Lead Applications Engineer, Customer Solutions

Cooling performance limits high-power computing, semi-conductor fab, cell networks, photonics, power electronics, and most of our digital world. Alloy Enterprises enables customers to break through these constraints with novel complex metal components that dramatically improve heat dissipation in high-performance systems. Alloy’s patented Stack Forging™ process enables complex micro-geometries, resulting in single-piece, leak-tight parts that deliver superior cooling performance, lower pressure drops, and exceptional reliability. Founded in 2020, Alloy is a 45-person hardtech startup that has raised over $50M in capital and is shipping components to customers manufacturing servers, lasers, semiconductor equipment, and defense systems.

About the Role

As a Lead Applications Engineer, you will be a critical link between our customers and our technology, playing a pivotal role in the early stages of the sales process. You are a technical authority who thrives on translating complex customer needs into elegant, manufacturable solutions. You will confidently articulate our unique value proposition, build strong customer relationships, and then lead internal engineering teams to execute on that vision. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker with a strong technical background and proven project leadership experience.

Responsibilities:

• Pre-Sales Technical Leadership:

  • Interface with customers during the initial phases of the sales cycle to understand their challenges and requirements.

  • Act as the primary technical expert in customer meetings, confidently communicating our company's technological differentiators.

  • Generate, analyze, and prototype concepts and solutions that map our capabilities to customer needs.

  • Collaborate closely with the sales team to develop technical proposals and strategies to close new business.

• Project Execution and Team Oversight:

  • Once a project is won, lead a cross-functional team of designers, production engineers, process engineers, and technicians to ensure successful project execution.

  • Define clear project requirements, scope, and deliverables based on customer agreements.

  • Proactively identify and manage project risks, ensuring projects are delivered on time, within scope, and to the highest quality standards.

  • Serve as the primary technical point of contact for the customer throughout the project lifecycle.

• Technical Strategy & Mentorship:

  • Provide mentorship and guidance to junior engineers within the project team.

  • Distill insights from customer interactions to help inform the product and technology roadmap.

  • Foster a collaborative environment between the commercial and technical teams.

  • Able to form a compelling point of view to increase customer engagement and establish thought leadership.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field.

• 7+ years of experience in an engineering role, with significant experience in a customer-facing capacity (e.g., applications, sales, or field engineering).

• Demonstrated ability to lead and oversee technical projects and cross-functional teams.

• Strong experience in project management fundamentals, including requirements definition, risk management, and schedule oversight.

• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• A proven track record of building customer confidence and supporting sales or business development activities.

• Strategic mindset with the ability to quickly understand and solve complex problems.

Preferred Skills:

• A graduate degree (Master's or Ph.D.) in a relevant engineering discipline.

• Direct experience in thermal management, electronics cooling, or a related industry.

• Experience in a manufacturing setting

• Experience working in a start-up or other fast-paced product development environment.

• Familiarity with common manufacturing processes and design for manufacturability (DFM) principles.

Additional requirements

This position will require access to information subject to control under U.S. export control laws and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”).  Please note that any offer for employment will be conditioned on authorization to receive controlled items without sponsorship for an export license.  

Regarding Sponsorship

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa, including H-1B, H-1C, H-2A, H-2B, H-3, F-1 or OPT at this time.

Equal employment opportunity

We are committed to creating an equitable and inclusive environment for all our employees and seek to build a team that reflects the diversity of the people we hope to serve with our products. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.