Graduate Program

The Company

Cognex advanced machine vision solutions and products to most of the largest and most sophisticated manufacturing and logistics companies in the world. We spend about 15% of our revenue in R&D maintaining our leadership in related technologies. Cognex is one of the most respected and successful companies in the factory automation business with a track record of delivering continuous business growth and solid financial results over the 40+ years of company history. We are headquartered in the Boston Area and publicly traded on NASDAQ.

The Program

This is a rare opportunity for graduating university students or recent graduates to develop industrial automation expertise and accelerate their career in technical sales. You will interact with some of the brightest minds in the field and learn to sell AI-enabled state-of-the-art products.

Once admitted into this highly selective program, you will spend a significant portion of your first 6 months in intensive training at our headquarters near Karlsruhe in Germany. The training modules will include instructor-led lessons as well as in-field training.

Upon successful completion of the Sales Development Program, you will join one of the regional sales teams as a Territory Sales Engineer. The final location of your position will be mutually agreed based on your individual preference and Cognex’s business requirement.

Essential Functions of Territory Sales Engineer:

1. Responsible for achieving a defined sales quota at both current and prospective customers in the designated territory.
2. Achieve activities-based business objectives including customer visits, new customer acquisition, and new product introduction.
3. Prospect for new sales opportunities via cold and warm leads, cultivate sales leads, schedule customer site visits with the goal of ultimately obtaining a purchase order.
4. Travel to customer manufacturing facilities to demonstrate Cognex products and review applications/issues in order to provide solutions to these applications.
5. Capture competitive data and continuously update other project details in CRM system.
6. Assist at trade shows and other marketing events to generate qualified leads.
7. Generate leads for other Cognex sales teams by collecting information on customer’s complex vision applications beyond the capabilities of assigned ID and Vision Sensor products.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

1. Interested in a career in technical sales.
2. Action and result-oriented mindset.
3. Ability to solve technical problems and learn new automation technology.
4. Ability to work independently in a field sales environment with limited overnight travel.
5. Willingness to relocate and pursue career ambition outside of familiar surroundings.
6. Good listening & communication skills in Italian and English.
7. Native or at least professional Italian language skills required
8. Fit Cognex culture of Work Hard, Play Hard and Move Fast.
9. PC literate with a working knowledge of MS Windows applications.

Minimum Education and Work Experience Required:

1. Bachelor's degree in electrical/mechanical engineering or business administration.
2. No prior work experience in the automation industry necessary.