Applications Engineer II – Material Handling & Automation CHL Systems is seeking an experienced Applications Engineer II – Material Handling & Automation to develop custom equipment and integrated system solutions for food-processing and industrial manufacturing facilities. This is a customer-facing, front-end engineering role for someone who can understand how a customer’s operation works, identify technical challenges, and develop practical system concepts before projects move into detailed engineering and execution. We’re looking for someone who combines strong technical and mechanical knowledge with the communication skills and confidence to lead technical conversations with customers. The ideal candidate is comfortable both walking a production floor to understand a process and developing the equipment concept, layout, scope, and cost assumptions needed to solve the problem. Why Join CHL Systems? - Competitive compensation with growth opportunities
- Weekly pay
- Medical, dental, vision, PTO, paid holidays, and 401(k) with company match
- Stable, family-owned manufacturing company with 65+ years in business
- Opportunity to work on complex custom automation and material-handling projects
- Collaborative environment across Sales, Engineering, Estimating, Project Management, and Manufacturing
- Opportunity to influence technical solutions from the earliest stages of a customer project
What You’ll Do - Lead and participate in customer meetings, site visits, plant walkdowns, and technical discovery discussions
- Evaluate plant operations, equipment, product flow, throughput, space constraints, and existing processes
- Translate customer needs into practical system concepts, layouts, equipment selections, and technical scopes
- Develop solutions involving conveyors, material handling, custom machinery, process equipment, and automation
- Evaluate system capacity, accessibility, maintainability, sanitation, safety, installation requirements, and overall feasibility
- Work with vendors and Estimating to develop budgetary pricing and project cost inputs
- Support Sales during proposals, customer presentations, and technical discussions
- Coordinate with Engineering, Controls, Project Management, Manufacturing, Purchasing, Installation, and other internal teams
- Lead the technical handoff from proposal development into detailed engineering and project execution
What We're Looking For Required Qualifications - 5+ years of relevant experience in applications engineering, systems integration, project engineering, proposal engineering, custom equipment, or a similar technical role
- Experience developing, specifying, integrating, or supporting custom mechanical equipment or engineered industrial systems
- Experience with material handling, conveyors, industrial automation, custom machinery, food-processing or packaging equipment, process equipment, or other engineered-to-order systems
- Experience translating customer or plant requirements into equipment selections, layouts, system concepts, or technical scopes
- Strong understanding of mechanical equipment, manufacturing environments, process flow, and system integration
- Experience supporting estimates, proposals, vendor quotations, equipment budgets, or technical cost evaluations
- Proficiency with AutoCAD or comparable 2D layout software
- Strong customer-facing communication skills with the ability to lead technical discussions confidently
- Ability to work through incomplete information, ask effective questions, make sound technical recommendations, and manage multiple priorities
Preferred Qualifications - Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Technology, Industrial Technology, or a related technical field; equivalent directly applicable experience will also be considered
- Experience with conveyor or material-handling system integration
- Food-processing, packaging, sanitary-processing, or custom equipment experience
- 3D CAD experience, including SolidWorks or Inventor
- Experience with commissioning, startup, installation, or field support
- Familiarity with controls, robotics, sensors, or other automated technologies
- Project engineering, estimating, or proposal-stage engineering experience
Work Environment - Full-time position primarily based in Souderton, Pennsylvania
- Combination of office, manufacturing, and customer-site environments
- Regular interaction with customers, engineers, sales, estimators, project managers, vendors, and production teams
- Travel to customer and vendor locations, typically up to 20–25%
- PPE is required in designated manufacturing and customer areas
- Hybrid flexibility may be available based on role requirements and demonstrated independence
About CHL Systems For more than 65 years, CHL Systems has designed and manufactured custom automation, material-handling equipment, and integrated system solutions for customers across the food-processing, pharmaceutical, and general manufacturing industries. Our work brings together engineering, fabrication, machining, assembly, controls, and field expertise to develop custom solutions around each customer’s needs. As a family-owned company, we value craftsmanship, accountability, teamwork, practical problem-solving, and long-term relationships with our employees and customers. Equal Opportunity Employer (M/F/D/V) CHL Systems is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status.
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