Technical Illustrator / Product Instruction Designer

Zero Surplus; Harlow; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

Zero Surplus is seeking a Technical Illustrator to join its R&D team. You will convert engineering data into clear installation instructions and create compliance markings, using SolidWorks Composer and the Adobe suite.

Reporting to the Technical Manager, you will manage multiple launches with organised, self-directed work habits and collaborate closely with product development engineers to ensure accuracy and timely delivery.

Qualifications

• Ability to translate engineering data into clear, user-friendly installation instructions.
• Strong eye for visual clarity and concise technical communication.
• Ability to work with cross-functional engineers and schedules.
• Experience with compliance markings is a plus.
• Comfort working with SolidWorks Composer and Adobe suite across projects.

Responsibilities

• Create clear, step-by-step installation diagrams from engineering data.
• Generate product markings for compliance purposes.
• Work with SolidWorks Composer, InDesign and Illustrator to assemble guides.
• Manage own workload and meet product launch deadlines.
• Collaborate with R&D engineers and product developers on documentation quality.

Skills

Clarity

Self-management

Deadline discipline

Tools

SolidWorks Composer

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Illustrator

Job description

Do you take genuine satisfaction in a set of instructions that just works - where someone opens the box, follows the diagrams, and never once has to reread a step?

We're working with a leading design-led brand in the luxury interiors sector to find a Technical Illustrator to join their R&D team. Founded in the late 1990s and still driven by the same design philosophy, they've grown from a British start-up into a globally recognised name, with products now selling in over 90 countries and established subsidiaries in the US and Asia. It's a business built on craftsmanship, precision and the belief that good design demands simplicity, and that thinking extends all the way to the documentation that goes in the box.

The Role

You’ll be responsible for creating clear, step-by-step diagrammatic installation instructions for new and existing products, taking a design from engineering data through to the finished guide a customer or installer uses. Alongside this, you’ll generate product markings for compliance purposes.

Most product imagery is generated in SolidWorks Composer and then brought together in Adobe InDesign and Illustrator, with some illustration created directly within the Adobe suite. You’ll also work with a bespoke Product Lifecycle Management system.

You’ll report to the Technical Manager and work closely with product development engineers, but you’ll manage your own workload against product launch deadlines, so this suits someone organised and self‑directed who can keep multiple launches moving at once.

What We're Looking For

• Either substantial experience designing step‑by‑step product installation instructions, or strong hands‑on experience with SolidWorks Composer
• Confident with Adobe InDesign and Illustrator
• An eye for clarity and simplicity - able to reduce a complex assembly into something anyone can follow
• Comfortable working from engineering data and collaborating with development engineers
• Self‑managing, with the discipline to hit launch deadlines without being chased
• Experience generating compliance markings is useful, though not essentialA genuine passion for this area of design goes a long way here. If you're someone who takes an interest in how things go together, whether that's DIY, assembly or self‑build, and can bring that practical, user's-eye perspective into your work, you'll do well in this role.

Why This One

• A specialist, craft‑focused role within a premium, design‑led brand with real heritage
• Direct involvement in product launches, working alongside R&D engineers from early in the process
• Genuine ownership of your workload and output
• A creative environment where quality and attention to detail are taken seriously at every level

Due to the location of the offices, this position will suit those commuting from areas such as Bishops Stortford, Harlow, Cambridge, St Albans, Chelmsford, Cheshunt, Hertford, Enfield, London, Brentwood, Basildon, Colchester, Braintree and Welwyn Garden City.