Electroplating Sales Representative

Most days involve calling on manufacturing accounts — automotive suppliers, aerospace manufacturers, electronics assemblers, jewelry producers — who need surface finishing work done to spec. You'll review plating requirements with engineers or quality managers, quote jobs based on process, volume, and turnaround, and help customers understand what's possible given chemistry and thickness constraints. The job is highly technical for a sales role, and customers will test that knowledge quickly.

The harder part is often the regulatory environment around plating chemistries. Environmental and worker safety regulations have tightened significantly over the past decade, and hexavalent chrome especially has driven major changes in what chemistry choices are available. Staying current on chemistry alternatives, RoHS compliance, and REACH regulations is part of the job, especially with aerospace and electronics customers who have formal qualification requirements for every process in their supply chain.

People who do well here tend to have manufacturing backgrounds or deep process chemistry interest — the product is the process, and credibility with a quality engineer requires being able to speak to bath maintenance, thickness variation, and adhesion testing in practical terms. Comfort calling on small- to mid-size specialty manufacturers that won't show up in a standard enterprise sales playbook is also helpful; the customer base can be fragmented and referral-driven.