Sales Development Representative (SDR) – Industrial Automation & Vision Applications at Apera AI Inc
Apera AI Inc · Guadalajara, Mexico · Hybrid
- Office in Guadalajara
We are an innovative, Vancouver-based startup at the forefront of robotics, AI, and machine vision technologies. Backed by VC funding and we’ve been recognized with the 2025 Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Leadership Award, the AAM Supplier Excellence Innovation Award, and the 2024 BC Tech “Company of the Year – Growth”, we are on a mission to redefine the future of AI-driven robotic vision systems. Apera AI helps manufacturers make their factories more flexible and productive. Robots enhanced with Apera’s software have 4D Vision – the ability to see and handle objects with human-like capability. Challenging applications such as bin picking, sorting, packaging, and assembly are now open to fast, precise, and reliable automation. Apera is led by an experienced team from high-growth companies focused on robotics, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing.
About Us:
Do you love your car? Use a dishwasher? Apera AI is revolutionizing how they're made. Our 4D Vision technology provides industrial robots with human-like vision and AI-powered intelligence, dramatically increasing speed, accuracy, and reliability in vision-guided robotic automation. We unlock factory performance, empowering automotive OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and other industrial manufacturers to achieve unmatched levels of productivity, quality, and cost savings.
Want to help us unlock plant performance with advanced AI-driven 4D Vision systems?
The Opportunity:
We have over 100 customers, including Ford, Magna, and Whirlpool. We are strategically focused on a "land and expand" approach with key enterprise accounts. Major manufacturers don’t need more “digital transformation”. They need fewer defects, less downtime, and faster throughput. Your job is to put Apera AI in front of the plant decision-makers who care about those outcomes.
You’ll help build a qualified pipeline with large manufacturers by combining disciplined outbound sequences (email, phone, social), sharp qualification, and relentless CRM hygiene. You’ll also use AI-enabled tools to increase personalization and throughput, without turning your outreach into soulless spam. Reporting directly to the VP of Marketing, you’ll be a pivotal force in driving Apera AI's revenue growth in Mexico and the United States.
What you’ll do:
- Build a steady cadence of qualified meetings and plant walkthroughs for the Regional Sales Manager and Business Development Managers (BDMs) to drive early-stage opportunities.
- Run multi-channel outreach sequences, iterating weekly to optimize based on conversion data.
- Pre-qualify prospects (fit, urgency, stakeholders, next steps) and set high-quality meetings for the Sales Team.
- Partner with Sales Team on account-based prospecting: account tiers, personas, messaging, and segmentation.
- Source contacts in ZoomInfo (and other system) and keep CRM data clean and trustworthy, including accurate associations of your contacts, plants, and Key Accounts (parent accounts) in the CRM (HubSpot).
- Build and maintain segmented lists to support your sequences.
- Learn industrial automation workflows and vision application use cases fast to build credibility with technical buyers.
- Partner with SDRs and the VP of Marketing to develop compelling sequences that drive engagement and booked meetings, including translating high-performing English sequences for a Spanish audience.
What “good” looks like:
- A typically day will include: 50-150 phone dials (using the Nooks multi-dialer), 10-25 connects, 5-15 conversations, 50-150 emails sent (most automated), and 2-4 meetings booked.
- More meetings is nice; more qualified meetings is ideal, hence our laser focus on Key Accounts.
- Outreach/reply/connect/meeting-set rates improve because you test and learn, not because you spray-and-pray.
- The Sales Team will give you consistent feedback: “These are the right accounts. Please book walkthroughs for my trip next month at these plants.”
- You use AI or other digital tools to move faster (prioritization, personalization, call summaries, follow-up workflows), while applying human judgment.
About you:
- Fully bilingual (Spanish/English).
- You have 3+ years in SDR/BDR/sales development (industrial automation, manufacturing, or technical B2B preferred).
- Communicate clearly, ask smart questions, and stay calm under rejection (because you’ll get plenty).
- Work like a scientist: hypotheses, experiments, metrics, iteration.
- Run tight daily execution: activity discipline, follow-ups, sequencing, and clean notes.
- Enjoy ambiguity and building repeatable systems that scale.
- Highly organized, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple sequences simultaneously in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
- Proficiency with HubSpot and LinkedIn Sales Navigator an asset.
What do we offer!
- A chance to make a difference. Aperians are friendly, smart, and driven to build amazing products; we tackle challenges as a team, we are close-knit and scrappy. Our teams are motivated, talented, hardworking, and have both an intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial spirit. We enjoy making a large impact and solving challenging problems rooted in real-world robotic vision optimization using science, imagination, creativity, and persistence.
- Build your skills. Build your career. We don’t just promise opportunities—we back them with personalized development plans, learning budgets, and time dedicated to innovation. Come for the mission, stay for the mastery.
- Equity that empowers. As an employee-owned company, every Aperian receives a meaningful stock-option package, because we succeed together. You don’t just contribute; you get a share of the upside.
- Straightforward compensation. At Apera AI, we believe that transparency and fairness are key to building a thriving team. For this SDR role, we offer a competitive on-target base plus commission salary range of 25,000 to 38,000 pesos per month.
- The final offer will depend on a range of factors including your unique skills, experience, contributions to team, intellectual diversity, and the value you bring to our vision of transforming industrial automation with AI-powered vision systems.
- Sound like you? If so, we encourage you to apply! Please submit your resume and a compelling cover letter detailing your relevant experience. We're excited to hear from you.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Apera AI: Robots que realmente “ven”.
¿Aprecias tu auto o los electrodomésticos en tu casa? Apera AI está revolucionando la manera en cómo se fabrican. Nuestra tecnología 4D Vision provee a robots industriales de una visión similar a la humana y de un criterio basado en Inteligencia Artificial, aumentando de manera dramática su velocidad, precisión y fiabilidad, lo que resulta en una producción más rápida, con menos defectos y menos paros.
La oportunidad (y el reto real):
Tenemos más de 100 clientes (incluyendo Ford, Magna y Whirlpool) y nuestro enfoque yace en un modelo land and expand, con cuentas enterprise clave. Los grandes fabricantes no necesitan más “transformación digital”; necesitan resultados: más rápidos, con menos defectos y menos paros. Tu trabajo consiste en presentar Apera AI a los encargados de la toma de decisiones y de la supervisión de estas métricas, creando así nuevas oportunidades para nuestro posicionamiento y crecimiento.
Qué se considera “bueno”
- Un día típico incluirá: 50–150 llamadas (usando el marcador múltiple de Nooks), 10–25 contactos, 5–15 conversaciones, 50–150 correos enviados (la mayoría automatizados) y 2–4 reuniones agendadas.
- Más reuniones es positivo; más reuniones calificadas es lo ideal, por eso nuestro enfoque preciso en Cuentas Clave.
- Las tasas de alcance/respuesta/conexión/agendamiento mejoran porque pruebas y aprendes, no porque envías mensajes de forma masiva y sin estrategia.
- El equipo de Ventas te dará retroalimentación constante:
“Estas son las cuentas correctas. Por favor agenda demostraciones para mi viaje del próximo mes en estas plantas.” - Utilizas IA u otras herramientas digitales para avanzar más rápido (priorización, personalización, resúmenes de llamadas, flujos de seguimiento), aplicando siempre el criterio humano.
Lo que buscamos:
- Bilingüe ES/EN (indispensable).
- 3+ años como SDR/BDR/sales development (ideal: industrial, manufactura o B2B técnico).
- Resiliencia al rechazo; curiosidad; disciplina de ejecución diaria; seguimiento impecable.
- Mentalidad científica: hipótesis, experimentos, métricas, iteración (no “spray and pray”).
- HubSpot + Sales Navigator = plus.
Lo que ofrecemos (sin poesía vacía):
- Trabajo con impacto industrial real; equipo scrappy; aprendizaje acelerado.
- Equity/stock options; compensación transparente (OTE base + comisión; rango objetivo indicado en el borrador).
- Cómo aplicar: CV + breve carta (o 6–10 líneas) con: 1) industrias objetivo, 2) resultados SDR (métricas), 3) por qué Apera y por qué ahora.
Quién NO debería aplicar (para ahorrar tiempo a todos):
- Si odias el teléfono o dependes solo de inbound.
- Si “CRM hygiene” te parece burocracia; aquí es supervivencia.
- Si no puedes operar en dos idiomas todos los días.
Performance Profile (Year One)
Propósito del rol: construir pipeline enterprise en manufactura, con foco en resultados de planta (calidad, productividad, disponibilidad).
Objetivos (primer año):
- Crear una cadencia repetible de outreach multicanal que produzca walkthroughs y reuniones calificadas por Key Account.
- Mejorar conversión con experimentación semanal (mensajes, secuencias, listas, timing, personas) y reporting claro.
- Elevar la “calidad SDR”: datos limpios en HubSpot, asociaciones correctas, notas útiles, próximos pasos reales.
- Credibilidad con compradores técnicos: dominar lo suficiente de automatización y visión para calificar bien y no perder tiempo del equipo de Sales.
Indicadores de éxito (“good looks like”)
- 2–4 meetings/día con mejora sostenida de reply/connect/meeting-set por iteración (no por volumen ciego).
- Feedback del Sales Team: “Estas son las cuentas correctas; agenda walkthroughs para el viaje del próximo mes”.
- Uso de IA/herramientas para velocidad (priorización, personalización, resúmenes, follow-ups) sin caer en spam automático.