Summary 

The Application and Technical Support Specialist II promotes the use of HarbisonWalker International refractory products and uses their technical knowledge of refractory products to support commercial activities including product marketing, support for product selection and use, and sales activities. This role should also begin working with HarbisonWalker Internationals engineering team to solve problems and provide solutions to customers, internal and external.

Responsibilities

• Leveraging deep subject matter expertise for providing technical support for customer assistance, customer quotations, internal and external training, complaint investigation, failure analysis and collaboration on research and development activities, including new product development concepts and projects.
• Performing analysis of application needs and proposing, altering, or refining/defining lining designs and installation methods in support of customer balancing business needs.
• Contributing to and executing product promotions and marketing strategies as a cross-functional team member supporting segment plan initiatives; preparing for and attending industry tradeshows.
• Performing market analysis and contributing to product portfolio analysis to identify and develop new/emerging business opportunities and to align with segment plan initiatives
• Offering strategic customer sales and technical support.
• Assisting in product rationalization, product portfolio modifications and shape standardization; contributing to pricing and positioning of various products in the subject matter areas.

Requirements:

• Requires B.S. degree in Engineering such as Ceramics, Metallurgy, Chemical, Materials Science or related field.
• Requires knowledge of industry/customer applications, general refractory science, and marketing/technical skills. Additional knowledge and understanding of product lines, product characteristics, construction, installations, customer applications, estimating, quality control, manufacturing and sales skills will be helpful.
• Requires proficient knowledge of MS Office (i.e. Excel, Access and PowerPoint).
• Requires the ability to work effectively in a team environment.
• Requires strong analytical, strategic thinking and business problem solving skills.
• Requires project management skills and the ability to coordinate multi-department projects.
• Requires two (2) to four (4) years’ experience in technical, Research and Development or commercial refractory roles. 
• Position requires domestic travel, estimated 30% of the time.