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Boston Career Explorer

Sales and Related

Sales Engineers

Sell business goods or services, the selling of which requires a technical background equivalent to a baccalaureate degree in engineering.

Also called: Business Development Engineer, Inside Sales Engineer, Product Sales Engineer, Sales Applications Engineer, Sales Engineer, Technical Marketing Engineer

Median pay in Greater Boston
$136,620
$65.68/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
2,410
Massachusetts 2024–2034
−1.4%
240 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Bachelor's degree
plus Moderate-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$78,750$101,060$136,620$173,850$187,740

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Develop, present, or respond to proposals for specific customer requirements, including request for proposal responses and industry-specific solutions.
  • Collaborate with sales teams to understand customer requirements, to promote the sale of company products, and to provide sales support.
  • Create sales or service contracts for products or services.
  • Visit prospective buyers at commercial, industrial, or other establishments to show samples or catalogs, and to inform them about product pricing, availability, and advantages.
  • Keep informed on industry news and trends, products, services, competitors, relevant information about legacy, existing, and emerging technologies, and the latest product-line developments.
  • Identify resale opportunities and support them to achieve sales plans.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Higher exposure79 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 78
  • Language-model AIOE 75
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 85

Observed AI use today: Substantial (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure is higher for this job, and observed AI use is substantial. AI tools can help with proposals, contracts, and keeping up with industry news. Federal projections say AI tools may free sales engineers to spend more time on direct selling. Technical judgment and building trust with business customers still rely on people. Jobs in Massachusetts are projected to dip slightly (-1.4%).

Likely to change

  • Drafting proposals and responses to requests
  • Preparing contracts and researching industry news

Still relies on people

  • Building trust with business customers
  • Matching technical solutions to customer needs

What federal projections say

“Productivity change - share decreases as artificial intelligence (AI) tools are increasingly integrated into workflows, allowing sales engineers to focus on direct sales activity.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.

Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.

Related occupations

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