Technical Sales Development Representative (SDR)

Apera is an innovative, Vancouver-based company at the forefront of robotics, AI, and machine vision - recognized with the 2025 Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Leadership Award and the 2024 BC Tech "Company of the Year, Growth" award. We're on a mission to redefine AI-driven robotic vision.

Apera AI helps manufacturers make their factories more flexible and productive. Robots enhanced with Apera's software have 4D Vision - the ability to see and grasp objects with human-like capability. Challenging applications such as bin picking, sorting, packaging, and assembly are now open to fast, precise, and reliable automation. We work with the world's leading automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.

Our portfolio spans Vue (our 4D Vision software), Forge (a no-code simulation and AI training studio where customers build, validate, and de-risk robotic cells before any hardware is bought), and VuePod, our new turnkey, productized bin-picking cell.

Role Summary

The Technical Sales Development Representative plays a critical role in identifying and qualifying new automation opportunities within manufacturing environments. This role sits at the intersection of sales development and early technical discovery, helping connect manufacturers facing operational challenges with vision-guided robotics solutions.

This role is based in Central or Eastern Europe and is specifically focused on supporting our European Union customers and Business Development Manager team. As such, fluency in German and English is required.

You will engage manufacturing leaders, operations managers, and automation engineers to understand their processes, identify automation opportunities, and determine whether those opportunities are worth deeper technical exploration with the Sales Team. Through a combination of structured outreach, discovery conversations, and early qualification, you will help generate high-quality opportunities that move into the technical sales pipeline.

What you’ll do

• Build a steady cadence of qualified discovery meetings and plant walkthroughs for the Regional Sales Manager, Business Development Managers (BDMs) and Global Account Managers (GAMs) by identifying manufacturers with meaningful automation opportunities.
• Run multi-channel outreach sequences (phone, email, LinkedIn), continuously testing messaging and targeting based on conversion data and customer feedback.
• Book and host the first customer introduction call, where you will: Introduce Apera and its vision-guided robotics technology
• Understand the customer’s process and operational challenges
• Ask structured discovery questions about automation needs
• Identify whether the opportunity is worth deeper technical exploration.
• Conduct early technical discovery conversations with manufacturing and operations leaders, gathering key details such as: Current picking or handling process
• Product variation and complexity
• Facility environment
• Existing automation
• Potential constraints
• Evaluate whether the opportunity represents a strong technical and business fit for Apera before routing it to the Sales Team.
• Prepare a clear opportunity brief for the Regional Sales Manager or BDM including: Customer context
• Operational challenge
• Early feasibility indicators
• Stakeholders involved
• Next steps
• Partner with the Sales Team on account-based prospecting, identifying plants, facilities, and key stakeholders within target manufacturing companies.
• Source contacts in ZoomInfo (and other systems) and maintain accurate plant, facility, and account structures in HubSpot CRM.
• Build and maintain segmented prospect lists by industry, manufacturing process, and automation use case.
• Rapidly learn industrial automation workflows, robotics applications, and machine vision use cases to build credibility with technical buyers.
• Partner with SDRs and the VP of Marketing to develop high-performing outreach sequences, including adapting messaging for German-speaking manufacturing teams.

Supporting BDMs on Active Opportunities

• Partner closely with Regional Sales Managers and BDMs on key accounts and active opportunities
• Assist with quote coordination and follow-up, ensuring proposals are reviewed and progressing
• Track proposal status and help schedule quote review meetings and technical follow-ups
• Maintain visibility on deal progress, customer questions, and next steps
• Support accoun t expansion by identifying new plants, departments, or contacts within existing customers
• Help maintain pipeline accuracy and opportunity documentation in CRM

What “good” looks like

• A typical day includes a mix of outreach and customer conversations, such as: 50+ phone dials
• 10–25 connects
• 5–15 discovery conversations
• 50+ emails sent (mix of automated and personalized)
• 2–4 qualified intro meetings or discovery calls completed
• Meeting quality matters more than volume, success is measured by opportunities that move into deeper technical discovery with the Sales Team.
• Outreach, reply, and meeting conversion rates improve because you test messaging tied to real manufacturing problems, not generic automation outreach.
• The Sales Team regularly confirms that the meetings you qualify involve real automation opportunities and the right stakeholders.

Example feedback: “These plants actually have the right use case. Let’s schedule walkthroughs while I’m visiting next month.”

You use AI and digital tools to prioritize accounts, summarize discovery conversations, and capture customer insights, while applying sound judgment to qualification decisions.

About you

• Fully bilingual (German/ English).
• 3+ years in SDR, BDR, or sales development, preferably selling into manufacturing, automation, robotics, or technical B2B markets.
• Comfortable speaking with operations managers, automation engineers, and plant leaders.
• Curious about how factories work and how robotics can solve operational challenges.
• Able to quickly learn and explain technical concepts at a high level.
• Confident hosting customer meetings and discovery conversations.
• Communicate clearly, ask thoughtful questions, and remain resilient under rejection.
• Work like a scientist: test messaging, analyze results, and iterate.
• Maintain disciplined daily execution: structured outreach, follow-ups, sequence management, and strong CRM hygiene.
• Highly organized and capable of managing multiple sequences and opportunities simultaneously.
• Experience with HubSpot and LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a strong asset.

Success Metrics

• Discovery meetings completed
• Percentage of intro calls that convert to qualified opportunities
• Pipeline generated for BDMs and Regional Sales Managers
• Quality and completeness of opportunity briefings
• Speed of follow-up and CRM accuracy

Career Growth Path

This role is designed as a launchpad into more advanced commercial and technical roles, including:

• Business Development Manager
• Sales Engineer / Solutions Consultant
• Product Specialist

Equity Participation

As an employee-owned company, we provide a meaningful stock option program, enabling all team members to share in the company’s long-term success and growth.

Competitive & Transparent Compensation

We offer a competitive compensation package aligned with market benchmarks + sales incentive. The final offer will be determined based on a variety of factors, including your skills, experience, and the overall value you bring to the team and our mission.