record management software.
• Organizational Skills: Ability to handle multiple tasks, deadlines, and projects at once and stay organized, prioritizing as appropriate.
• Supervisory Responsibilities: This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial), Construction Management, Technical Sales, or a related discipline preferred.
• Experience: Experience in inside sales, technical sales, electrical/mechanical equipment, or engineered solutions preferred. Exposure to power systems, cooling technologies, electrical distribution, data centers, or mission-critical environments is highly beneficial.
• Technical Experience: Ability to comprehend and design various construction documents and specifications, and interpret electrical one-lines, mechanical drawings, riser diagrams, and technical submittals related to power and cooling systems.
• Software: NetSuite experience preferred.

WORK AND TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS:

• Driving/Travel Responsibilities: This position requires regular travel within the Chicagoland area to customer offices during regular business hours. Occasional training is held at various locations including out-of-state manufacturer locations. A valid driver’s license and proof of automobile insurance are required.
• Physical Demands: This position requires the ability to operate within an office environment and occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Reasonable accommodations will be provided aligned with current federal and state regulations upon request.
• Work Environment: This job generally operates in a professional clerical, office setting. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, mobile devices, and photocopiers.
• Position Type and Expected Hours of Work: This is a salary, full-time position, operating Monday-Friday with a one (1) hour unpaid lunch. Occasional evening and weekend work may be required as job duties demand. This position is a hybrid with an in-office requirement of minimum 2-3 Days per week.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without prior notice.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.