Overview
We are looking for a Mandarin-speaking Sales Engineer to develop our customer and distributor relationships in China, while also supporting sales activity across other international markets.
China will be your primary regional focus. You will manage technical and commercial enquiries, build relationships with customers and distributors, and support opportunities from initial discussion through to quotation, negotiation, and follow-up.
This role is suited to someone who asks thoughtful questions, listens carefully, and looks beyond the immediate technical requirement to uncover wider opportunities, customer challenges, market trends, and commercial insight. Success will come from building trusted relationships and contributing to commercial growth in the Chinese market.
Responsibilities
- Support technical and commercial conversations with customers and distributors, translating enquiries and communications from China where required
- Build and maintain strong distributor relationships, acting as a key point of contact for commercial, technical, and market-related support
- Help distributors qualify opportunities, prepare customer responses, and progress enquiries through the sales process
- Maintain regular communication with distributors to review pipeline activity, open opportunities, customer feedback, priorities, and market developments
- Monitor distributor performance, engagement, and follow-up activity, identifying risks, gaps, and areas where additional support is required
- Coordinate joint customer meetings, market visits, and event activity with distributors
- Ensure distributor-led opportunities are accurately recorded in the CRM, with clear ownership, status, next steps, risks, and commercial context
- Gather and share market intelligence from distributors, including competitor activity, pricing feedback, customer requirements, and emerging applications
- Represent Skylark Lasers at customer meetings, conferences, exhibitions, and other industry events in China and wider international markets
- Work with distributors to develop account and territory plans, identify target customers, and uncover new commercial opportunities
- Monitor distributor performance, engagement, and follow-up activity, identifying risks, gaps, and areas where additional support is required
- Ensure distributor-led opportunities are accurately recorded in the CRM, with clear ownership, status, next steps, risks, and commercial context
- Prepare quotations, proposals, and supporting documentation, including the translation and localisation of technical and marketing materials where required
- Continuously develop product, application, customer, and regional market knowledge
Essential criteria
- Fluent written and spoken Mandarin
- Professional working proficiency in English
- Comfortable travelling frequently to China, with a minimum expectation of one visit per quarter, and able to travel internationally where required
- Experience within lasers, photonics, optics, scientific instrumentation, or advanced manufacturing
- Degree qualified, or equivalent experience, in engineering, physics, photonics, or a related discipline
- Strong communication and relationship-building skills
- Curious and commercially aware, with the ability to ask insightful questions and uncover customer needs
- Organised, proactive, and capable of managing multiple priorities
- Comfortable with long sales cycles
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively across teams
- Persistent, adaptable, and confident following opportunities through to completion
- Strong attention to detail and administrative accuracy
- Right to Work permanently in the UK
- Ability to travel internationally with no restrictions
Desirable criteria
- Previous technical sales or sales engineering experience
- Familiarity with CRM systems and technical sales processes
- Exposure to international customers, distributors, or B2B sales environments
- Experience attending trade shows, exhibitions, or customer demonstration
Pay: £30,000.00-£45,000.00 per year
Language:
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Edinburgh
