Senior Computer Aided Design Designer

Sterling Engineering; Naperville (IL); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Sterling Engineering is seeking an experienced Sr. CAD Designer to provide hands-on design and drafting support in a high-volume manufacturing setting.

You will develop and maintain mechanical designs, plant layouts, equipment drawings, and production-ready documentation. The ideal candidate has 7+ years of mechanical CAD experience with advanced SolidWorks and AutoCAD skills, and experience with plant equipment and processes.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional CAD drafting or mechanical design experience.
• Experience working in a manufacturing, industrial, or plant environment.
• Advanced proficiency with SolidWorks and AutoCAD.
• Strong 2D drafting and 3D modeling experience.
• Experience designing mechanical equipment, machinery, components, and assemblies.
• Ability to read and interpret P&IDs at a basic-to-moderate level.
• Experience with reverse engineering equipment, machinery, or components.

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain 2D plant and process layouts, 3D models, mechanical drawings, schematics, and equipment documentation.
• Develop production-ready drawings for machining, fabrication, sheet metal, molding, injection molding, and other manufacturing processes.
• Design and modify mechanical components, equipment, assemblies, platforms, guards, carts, catwalks, and other plant-support equipment.
• Support capital projects by converting field measurements and point-cloud information into 3D models, installation drawings, layouts, and accurate as-built documentation.
• Maintain engineering drawing libraries, including revisions, vendor documentation, updates, and obsolete files.
• Reverse engineer existing equipment, machinery, and components to support replacement parts, equipment improvements, cost reduction, and reliability initiatives.
• Support R&D and engineering teams with prototype development, equipment design, and transition to production.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Maintenance, Production, Safety, Project, and vendor teams to develop practical mechanical solutions.
• Interpret P&IDs at a basic-to-moderate level to understand equipment locations, piping connections, utilities, instrumentation, flow paths, and surrounding process equipment.
• Gather technical information, measurements, specifications, and drawings from vendors and internal stakeholders.
• Ensure drawings, models, and technical documentation meet established engineering and plant standards.

Skills

CAD drafting

Mechanical design

Field measurements

Tools

SolidWorks

AutoCAD

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Sr. CAD Designer to provide hands‑on design and drafting support within a high-volume manufacturing environment. This role will work closely with Engineering, Maintenance, Production, R&D, and Capital Projects to develop and maintain mechanical designs, plant layouts, equipment drawings, and production-ready documentation.

The ideal candidate will have 7+ years of mechanical CAD experience, advanced SolidWorks and AutoCAD skills, and experience designing or documenting equipment and machinery within a plant or industrial setting.

Key Responsibilities

• Create and maintain 2D plant and process layouts, 3D models, mechanical drawings, schematics, and equipment documentation.
• Develop production-ready drawings for machining, fabrication, sheet metal, molding, injection molding, and other manufacturing processes.
• Design and modify mechanical components, equipment, assemblies, platforms, guards, carts, catwalks, and other plant-support equipment.
• Support capital projects by converting field measurements and point-cloud information into 3D models, installation drawings, layouts, and accurate as-built documentation.
• Maintain engineering drawing libraries, including revisions, vendor documentation, updates, and obsolete files.
• Reverse engineer existing equipment, machinery, and components to support replacement parts, equipment improvements, cost reduction, and reliability initiatives.
• Support R&D and engineering teams with prototype development, equipment design, and transition to production.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Maintenance, Production, Safety, Project, and vendor teams to develop practical mechanical solutions.
• Interpret P&IDs at a basic-to-moderate level to understand equipment locations, piping connections, utilities, instrumentation, flow paths, and surrounding process equipment.
• Gather technical information, measurements, specifications, and drawings from vendors and internal stakeholders.
• Ensure drawings, models, and technical documentation meet established engineering and plant standards.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional CAD drafting or mechanical design experience.
• Experience working in a manufacturing, industrial, or plant environment, particularly with equipment or machinery design and layouts.
• Advanced proficiency with SolidWorks and AutoCAD.
• Strong 2D drafting and 3D modeling experience.
• Experience designing mechanical equipment, machinery, components, and assemblies.
• Ability to read and interpret P&IDs at a basic-to-moderate level.
• Experience with reverse engineering equipment, machinery, or components.
• Experience developing drawings for machining, fabrication, sheet metal, molding, or similar manufacturing processes.
• Strong understanding of mechanical design principles, dimensions, tolerances, and drawing standards.
• Ability to work from field measurements and point-cloud data.
• Strong attention to detail, organization, communication, and problem‑solving skills.
• Ability to independently manage multiple projects in a fast‑paced manufacturing environment.