Design & Automation Engineer

Lava Island; Aurora (CO); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Denver on-site

Benefits program

Job summary

Lava Island in Denver is hiring a seasoned mechanical/product designer to own the original design of playground and jump deck equipment built in Autodesk Inventor. You will create build-ready specifications and develop automation using iLogic to scale manufacturing.

This from-scratch role will lead APS's move from AutoCAD to Inventor and train the team as you go. Based on on-site work in a production environment, you will collaborate with the Design/architecture team (Revit) and production

Qualifications

• 5+ years in mechanical or product design with original work in Autodesk Inventor.
• Autodesk Certified Professional in Inventor strongly preferred.
• Hands-on iLogic experience and built iLogic rules.
• Strong working knowledge of Inventor iProperties, BOMs, and docs.
• Experience integrating CAD with automation, CNC, or robotics systems.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings and manufacturing requirements.
• Comfortable teaching others and leading a CAD platform transition.
• On-site work in a production/warehouse environment.

Responsibilities

• Own original product design for Lava Island’s playground and jump deck equipment from concept through build-ready specifications.
• Design automation using iLogic to scale production on APS’s floor.
• Lead the transition from AutoCAD to Inventor and train the team as you go.
• Coordinate with the design/architecture team in Revit for clean integration with layouts.
• Collaborate with production leadership to refine designs based on real build feedback.

Skills

Mechanical design

Product design

Leadership

Teaching others

On-site collaboration

Reading drawings

Education

Autodesk Certified Professional in Inventor for Mechanical Design

Tools

Autodesk Inventor

iLogic

Inventor API

Revit

Microsoft 365

Job description

Welcome to Lava Island

Lava Island is an indoor play oasis where kids fly across trampolines, vanish into towering jungle gyms, dive into foam pits, and race down slides while families share pizza and celebrate birthdays in the party rooms. It is loud, bright, and full of energy.

Every trampoline, deck, slide, and play piece is made by hand. Active Play Solutions (APS) is the team that makes them. Before any of it gets built, somebody has to design it. That is you.

The Job

You will own original product design for Lava Island’s playground and jump deck equipment, built in Autodesk Inventor, from first concept through build-ready specification. You will also design the automation, using iLogic, that makes APS’s production floor smarter and more efficient as manufacturing scales.

This is a from-scratch role. You are not maintaining files somebody else built, you are the one building them, and you will lead APS’s move from AutoCAD to Inventor, training the team on the new way of working as you go.

Why APS

• Real design authority. Build from concept, not from a spec somebody else already made.
• Two disciplines, one seat. Product design and automation both live on your desk.
• Build something. The CAD standards and design library for APS are being built right now. You help set how it runs.
• Own the transition. Lead the move to Inventor and shape how design works here going forward.
• Denver home base. On-site, minimal travel.
• Per company benefits program.

What You Will Do

Design the equipment

• Design playground and jump deck equipment from concept through build-ready specification in Autodesk Inventor.
• Review drawings and models for accuracy, manufacturability, and compliance with our design standards.
• Build a library of reusable design templates, standard parts, and design documentation for APS.

Build the automation

• Design and refine warehouse automation and machine programming, using iLogic and Inventor’s API, as production volume scales.
• Evaluate and recommend equipment and tooling upgrades that improve manufacturing efficiency.

Lead the transition

• Move APS from AutoCAD to Inventor, building the training materials and coaching the team through it.

Coordinate across teams

• Work with the Design/architecture team in Revit so equipment integrates cleanly with building layouts.
• Partner with production floor leadership to refine designs based on real build feedback.

What You Need

• 5+ years in mechanical or product design, with real, original design work in Autodesk Inventor, not just editing existing files.
• Autodesk Certified Professional in Inventor for Mechanical Design (or equivalent) is strongly preferred, and matters more to us than a four-year degree. Real, demonstrated Inventor and iLogic experience is what we’re looking for.
• Hands‑on iLogic experience. This is the core of the automation side of the job, not a nice‑to‑have. Being an Inventor user isn’t enough on its own; we need someone who has actually built iLogic rules and automation.
• Strong working knowledge of Inventor iProperties, including their role in drawings, bills of materials, and design documentation.
• Experience integrating CAD design with automation, CNC, or robotics systems.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, specifications, and manufacturing requirements.
• Comfortable teaching others a new tool and new design standards.
• Comfortable working on‑site in a production/warehouse environment.
• Comfort with email, digital documentation, and design/PDM systems. APS operates in a Microsoft 365 environment.

Background in playground, amusement, or structural steel manufacturing is a plus. So is familiarity with Revit, experience building configurable product models, experience with process automation or "smart" manufacturing systems, and having led a CAD platform transition before.