Principal Designer

Seaway7; Westhill; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Seaway7 is seeking a Principal Designer to lead advanced design and drafting on complex projects. You will produce drawings, oversee teams, and coordinate with Project Engineers to ensure on-schedule CAD deliverables within budget and global offshore standards.

The role requires extensive experience in drafting techniques, ERP familiarity, and leadership across design offices, with a strong focus on safety, quality, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Strong ability to communicate clearly and coordinate with project teams.
• Highly organized with meticulous attention to detail.
• Solid understanding of design and drafting techniques and engineering terminology.
• Ability to work in a cross-functional, concurrent engineering environment.
• Prior experience with ERP systems and document control is desirable.
• Knowledge of offshore vessel design and installation principles is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Produce complex drawings and sketches meeting standards.
• Assign, oversee, check, and approve design work for accuracy and quality.
• Plan, organise, and manage work for yourself and team members.
• Liaise with Project Engineers on installation drawings.
• Ensure lessons learned improve safety, quality, and risk mitigation.
• Maintain familiarity with relevant codes and standards used in design and drafting.
• Identify project resource needs and communicate them to supervisors.
• Review resource requests and provide feasibility feedback.
• Interface with project discipline leads to keep CAD deliverables on schedule and budget.
• Ensure input into procurement activities.
• Encourage awareness and reporting of project variations.
• Provide input into CTR estimates for the department.
• Ensure design services comply with QA, HSE and legislation.
• Participate in technical audits.
• Support and maintain engineering control and reporting systems.
• Manage internal and external Design Office interfaces.
• Agree, monitor, and review performance objectives with direct reports.
• Identify performance improvements and adjust tools/processes.
• Support induction, mentoring, and training of junior staff and new starters.
• Support apprentice recruitment and training.
• Participate in recruitment of personnel.
• Advance team learning by promoting knowledge sharing, best practices, and proficiency.
• Support development of standard deliverables and efficiencies.
• Encourage engineering improvements to systems.
• Stay informed about emerging technologies and digital tools.
• Stay current with professional learning to support growth.

Skills

Clear communication

Organizational skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Attention to detail

Education

Associate degree in Drafting and Design

Tools

AutoCAD

Autodesk Inventor

Vault Professional

Job description

What will you be doing?

Reporting to the Design Supervisor or Design Office Manager, the Principal Designer applies advanced design and drafting techniques to produce complex drawings and sketches in line with good engineering practice and company procedures.

The role includes responsibility for checking and overseeing the work of other designers and draughts persons and may involve leading a team or managing all or part of the design services for a project.

• Produce complex drawings and sketches that meet good engineering practice and company standards.
• Assign, oversee, check, and approve design work to ensure accuracy, quality, and consistency.
• Plan, organize, and manage work for yourself and team members.
• Liaise directly with Project Engineers on installation drawings and sketches.
• Ensure lessons learned are captured and applied to improve safety, quality, and risk mitigation.
• Maintain familiarity with relevant codes and standards used in design and drafting.
• Identify project resource needs and communicate these to the Design Supervisor or Design Office Manager.
• Review resource requests and provide feedback on feasibility, deliverables, and timescales.
• Interface with project discipline leads to ensure CAD deliverables are on schedule and within budget.
• Ensure adequate Design Office input into procurement activities.
• Encourage awareness and reporting of project variations.
• Provide input into project CTR estimates for the department.
• Ensure design services comply with company standards, processes, and procedures (including BMS and PM7).
• Ensure compliance with company QA, HSE procedures, and applicable legislation.
• Participate in technical audits of projects and studies.
• Support and maintain engineering control and reporting systems to improve planning, forecasting, and cost tracking.
• Manage internal and external Design Office interfaces.
• Agree, monitor, and review performance objectives with direct reports.
• Identify performance improvement needs and recommend adjustments to organisation, tools, processes, or people.
• Support induction, mentoring, and training of junior employees and new starters.
• Support apprentice recruitment and training where applicable.
• Participate in recruitment of permanent and contract personnel.
• Advance team learning by promoting knowledge sharing, best practices, and technical proficiency.
• Support department structure development and succession planning.
• Encourage awareness of departmental capabilities and competencies.
• Participate in reviews and contribute to the development of departmental procedures and work methods.
• Support the development of standard project deliverables and improved efficiencies.
• Encourage Engineering Improvements to enhance company systems and services.
• Stay informed about emerging technologies, digital tools, and methods to keep the business aligned with the latest industry developments.
• Stay current with professional learning to support ongoing growth

What experience would we like you to have?

• Clear communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills.
• Highly organised with a high level of attention to detail.
• Solid understanding of design and drafting techniques and engineering terminology.
• Ability to work in a cross-functional, concurrent engineering environment.
• Ability to prioritise workloads, manage time effectively, and communicate constraints clearly.
• Collaborative, inclusive leadership style that encourages team motivation and ownership of results.
• Advanced user of AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, and Vault Professional.

Qualifications

• Associate degree in Drafting and Design with 15+ years' relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Comprehensive knowledge of mechanical engineering principles, design reviews, and calculations.
• Extensive knowledge of design and drafting techniques.
• Familiarity with ERP systems, document control, offshore vessels, and installation principles.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications.