Application Specialist
Position Overview
The best NI Field Application Engineers effectively balance their time between face-to-face interactions with target customers, technical activities, and providing insight and feedback as the voice of the customer. Field Application Engineers serve as highly trusted technical consultants across multiple industries, allowing them to influence the technical direction of target accounts to ensure mutual customer and long-term NI success. They inspire internal NI and customer stakeholders to action through leading and coordinating technical strategy and activities that achieve co-authored technical objectives for top accounts. They stay in tune with industry trends and the NI technology roadmap to recommend approaches for customers’ current and future technical needs. This position is compensated by 80% base salary, and 20% variable pay based on achievement of key sales objectives and account revenue.
Position Location
This position will serve key customers in the Los Angeles, California area.
In this Role, Your Responsibilities Will Be:
NI Field Applications Engineers spend most of their time:
Building key technical relationships at top accounts by demonstrating great technical credibility that increases customer technical confidence in NI
Understanding and assisting in creation of customer technical requirements
Providing recommendations on software and hardware architectures while helping customers understand the test system development process to ensure success
Collaborating with NI Account Managers as part of an account team to lead development and execution of the account technical strategy which provides better insight to the overall account strategy and opportunity pipeline
Coordinating with and informing internal stakeholders to execute on account technical initiatives and provide feedback to increase account success
Leveraging industry, application area, and account knowledge to uncover and influence customer future technical needs and challenges thereby generating further technical demand for NI products, services, and support
Key Performance Objectives
Achievement of key sales objectives for assigned account(s) tied to generating technical demand, account strategy success, and account(s) annual quota attainment
Understanding target customers’ business drivers to generate technical demand by collaborating with customers to understand primary business initiatives and direction. Demonstrating a customer-focus mentality through understanding the customer’s known and unknown technical challenges while providing technical guidance that leverages the strengths of the NI platform. A new FAE will learn and align on current challenges and approaches in the first 3 months and be a significant driver for current and future approaches by the end of the first year
Establishing a cadence and healthy rapport with the NI Account team driving account technical strategy by actively contributing to overall account strategies, assisting with incorporating them into an account plan, executing on customer technical engagements in both pre- and post-sales capacities, coordinating with other technical resources and R&D as additional technical expertise is needed. Within the first 6 months, establish account technical objectives and activities plan with key measures, aligning technical activities with overall account plan enabling you to self-direct your activities to achieve key support objectives and understanding the FAE role in joint engagements with the account team
Developing strong customer relationships to become a technical trusted advisor by developing a strong technical presence within the account(s) by visiting key technical contacts weekly and building contacts at multiple levels within the account organization. Contacting and/or meeting with existing customers to evaluate open engagements and anticipate future needs. After 12 months clients should view a new FAE as a trusted technical advisor on industry trends and NI platforms.
Developing and applying industry, application, and NI platform knowledge thereby demonstrating technical expertise in NI software and hardware platforms for your account(s). Developing familiarity with 3rd party and competitors’ products to understand NI platform’s differentiation. Advise customers on the latest industry trends and recommend and implement NI platforms to enable customer success. By the end of the first year, a new FAE is expected to have taken all relevant NI hardware classes and achieved Certified LabVIEW Developer (CLD) and Certified TestStand (CTD) certifications.
Who You Are:
You introduce new ways of looking at problems. You partner with others to get work done. You are confident under pressure.
For This Role, You Will Need:
BS degree in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics)
5 years of Test and Measurement industry experience
3 years of software programming experience
Willing and able to travel – Regionally and to Austin, TX up to 25% of time
Preferred Qualifications that Set You Apart:
Degree concentration in electrical or computer engineering
English Language Competency and effective oral and written communication skills
Skill in choosing and applying software design patterns and Software Engineering concepts
Advanced skill in at least one of the following programming languages: LabVIEW, .NET, Python, C++
5 years of NI LabVIEW and NI TestStand development experience, including developer certifications
5 years of experience developing and supporting Automated Measurement Systems
5 years of experience in RF Fundamentals and Measurements
Experience with NI PXI and Modular Instruments including RF, mixed signal and digital technologies
Experience with SDR applications
2 years of FPGA and fixed-point algorithm programming experience
2 years in a customer-facing role
Experience contributing to organization, account, or engagement strategies
Able to integrate business, operational, and interpersonal considerations into technical engagements
Please note that pursuant to a government contract, this specific position requires U.S. citizenship status.
Culture & Commitment to You:
At Emerson, we prioritize a workplace where every employee is valued, respected, and empowered to grow. We foster an environment that encourages innovation, collaboration, and diverse perspectives—because we know that great ideas come from great teams. Our commitment to ongoing career development and growing an inclusive culture ensures you have the support to thrive. Whether through mentorship, training, or leadership opportunities, we invest in your success so you can make a lasting impact. We believe diverse teams working together are key to driving growth and delivering business results.
We recognize the importance of employee wellbeing. We prioritize providing flexible, competitive benefits plans to meet you and your family’s physical, mental, financial, and social needs. We provide a variety of medical insurance plans, with dental and vision coverage, Employee Assistance Program, 401(k), tuition reimbursement, employee resource groups, recognition, and much more. Our culture offers flexible time off plans, including paid parental leave (maternal and paternal), vacation and holiday leave.
Work Authorization:
Emerson will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States. This is not a position for which sponsorship will be provided. Individuals with temporary visas such as E, F-1 (including those with OPT or CPT), H-1, H-2, L-1, B, J or TN, or who need sponsorship for work authorization now or in the future, are not eligible.
Our compensation philosophy is simple: we pay a competitive base salary, within the local market in which we operate, and reward performance during our annual merit review process. The salary range for this role is $124,000 - $230,000 annually, commensurate with the skills, talent, capabilities, and experience each candidate brings to a role.