Lead Mechanical Designer

This position serves as a technical expert in CAD modeling, drafting, and manufacturing documentation, ensuring designs are accurate, manufacturable, configuration-controlled, and fully aligned with released product data throughout concept, NPI, production, and sustaining phases. 

Key Responsibilities 

Mechanical Design & CAD Execution 

• Develop and maintain detailed 3D CAD models and assemblies using SolidWorks and/or Creo. 

• Create fabrication, assembly, and installation drawings for sheet metal components, welded structures, skids, piping systems, enclosures, and mechanical assemblies. 

• Produce complete drawing packages including dimensions, tolerances, bills of material, weld specifications, and installation requirements. 

• Translate engineering requirements into accurate CAD models and manufacturing documentation. 

• Maintain model quality, drawing accuracy, and configuration consistency throughout the product lifecycle. 

Sheet Metal, Structural & Piping Design 

• Develop detailed sheet metal designs including bends, flat patterns, formed features, hardware, and fabrication requirements. 

• Create welded frames, enclosures, and skid designs using established manufacturing and fabrication practices. 

• Generate weldment drawings, cut lists, weld callouts, and assembly documentation. 

• Create and maintain piping layouts and routing models for cooling and process fluid systems. 

• Coordinate mechanical layouts to ensure manufacturability, assembly efficiency, and serviceability. 

Manufacturing Documentation & Product Release 

• Produce production-ready manufacturing drawings with appropriate GD&T, tolerances, material specifications, finishes, and inspection requirements. 

• Support engineering changes through updates to CAD models, drawings, BOMs, and released documentation. 

• Ensure alignment between CAD models, drawings, BOMs, and PLM records. 

• Support prototype builds, pilot production, and sustaining engineering by rapidly implementing documentation updates and design revisions. 

• Maintain compliance with company CAD standards, drafting practices, and release procedures. 

Cross-Functional Collaboration 

• Partner with mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, quality, and supply chain teams to support product development and production. 

• Participate in design reviews, release readiness reviews, and engineering change activities. 

• Resolve drawing, documentation, and manufacturability issues identified during fabrication and assembly. 

• Contribute to continuous improvement of CAD standards, modeling methods, and documentation practices. 

Required Qualifications 

• Associate's degree, Technical Degree, Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Design, Drafting Technology, or equivalent professional experience. 

• 8+ years of hands-on mechanical design and CAD experience supporting complex assemblies and manufactured products. 

• Expert proficiency with Creo and/or SolidWorks. 

• Strong experience developing manufacturing drawings, weldments, BOMs, and fabrication documentation. 

• Working knowledge of GD&T, tolerancing, and manufacturing processes. 

• Experience supporting configuration-controlled designs and product release processes. 

• Ability to independently execute complex design and documentation work with minimal supervision. 

Preferred Experience 

• Experience designing sheet metal components, welded frames, skids, and enclosure assemblies. 

• Experience detailing piping systems, tubing assemblies, valves, pumps, fittings, and mechanical routing. 

• Experience supporting cooling systems, CDUs, chillers, power equipment, or industrial infrastructure products. 

• Familiarity with PLM systems, engineering change processes, and product lifecycle management. 

• Experience supporting NPI and sustaining engineering within manufacturing environments. 

• Experience working directly with fabrication shops, suppliers, and production teams. 

Core Competencies 

• Expert CAD modeling and drafting execution 

• Manufacturing drawing excellence 

• Sheet metal and weldment detailing 

• Piping and mechanical layout development 

• Configuration-controlled documentation 

• Attention to detail and documentation accuracy 

• Manufacturing-focused design practices 

• Cross-functional collaboration and technical communication