OPT Field Application Specialist Jobs
Field Application Specialist jobs are a strong OPT fit for graduates in life sciences, engineering, or chemistry who want to blend technical expertise with client-facing work. Most roles qualify as specialty occupations for H-1B visa sponsorship. Your 12-month OPT window, plus a potential 24-month STEM extension, gives employers meaningful runway to sponsor you.
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Get Access To All JobsINTRODUCTION
The Application / Industrial Engineer supports the Technical Quoting Team by evaluating customer requirements, assessing manufacturing feasibility, developing engineering estimates, and identifying technical risks during the quotation and contract review processes.
This role works closely with Sales, Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Program Management to ensure customer requirements are understood, accurately quoted, and effectively transitioned into production. The ideal candidate has a strong manufacturing or engineering background, excellent analytical skills, and the ability to collaborate across functions to solve technical challenges.
Work Location & Flexibility
This position will initially be on-site to support hands-on training, product and process familiarization, relationship development, and integration with Engineering, Operations, Quality, Sales, and Program Management teams. Following successful onboarding and demonstrated proficiency in the role, the position may transition to a hybrid or remote work arrangement based on business needs, individual performance, and the ability to effectively support the responsibilities of the position remotely. Periodic on-site presence and customer travel will continue to be required.
Key Responsibilities
- Review customer RFQs, engineering drawings, specifications, statements of work, and contractual requirements to assess technical feasibility, manufacturability, and compliance obligations.
- Support technical quotations by evaluating labor, materials, tooling, manufacturing processes, testing requirements, and associated costs.
- Develop engineering estimates, including Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) hours, work breakdown structures, and preliminary lead-time assumptions.
- Leverage historical products, manufacturing data, and previous engineering efforts to improve quoting accuracy and efficiency.
- Identify technical requirements, assumptions, potential risks, and areas requiring customer clarification prior to quote submission.
- Review customer purchase orders and contracts to ensure alignment with quoted assumptions and resolve technical discrepancies before order acceptance.
- Coordinate with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, and Production to validate technical assumptions and execution requirements.
- Manage customer document revisions, evaluating changes to technical requirements and their potential impact on manufacturing, testing, cost, and schedule.
- Engage with customers through on-site customer visits and technical discussions, including engagements with ITAR-restricted customers, to support quotations, understand future requirements, and identify business opportunities.
- Support continuous improvement of quoting and contract review processes through improved estimating tools, standard work, and engineering documentation.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, Electrical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
- Minimum 3 years of experience in engineering, manufacturing, technical estimating, applications engineering, or a related field.
- Ability to interpret engineering drawings, specifications, and technical requirements and translate into engineering estimates and work breakdown structures.
- General understanding of manufacturing processes, assembly operations, and engineering cost estimation.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across multiple departments.
COMPENSATION
- Competitive base salary commensurate with experience: $96,800 to $121,000 (subject to change dependent on physical location)
- Posted salary ranges are made in good faith. TE Connectivity reserves the right to adjust ranges depending on the experience/qualification of the selected candidate as well as internal and external equity.
- Total Compensation = Base Salary + Incentive(s) + Benefits
BENEFITS
- A comprehensive benefits package including health insurance, 401(k), disability, life insurance, employee stock purchase plan, paid time off and voluntary benefits.
EOE, Including Disability/Vets
IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING RECRUITMENT FRAUD
TE Connectivity has become aware of fraudulent recruitment activities being conducted by individuals or organizations falsely claiming to represent TE Connectivity. Please be advised that TE Connectivity never requests payment or fees from job applicants at any stage of the recruitment process. All legitimate job openings are posted exclusively on our official careers website at te.com/careers, and all email communications from our recruitment team will come only from actual email addresses ending in @te.com. If you receive any suspicious communications, we strongly advise you not to engage or provide any personal information, and to report the incident to your local authorities.
Job Locations:
1700 GILLESPIE WAY
EL CAJON, California 92020
United States
Posting City: EL CAJON
Job Country: United States
Travel Required: 25% to 50%
Requisition ID: 162021
Workplace Type: Hybrid
INTRODUCTION
The Application / Industrial Engineer supports the Technical Quoting Team by evaluating customer requirements, assessing manufacturing feasibility, developing engineering estimates, and identifying technical risks during the quotation and contract review processes.
This role works closely with Sales, Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Program Management to ensure customer requirements are understood, accurately quoted, and effectively transitioned into production. The ideal candidate has a strong manufacturing or engineering background, excellent analytical skills, and the ability to collaborate across functions to solve technical challenges.
Work Location & Flexibility
This position will initially be on-site to support hands-on training, product and process familiarization, relationship development, and integration with Engineering, Operations, Quality, Sales, and Program Management teams. Following successful onboarding and demonstrated proficiency in the role, the position may transition to a hybrid or remote work arrangement based on business needs, individual performance, and the ability to effectively support the responsibilities of the position remotely. Periodic on-site presence and customer travel will continue to be required.
Key Responsibilities
- Review customer RFQs, engineering drawings, specifications, statements of work, and contractual requirements to assess technical feasibility, manufacturability, and compliance obligations.
- Support technical quotations by evaluating labor, materials, tooling, manufacturing processes, testing requirements, and associated costs.
- Develop engineering estimates, including Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) hours, work breakdown structures, and preliminary lead-time assumptions.
- Leverage historical products, manufacturing data, and previous engineering efforts to improve quoting accuracy and efficiency.
- Identify technical requirements, assumptions, potential risks, and areas requiring customer clarification prior to quote submission.
- Review customer purchase orders and contracts to ensure alignment with quoted assumptions and resolve technical discrepancies before order acceptance.
- Coordinate with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, and Production to validate technical assumptions and execution requirements.
- Manage customer document revisions, evaluating changes to technical requirements and their potential impact on manufacturing, testing, cost, and schedule.
- Engage with customers through on-site customer visits and technical discussions, including engagements with ITAR-restricted customers, to support quotations, understand future requirements, and identify business opportunities.
- Support continuous improvement of quoting and contract review processes through improved estimating tools, standard work, and engineering documentation.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, Electrical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
- Minimum 3 years of experience in engineering, manufacturing, technical estimating, applications engineering, or a related field.
- Ability to interpret engineering drawings, specifications, and technical requirements and translate into engineering estimates and work breakdown structures.
- General understanding of manufacturing processes, assembly operations, and engineering cost estimation.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across multiple departments.
COMPENSATION
- Competitive base salary commensurate with experience: $96,800 to $121,000 (subject to change dependent on physical location)
- Posted salary ranges are made in good faith. TE Connectivity reserves the right to adjust ranges depending on the experience/qualification of the selected candidate as well as internal and external equity.
- Total Compensation = Base Salary + Incentive(s) + Benefits
BENEFITS
- A comprehensive benefits package including health insurance, 401(k), disability, life insurance, employee stock purchase plan, paid time off and voluntary benefits.
EOE, Including Disability/Vets
IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING RECRUITMENT FRAUD
TE Connectivity has become aware of fraudulent recruitment activities being conducted by individuals or organizations falsely claiming to represent TE Connectivity. Please be advised that TE Connectivity never requests payment or fees from job applicants at any stage of the recruitment process. All legitimate job openings are posted exclusively on our official careers website at te.com/careers, and all email communications from our recruitment team will come only from actual email addresses ending in @te.com. If you receive any suspicious communications, we strongly advise you not to engage or provide any personal information, and to report the incident to your local authorities.
Job Locations:
1700 GILLESPIE WAY
EL CAJON, California 92020
United States
Posting City: EL CAJON
Job Country: United States
Travel Required: 25% to 50%
Requisition ID: 162021
Workplace Type: Hybrid
See all 53+ OPT Field Application Specialist Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new OPT Field Application Specialist Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding OPT Sponsorship as a Field Application Specialist
Target companies with active H-1B sponsorship histories
Instrument manufacturers, biotech firms, and diagnostics companies like Thermo Fisher, Agilent, and Waters regularly sponsor Field Application Specialists. Companies with existing sponsorship patterns are far more likely to continue sponsoring than those with none.
Emphasize your STEM OPT extension eligibility upfront
If your degree is in biology, chemistry, engineering, or a related STEM field, you qualify for a 24-month extension beyond standard OPT. Telling employers this during outreach immediately reduces their urgency to rush the H-1B visa process.
Connect your degree field directly to the technical role
Visa sponsorship depends on the job qualifying as a specialty occupation. Clearly articulating how your academic background maps to the instrumentation, assay, or systems knowledge the role requires strengthens both your application and any future H-1B petition.
Prioritize regional sales territories near your university
Field Application Specialists cover defined territories. Targeting roles in regions where you already have connections, lab experience, or customer networks gives you a practical advantage and reduces relocation barriers that can slow down offer timelines.
Prepare to discuss your OPT timeline honestly and early
Hiring managers in field roles plan around territory coverage needs. Proactively explaining your authorized work period and extension options, rather than waiting until an offer is extended, builds trust and helps employers plan sponsorship timelines alongside onboarding.
Build product and application knowledge before your interviews
Demonstrating hands-on familiarity with the instruments or platforms a company sells, whether through lab coursework, research, or internships, signals you can reduce training time. That practical readiness makes the cost of sponsorship feel more justified to hiring teams.
Field Application Specialist OPT: Frequently Asked Questions
Do Field Application Specialist jobs typically qualify for OPT work authorization?
Yes. Field Application Specialist roles generally qualify under OPT because they require at least a bachelor's degree in a specific technical field, such as life sciences, chemistry, or engineering, and involve applying that specialized knowledge directly. If your degree is in a STEM-designated field, you may also qualify for the 24-month STEM OPT extension, giving you up to three years of work authorization total.
Will employers sponsor an H-1B visa for a Field Application Specialist?
Many do, particularly at established instrument, diagnostics, and biotech companies where the role is tied to a specific scientific or engineering discipline. Because the position typically requires a specialized degree, it usually satisfies the specialty occupation standard for H-1B eligibility. Your odds improve significantly when you target companies that have sponsored the same or similar job titles in prior years, which you can research through public DOL disclosure data.
What degree fields best support OPT eligibility for Field Application Specialist roles?
Degrees in molecular biology, biochemistry, analytical chemistry, biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, and materials science are the most common qualifying fields. The key is that your degree field must align with the specific instruments or applications the employer sells. A biochemistry graduate applying to support genomics instruments is a cleaner fit than someone with a general science background applying to a highly specialized niche.
How can I find Field Application Specialist jobs that are open to sponsoring OPT students?
Migrate Mate is built specifically for F-1 OPT students and filters for employers open to sponsoring international candidates. Browsing Field Application Specialist listings on Migrate Mate lets you focus on companies already willing to work with OPT timelines, rather than spending hours on general job boards filtering out roles that exclude visa holders.
Can I do a Field Application Specialist role on Curricular Practical Training before OPT?
CPT is possible if the position is directly tied to your academic program and your university approves it. Some graduate programs in applied sciences or engineering explicitly incorporate industry placements, which makes CPT approval more straightforward. However, using 12 or more months of full-time CPT eliminates your OPT eligibility entirely, so confirm the implications with your Designated School Official before accepting any CPT-based offer.