Northwest Ohio | Full-Time | Manufacturing Design Leadership
Are you an expert SolidWorks designer with real-world machining or fabrication experience?
Are you ready to move into a leadership role where you can spend less time working on the shop floor without leaving manufacturing behind? Premier Industrial Group is looking for a hands-on design leader who can turn customer needs and field measurements into practical, production-ready solutions.
This is not a traditional desk-only engineering position. It is a working leadership role for someone who understands how parts are actually machined, fabricated, assembled, installed, and repaired. A degree is welcome, but proven ability, manufacturing judgment, and high-level SolidWorks skill matter more.
The Opportunity
Premier’s design group supports nearly every part of the business—from early sales concepts and customer discussions through final models, shop drawings, material planning, and production support. This person will lead that function, manage and develop another CAD team member, and help build the systems and standards that will support Premier’s continued growth.
What You Will Do
· Lead the design department and keep the team’s workload organized, prioritized, and moving forward.
· Delegate daily work, review progress, mentor the current CAD/3D scanning team member, and maintain accountability.
· Use SolidWorks at a high level to create concept models, final models, assemblies, details, and production-ready drawings.
· Work with sales to develop clear design concepts that help customers understand proposed solutions and give Premier a reliable basis for quoting.
· Take approved concepts from purchase order through final design, drawings, revisions, and release to the shop.
· Reverse engineer machined parts, fabricated weldments, assemblies, and existing equipment using field measurements, shop measurements, and available scan data.
· Visit customer locations to measure equipment, discuss requirements, identify constraints, and communicate professionally with customer personnel.
· Develop material takeoffs, determine material requirements, obtain supplier quotes, and order material for projects designed by the department when appropriate.
· Support project managers, shop managers, machinists, fabricators, and installers by answering questions, resolving design issues, and updating drawings.
· Design for practical manufacturing, efficiency, cost, safety, fit, function, and ease of installation.
· Understand the purpose and limits of 3D scanning and work effectively with Premier’s scanning specialist.
· Improve design standards, file organization, workflows, templates, and department processes as the company grows.
The Person We Are Looking For
The strongest candidate may be a senior machinist, fabricator, shop manager, manufacturing designer, or CAD leader who became the go-to SolidWorks person at a previous company and is ready for greater responsibility. This role is an excellent next step for someone who wants to move toward office and leadership work while continuing to use practical manufacturing knowledge every day.
Required Qualifications
· Advanced SolidWorks capability, including parts, assemblies, weldments, drawings, and design changes.
· Approximately 5+ years of professional SolidWorks or manufacturing design experience, or equivalent demonstrated expertise.
· Strong understanding of machining, fabrication, weldments, tolerances, materials, and how designs move through a real shop.
· Ability to accurately measure parts and equipment and turn those measurements into usable 3D models and drawings.
· Ability to move between concept design, detailed drafting, field work, estimating support, and production problem-solving.
· Leadership experience or clear ability to delegate, coach, review work, set priorities, and build a dependable team.
· Professional communication skills and confidence working directly with customers, salespeople, project managers, and shop employees.
· Self-directed work habits, sound judgment, personal accountability, and a positive problem-solving attitude.
· Valid driver’s license and willingness to travel to customer sites as projects require.
Helpful, but Not Required
· Experience with 3D scanning, scan-to-CAD workflows, or point-cloud data.
· Experience with estimating, material takeoffs, vendor quotes, purchasing, or project management.
· Technical school, trade school, associate degree, engineering degree, or other relevant training.
· Experience creating or improving CAD standards, drawing templates, revision controls, and department workflows.
Who Thrives at Premier
Self-starter:You identify the next priority and move it forward without needing constant supervision.
Practical problem solver:You can walk into a shop or customer facility, understand the real issue, and develop a workable solution.
Accountable leader:You keep commitments, manage the team’s workload, communicate problems early, and own the result.
Customer-ready:You can discuss ideas, measurements, limitations, and solutions clearly and professionally.
Builder of systems:You do not simply inherit a process—you help improve it and build a stronger design department for the future.
What Success Looks Like After 12 Months
· You are fully integrated into Premier’s systems, customers, project flow, and manufacturing operations.
· You are trusted to lead the design department, assign work, maintain priorities, and keep projects moving.
· You have successfully completed projects that reached the shop and customer on time and within budget.
· You have built strong working relationships with ownership, sales, project management, shop leadership, and customers.
· You have improved at least some of the department’s standards, processes, organization, or design practices.
· You are helping make Premier’s design division a stronger driver of company growth.
Compensation
$80,000-$110,000 annual base salary, depending on demonstrated skill and experience.
Additional compensation, paid time off, benefits, and growth opportunities will be discussed during the hiring process.
Why This Role Matters
Premier is growing, and the design division is central to that growth. This is a high-impact position with the freedom to solve problems, lead people, influence projects, improve systems, and help shape the future of the company. The right person will not be micromanaged. They will be supported by ownership and management, trusted to make sound decisions, and expected to take real ownership of the department.
Apply
If you have advanced SolidWorks skills, real manufacturing experience, and the drive to lead and improve a growing design function, we want to hear from you.
Please submit your resume and, when available, examples or a brief description of the types of parts, weldments, machines, assemblies, or custom manufacturing projects you have designed.
Premier Industrial Group considers qualified applicants based on job-related skills, experience, and ability
Pay: $80,000.00 - $110,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
