Applications Engineer - Battery Diagnostic Systems

As Sention’s first dedicated Applications Engineer, you will deliver the technical customer journey from advanced discovery through deployment and adoption, while helping establish the practical processes needed to deliver this work consistently as we grow.

About Sention: Sention Technologies is transforming diagnostics for the electrochemical industry, enabling unprecedented insight into battery performance, quality and safety. Our proprietary ultrasound‑based technologies allow us to see inside batteries and turn complex measurements into actionable data through our hardware and software platforms. By reducing waste, increasing productivity and improving safety, our solutions help R&D teams, battery manufacturers, cell and pack integrators, and fleet operators meet the demands of the energy transition. Our ambition is to make advanced battery diagnostics practical from the laboratory to high-volume manufacturing.

Role summary: This is a newly created role and Sention’s first dedicated applications engineering position. The work is currently shared across several teams, and we need someone who can take responsibility for customer‑facing technical delivery while helping turn our existing knowledge and experience into simple, repeatable ways of working.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: This role involves substantial travel to customer sites in the UK and internationally, including Europe, North America and Asia. Travel may account for up to 40% of working time—approximately 85–90 working days per year—and will not be evenly distributed. Some periods may involve consecutive multi‑day trips, occasionally arranged at short notice.

What you will do:

• Technical discovery and solution definition: Contribute to advanced customer conversations to understand the application, operating environment, decision process, technical constraints and success criteria. Translate customer needs into feasible system configurations, test plans, pilot scopes and deployment requirements, while being clear about product limits and technical risk. Support the Commercial team with technical input to proposals, tenders, statements of work, timelines and technical negotiations. Help qualified opportunities progress by identifying the technical questions, evidence and decisions required to reach a clear next step. Develop straightforward standard operating procedures and handover rules so that customer requirements, technical risks, decisions, commitments and next steps are captured consistently.
• Demonstrations, evaluations and pilots: Plan and lead demonstrations and evaluations of Sention’s hardware and software, tailored to the customer’s application and audience. Present results clearly to prospective customers and internal stakeholders, including the limitations and uncertainties in the available evidence. Take responsibility for the technical workstream of customer‑site pilots from scoping through delivery and close‑out. Develop reusable approaches to pilot preparation, data capture, analysis, reporting and technical follow‑up.
• Deployment and commissioning: Lead the installation, configuration, commissioning and performance verification of systems deployed in customer laboratories and manufacturing environments. Integrate and troubleshoot mechanical, electrical, electronic, control and software interfaces, adapting fixtures, wiring, test setups or scripts where necessary. Train operators and technical users, document the commissioned configuration and complete a clear handover of the system and any outstanding issues. Develop and improve deployment‑readiness checks, commissioning records, acceptance criteria and handover documentation so that deployments become faster and more consistent.
• Ongoing technical customer success: Act as the primary day‑to‑day technical contact for deployed customers, helping them adopt the system, interpret results and obtain continuing value from it. Diagnose and resolve complex support issues across hardware, software, data and the customer’s test environment, coordinating internal escalation when specialist input is required. Identify technical risks to customer satisfaction, adoption, renewal or expansion and provide the Commercial team with clear evidence and recommended actions. Help establish practical routes for support triage, escalation and resolution, with clear responsibilities across Applications Engineering, Product, R&D and Operations.
• Develop repeatable applications engineering practices: Work with the CPO and relevant team leads to document and improve responsibilities, decision points and handovers across the applications engineering customer journey. Turn experience from customer engagements into reusable discovery procedures, application notes, demonstration scripts, pilot plans, deployment checks, commissioning checklists, training materials, technical reports and troubleshooting guides. Propose and maintain a small set of practical measures covering areas such as demonstration quality, pilot progression, deployment time, commissioning outcomes, customer adoption and recurring support issues. Capture field evidence consistently so that Product and R&D can distinguish recurring product needs and defects from isolated customer requests. Recommend improvements to applications engineering practices based on delivery experience, without introducing unnecessary process or bureaucracy.

What success looks like in the first 12 months: You have become a trusted day‑to‑day technical lead for customer engagements from advanced discovery onwards, following a clear and deliberate handover from the CPO. You independently deliver high‑quality demonstrations, pilots, commissioning and technical customer support across Sention’s hardware and software portfolio. You have worked with the CPO and relevant teams to establish the first practical set of applications engineering procedures, decision points, handovers and records. Colleagues use the core readiness checks, templates, documentation and guidance you have helped develop. Customer engagements have become more consistent and measurable, without creating unnecessary administrative overhead. Commercial opportunities advance on technically credible evidence, commitments remain aligned with what Sention can deliver, and recurring field issues are translated into clear recommendations for product or process improvement.

Experience and qualifications: Around 5–8 years of relevant professional experience, typically combining substantial hands‑on engineering experience with customer‑facing applications engineering, field engineering, systems engineering, technical consultancy or technical sales work. A degree in electrical, electronic, mechanical, mechatronic, systems or control engineering, physics, or another relevant discipline—or equivalent capability developed through substantial practical experience. A demonstrable record of building, modifying, integrating or commissioning physical systems such as instrumentation, sensors, test rigs, industrial equipment, scientific equipment or similarly complex hardware. Experience delivering technical customer engagements such as discovery, demonstrations, evaluations, pilots, installations, training or post‑sale support. Sound technical‑commercial judgement: able to understand the customer’s decision process, contribute to technical scope discussions and distinguish a valuable requirement from an expensive distraction. Strong written, verbal and presentation skills, including the ability to explain complex or uncertain technical findings to engineers, operators, commercial stakeholders and senior decision-makers. Evidence of turning recurring technical work into clear, usable procedures, templates, documentation or guidance that improved delivery. Willingness and practical ability to travel regularly within the UK and internationally, sometimes at short notice and with uneven intensity across the year.

Technical capability:

• Hardware: Confident building and adapting fixtures, sensor assemblies, wiring and test setups, and comfortable using workshop and laboratory tools safely.
• Electronics and control engineering: Competent in low‑voltage electronics, sensors, data acquisition and control interfaces; able to read schematics and diagnose systems methodically using appropriate test equipment.
• Software and data: Comfortable configuring software, examining logs and learning an unfamiliar technical platform. Production software engineering is not required.
• Experimental judgement: Able to design tests, control variables, recognise poor‑quality evidence and draw appropriately bounded conclusions from noisy real‑world data.

Useful but not essential: Direct battery‑sector experience is welcome but not required. Strong candidates may come from adjacent industries in which complex measurement systems must operate reliably in customer laboratories or factories. Applications engineering or field applications engineering experience involving scientific instruments, industrial metrology, non‑destructive testing, test and measurement, automation or process‑control equipment. Experience in batteries, electrochemistry, battery manufacturing, cell quality, acoustic or ultrasonic measurement, signal processing or machine vision. Exposure to manufacturing‑line integration, PLCs, industrial communications, safety interlocks, quality systems or factory and site acceptance testing. Experience in a deep‑tech or hardware start‑up, supporting international customers or working in an environment where responsibilities and ways of working were still evolving. Evidence of contributing to commercial outcomes through technical selling, customer negotiation, renewals, expansion or channel enablement.

Who you are:

• Hands‑on and credible: You enjoy making, testing and fixing things, and build trust with customers’ engineers through practical problem‑solving and sound technical judgement.
• Commercially aware: You understand that technical work should lead to customer value and a viable commercial outcome, without overpromising.
• Structured under pressure: You define the problem, protect safety and data quality, communicate clearly and maintain responsibility until an issue is resolved or appropriately handed over.
• Autonomous and accountable: You can work independently at a customer site, make proportionate decisions within your area of responsibility and escalate risks before they become surprises.
• A pragmatic process builder: You can turn tacit knowledge and ad hoc delivery into simple procedures, tools and measures that colleagues will actually use, without creating bureaucracy for its own sake.
• Collaborative and low‑ego: You share field evidence openly, involve the appropriate specialists and care more about reaching the correct answer than whose answer it was.

What we offer: A base salary of £50,000–£60,000, depending on experience. Private health insurance, life insurance benefit and a competitive pension plan with a 5% employer contribution. 28 days’ annual leave, UK bank holidays and a one‑week Christmas shutdown in addition to the 28 days. Substantial responsibility within a newly created and strategically important role, including the opportunity to shape the practical ways in which applications engineering work is delivered as Sention grows. Close collaboration with a multidisciplinary team spanning engineering, science, software, operations and commercial delivery. A hands‑on laboratory environment in Hackney Wick and exposure to technically demanding customers in the UK and internationally.

Recruitment process and timeline: We intend to complete the recruitment process by late October or early November 2026, subject to the successful candidate’s availability and notice period. Applications open: 15 September 2026. Initial call with a member of the HR team: Week commencing 5 October 2026. Technical interviews: From the week commencing 12 October 2026. Leadership interviews: From the week commencing 19 October 2026. Offer: By 26 October 2026.