Lead CAD Designer

Nextpower; Mexico; On-site; MXN 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Nextpower in Mexico City is seeking a Lead CAD Designer to direct the CAD Design team for utility-scale and distributed solar projects. You will coordinate daily activities, balance workloads, and ensure high-quality CAD outputs on schedule.

You will collaborate with Project Engineering, Sales, and PM teams across regions. A engineering degree and 5–8 years CAD leadership experience, plus advanced AutoCAD/Civil 3D skills, are required to drive design excellence.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related technical field.
• 5–8 years of progressive CAD design and drafting experience.
• Advanced AutoCAD skills and understanding of drawing standards.
• Experience mentoring or informal leadership of technical teams.
• Strong organizational, analytical, and communication abilities.

Responsibilities

• Supervise CAD Designers and coordinate workloads.
• Ensure drawings meet standards and project requirements.
• Review deliverables for quality, completeness, and constructability.
• Coordinate issues with engineering, sales, and project teams.
• Support process improvements and CAD automation initiatives.
• Support onboarding and staff development.

Skills

AutoCAD proficiency

Engineering drawing standards

Leadership abilities

Team coordination

Analytical skills

Strong communication

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related technical field

Tools

AutoCAD

Civil 3D

Job description

Job Description:

The Lead CAD Designer will be based in Mexico and will report to the Manager, CAD Design Engineering. This position provides first-line leadership for the CAD Design team supporting utility-scale and distributed-generation solar projects. The Lead CAD Designer is responsible for coordinating daily team operations, balancing workloads, supporting employee development, maintaining drawing quality, and ensuring CAD deliverables are completed accurately and on schedule.

The Lead CAD Designer will work closely with Project Engineering, Structural Engineering, Sales, Project Management, Commissioning, Product Management, Software Development, and R&D teams in Mexico and other regions. This role combines people leadership, technical coordination, quality oversight, and continuous improvement to support consistent execution and scalable growth of the CAD Design organization.

Responsibilities

Team Leadership and Development

• Supervise and support CAD Designers and CAD Design Engineers located in Mexico.
• Assign, prioritize, and balance workloads according to project schedules, customer commitments, employee capabilities, and business priorities.
• Monitor workload, staffing needs, task progress, turnaround times, and resource constraints; elevate risks when appropriate.
• Provide coaching, mentoring, technical guidance, and regular feedback to team members.
• Support onboarding, training plans, proficiency development, and the continued growth of CAD Design personnel.
• Assist with performance reviews, development planning, recognition, and employee relations in partnership with the Manager and Human Resources.
• Foster a collaborative, accountable, inclusive, and high-performing team environment.

CAD Design Operations and Project Execution

• Coordinate daily CAD Design activities supporting project quoting, design development, engineering deliverables, and project execution.
• Ensure that drawings, layouts, CAD blocks, mechanical sets, construction sets, foundation-related deliverables, bills of materials, and other CAD outputs meet applicable company standards and project requirements.
• Review work for quality, completeness, consistency, constructability, and compliance with approved design practices.
• Coordinate priorities and resolve routine and non-routine issues with Project Engineering, Structural Engineering, Sales, Project Management, Commissioning, and other partner teams.
• Support the resolution of complex CAD, drafting, modeling, and design coordination issues.
• Help implement engineering changes, product updates, drafting standards, and process changes across the team.
• Monitor team performance against established turnaround times and support corrective actions when deliverables are at risk.

Process Improvement and Technical Enablement

• Identify opportunities to improve CAD workflows, templates, checklists, documentation, training materials, and quality-control practices.
• Support the development and adoption of automation, standard work, and reusable tools that improve speed, clarity, consistency, and quality.
• Promote effective use of AutoCAD, Civil 3D, CAD standards, internal systems, and approved engineering tools.
• Coordinate with software development, Product Management, R&D, and other technical teams to communicate user needs and support implementation of design improvements.
• Maintain or support current team procedures, reference materials, and knowledge-transfer practices.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, engineering technology, architecture, drafting, or a related technical field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
• 5–8 years of progressive experience in CAD design, drafting, project engineering, structural or civil design, construction documentation, or a related technical environment.
• Progressive experience in CAD design, drafting, project engineering, structural or civil design, construction documentation, or a related technical environment.
• Advanced proficiency in AutoCAD and strong understanding of engineering drawing standards.
• Experience supporting utility-scale solar, structural engineering, construction, or another complex technical design environment preferred.
• Demonstrated experience providing technical guidance, mentoring, workload coordination, or informal leadership to technical team members.
• Ability to review drawings & design deliverables for quality, completeness, consistency, and compliance.
• Strong organizational, analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, make sound decisions, and escalated? Wait.