Manufacturing OPT Jobs in Indiana
Indiana's manufacturing sector is one of the largest in the U.S., with major employers like Eli Lilly, Cummins, Subaru of Indiana Automotive, and Steel Technologies operating across Indianapolis, Columbus, Lafayette, and Fort Wayne. F-1 OPT students in engineering, supply chain, and production management find strong sponsorship opportunities here, particularly in automotive, pharmaceutical, and advanced manufacturing.
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Get Access To All JobsRemote-sales, within 75-mile radius of Indianapolis, IN
INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION
SALES REPRESENTATIVE (SMC)
Position Summary
The Industrial Automation Sales Representative (SMC) drives territory growth by winning new customers, expanding existing accounts, reactivating dormant business, and converting competitive applications. This experienced technical sales professional will leverage expertise in pneumatics, motion control, fluid control, electrical automation, and engineered solutions to build pipeline, solve customer challenges, and deliver profitable revenue growth.
Essential Functions
Territory and Revenue Growth
- Develop and execute a territory sales plan that achieves assigned revenue, gross-margin, product-growth, and account-development objectives.
- Build and maintain a qualified pipeline through consistent outbound prospecting, customer visits, proactive calls, referrals, networking, and targeted account-development activity.
- Win new customers and expand SMC product penetration within existing accounts by identifying additional machines, plants, departments, applications, and decision-makers.
- Reactivate dormant accounts and recover business lost to competitive automation suppliers.
- Identify and pursue competitive-conversion opportunities based on performance, reliability, energy efficiency, lead time, total cost of ownership, and application value.
- Develop account plans for priority customers and document specific actions, opportunity values, decision-makers, timelines, and next steps.
- Manage the full sales cycle from prospecting and qualification through solution development, quotation, negotiation, close, implementation, and follow-up.
- Meet or exceed assigned sales quotas and other performance objectives established by the company.
Technical and Consultative Selling
- Apply working knowledge of pneumatic products, applications, and competitive positioning to recommend appropriate industrial-automation solutions.
- Conduct discovery with maintenance, engineering, operations, procurement, and executive stakeholders to understand technical and commercial requirements.
- Partner with internal and technical resources on complex applications, product selection, demonstrations, proof-of-concept activities, and engineered solutions.
- Develop compelling customer-value propositions and presentations that connect technical capabilities to measurable operational and financial outcomes.
- Support product launches, customer training, plant surveys, energy-saving initiatives, and application-conversion programs.
- Maintain current knowledge of pneumatic products, industrial-automation trends, competitive technologies, target industries, and customer applications.
Pipeline, CRM, and Sales Discipline
- Enter and maintain timely, complete, and accurate customer, activity, opportunity, quotation, and forecast information in Selltis or the company's designated CRM.
- Document substantive customer interactions, agreed actions, opportunity stages, next steps, expected close dates, and revenue or gross-margin potential.
- Maintain a reliable sales forecast and participate in pipeline reviews, territory reviews, coaching sessions, and business-planning meetings.
- Use available sales and customer data to identify whitespace, dormant accounts, declining business, cross-selling opportunities, and areas requiring corrective action.
- Complete required call, visit, pipeline, reporting, and administrative expectations in accordance with company standards.
Customer and Cross-Functional Partnership
- Build durable relationships with customer stakeholders and serve as a responsive, credible commercial resource.
- Coordinate with customer service, operations, supply chain, engineering, finance, and leadership to support quotations, product availability, implementation, issue resolution, and customer retention.
- Communicate customer needs, competitive intelligence, pricing considerations, product gaps, and market trends to appropriate internal stakeholders.
- Protect customer relationships and company interests by following established pricing, contract, account-ownership, crediting, confidentiality, and approval requirements.
- Represent the company professionally at customer sites, industry events, trade shows, training sessions, and partner meetings.
Required Qualifications
- Demonstrated professional sales experience with pneumatic products and industrial-automation applications.
- Proven record of achieving sales growth through new-customer acquisition, competitive conversions, dormant-account recovery, or expansion of existing accounts.
- Working knowledge of pneumatic, motion, fluid-control, electrical, sensing, and related automation product categories relevant to the assigned market.
- Proven ability to discuss technical applications credibly and engage internal specialists or engineers when deeper expertise is required.
- Experience managing a geographic territory, sales pipeline, account portfolio, or similar book of business.
- Demonstrated ability to prospect, conduct effective customer visits, develop opportunities, negotiate, and close business.
- Experience using a CRM to document sales activity, maintain opportunities, and produce accurate forecasts.
- Strong communication, presentation, relationship-building, organizational, and time-management skills.
- Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively across a matrixed sales and support organization.
- Ability to travel regularly throughout the assigned territory and meet customer-site access and safety requirements.
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, engineering technology, industrial distribution, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
- Preferred qualifications we should add in CFPPS (Certified Fluid Power Pneumatics Specialist).
- Established relationships within the assigned territory or target industrial markets.
- Experience selling through or alongside an industrial distributor, automation integrator, machine builder, OEM, or manufacturer channel.
- Experience with Selltis or another sales-focused CRM platform.
- Experience selling engineered solutions in partnership with application specialists, controls engineers, or other technical resources.
Remote-sales, within 75-mile radius of Indianapolis, IN
INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION
SALES REPRESENTATIVE (SMC)
Position Summary
The Industrial Automation Sales Representative (SMC) drives territory growth by winning new customers, expanding existing accounts, reactivating dormant business, and converting competitive applications. This experienced technical sales professional will leverage expertise in pneumatics, motion control, fluid control, electrical automation, and engineered solutions to build pipeline, solve customer challenges, and deliver profitable revenue growth.
Essential Functions
Territory and Revenue Growth
- Develop and execute a territory sales plan that achieves assigned revenue, gross-margin, product-growth, and account-development objectives.
- Build and maintain a qualified pipeline through consistent outbound prospecting, customer visits, proactive calls, referrals, networking, and targeted account-development activity.
- Win new customers and expand SMC product penetration within existing accounts by identifying additional machines, plants, departments, applications, and decision-makers.
- Reactivate dormant accounts and recover business lost to competitive automation suppliers.
- Identify and pursue competitive-conversion opportunities based on performance, reliability, energy efficiency, lead time, total cost of ownership, and application value.
- Develop account plans for priority customers and document specific actions, opportunity values, decision-makers, timelines, and next steps.
- Manage the full sales cycle from prospecting and qualification through solution development, quotation, negotiation, close, implementation, and follow-up.
- Meet or exceed assigned sales quotas and other performance objectives established by the company.
Technical and Consultative Selling
- Apply working knowledge of pneumatic products, applications, and competitive positioning to recommend appropriate industrial-automation solutions.
- Conduct discovery with maintenance, engineering, operations, procurement, and executive stakeholders to understand technical and commercial requirements.
- Partner with internal and technical resources on complex applications, product selection, demonstrations, proof-of-concept activities, and engineered solutions.
- Develop compelling customer-value propositions and presentations that connect technical capabilities to measurable operational and financial outcomes.
- Support product launches, customer training, plant surveys, energy-saving initiatives, and application-conversion programs.
- Maintain current knowledge of pneumatic products, industrial-automation trends, competitive technologies, target industries, and customer applications.
Pipeline, CRM, and Sales Discipline
- Enter and maintain timely, complete, and accurate customer, activity, opportunity, quotation, and forecast information in Selltis or the company's designated CRM.
- Document substantive customer interactions, agreed actions, opportunity stages, next steps, expected close dates, and revenue or gross-margin potential.
- Maintain a reliable sales forecast and participate in pipeline reviews, territory reviews, coaching sessions, and business-planning meetings.
- Use available sales and customer data to identify whitespace, dormant accounts, declining business, cross-selling opportunities, and areas requiring corrective action.
- Complete required call, visit, pipeline, reporting, and administrative expectations in accordance with company standards.
Customer and Cross-Functional Partnership
- Build durable relationships with customer stakeholders and serve as a responsive, credible commercial resource.
- Coordinate with customer service, operations, supply chain, engineering, finance, and leadership to support quotations, product availability, implementation, issue resolution, and customer retention.
- Communicate customer needs, competitive intelligence, pricing considerations, product gaps, and market trends to appropriate internal stakeholders.
- Protect customer relationships and company interests by following established pricing, contract, account-ownership, crediting, confidentiality, and approval requirements.
- Represent the company professionally at customer sites, industry events, trade shows, training sessions, and partner meetings.
Required Qualifications
- Demonstrated professional sales experience with pneumatic products and industrial-automation applications.
- Proven record of achieving sales growth through new-customer acquisition, competitive conversions, dormant-account recovery, or expansion of existing accounts.
- Working knowledge of pneumatic, motion, fluid-control, electrical, sensing, and related automation product categories relevant to the assigned market.
- Proven ability to discuss technical applications credibly and engage internal specialists or engineers when deeper expertise is required.
- Experience managing a geographic territory, sales pipeline, account portfolio, or similar book of business.
- Demonstrated ability to prospect, conduct effective customer visits, develop opportunities, negotiate, and close business.
- Experience using a CRM to document sales activity, maintain opportunities, and produce accurate forecasts.
- Strong communication, presentation, relationship-building, organizational, and time-management skills.
- Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively across a matrixed sales and support organization.
- Ability to travel regularly throughout the assigned territory and meet customer-site access and safety requirements.
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, engineering technology, industrial distribution, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
- Preferred qualifications we should add in CFPPS (Certified Fluid Power Pneumatics Specialist).
- Established relationships within the assigned territory or target industrial markets.
- Experience selling through or alongside an industrial distributor, automation integrator, machine builder, OEM, or manufacturer channel.
- Experience with Selltis or another sales-focused CRM platform.
- Experience selling engineered solutions in partnership with application specialists, controls engineers, or other technical resources.
OPT Manufacturing Job Roles in Indiana
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Search Manufacturing Jobs in IndianaManufacturing OPT Sponsorship Jobs in Indiana: Frequently Asked Questions
Which manufacturing companies in Indiana sponsor F-1 OPT visas?
Several large Indiana manufacturers have a track record of hiring F-1 OPT workers, including Cummins, Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Eli Lilly, Rolls-Royce, and ArcelorMittal. These companies regularly hire engineers, quality analysts, and supply chain professionals on OPT. Sponsorship availability varies by role, department, and hiring cycle, so confirming OPT acceptance directly with the employer during the application process is important.
Which cities in Indiana have the most manufacturing F-1 OPT sponsorship jobs?
Indianapolis, Columbus, Lafayette, Fort Wayne, and Kokomo are Indiana's strongest cities for manufacturing OPT roles. Indianapolis anchors pharmaceutical and advanced manufacturing, Columbus hosts Cummins' global headquarters, Lafayette supports Subaru's automotive plant, and Fort Wayne and Kokomo have deep roots in metals and auto parts manufacturing. Proximity to Purdue University in West Lafayette also means many employers in that corridor actively recruit international students.
What types of manufacturing roles typically qualify for F-1 OPT sponsorship in Indiana?
Roles that align with a STEM-designated degree program are most commonly sponsored for F-1 OPT in Indiana manufacturing. These include mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, quality assurance, process engineering, supply chain management, and materials science positions. Roles requiring hands-on production work without a technical degree component are less likely to qualify. STEM OPT extension eligibility depends on your degree classification, not just the job title.
How do I find manufacturing F-1 OPT sponsorship jobs in Indiana?
Migrate Mate lists manufacturing jobs in Indiana that are open to F-1 OPT candidates, so you can filter by visa type and industry without sorting through listings that don't support OPT. Beyond the job board, targeting employers with existing OPT hiring patterns, reaching out to Purdue or IU career centers, and attending Indiana manufacturing industry events can strengthen your search. Confirming OPT eligibility with each employer before applying saves time.
Are there any Indiana-specific considerations for F-1 OPT sponsorship in manufacturing?
Indiana's manufacturing sector is heavily concentrated in automotive and industrial equipment, meaning many roles tie closely to STEM-eligible degree programs, which helps with STEM OPT extension applications (providing up to 24 additional months of work authorization). Indiana does not impose state-level restrictions on OPT employment. However, some smaller regional manufacturers may be less familiar with OPT requirements, so clearly explaining your authorization status and timeline during the interview process is worthwhile.