Sales Application Engineering Manager

The Sales Operations Manager for Data Center Containment and AisleFrame Solutions is responsible for overseeing the technical sales enablement, solution design, and pricing strategy for data center containment systems. This role leads and develops a team of Sales Application Engineers (SAEs) who support pre-sales efforts through technical expertise, system design, and proposal development. The manager ensures operational excellence, pricing accuracy, and alignment with commercial objectives while serving as a key liaison between Sales, Engineering, Manufacturing, and Product Management. Key Responsibilities Sales Operations Commercial Enablement Own and continuously improve sales operations processes related to data center containment and aisleframe solutions, including quoting, configuration, pricing, and approvals. Oversee complex deal support, ensuring accurate and competitive system designs, cost models, and pricing strategies. Partner with Sales leadership to support revenue growth, margin targets, and strategic account initiatives. Establish standardized tools, templates, and procedures for proposals, BOMs, drawings, and technical documentation. Analyze win/loss data, pricing trends, and project performance to drive continuous improvement. Technical Design Pricing Oversight Ensure all containment and aisleframe designs meet customer requirements, industry standards, and internal engineering guidelines. Review and approve system layouts, airflow strategies, structural considerations, and integration with data center infrastructure. Oversee pricing models, discount structures, and margin analysis for standard and custom solutions. Collaborate with Engineering and Product Management to provide market feedback on product performance, design efficiency, and cost optimization. Support development and rollout of new products, configurations, and pricing frameworks. Team Leadership Development Lead, coach, and develop a team of Sales Application Engineers responsible for pre-sales technical support. Assign workloads, set performance goals, and conduct regular performance reviews. Build technical and commercial capability across the team through training, mentoring, and process documentation. Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and customer-focused problem solving. Act as an escalation point for complex technical, pricing, or customer issues. Cross-Functional Collaboration Serve as the primary interface between Sales, Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, and Finance on containment-related opportunities. Support forecasting accuracy by providing validated pipeline data and project assumptions. Ensure smooth handoff from pre-sales to order execution and project delivery teams. Participate in customer and partner meetings as a technical and commercial subject-matter expert.