Mechanical Designer / Draftsman
Location: Janesville, IA
Job Type: Full-Time
Work Location: In Person — No Remote
Schedule: Day Shift, Monday–Friday
Pay: $25+ per hour, commensurate with experience
About Kay Park
Kay Park has been a trusted American manufacturer since 1954. We manufacture commercial park and recreation equipment, outdoor furniture, towable bleachers, and above-ground storage tanks. Our products are built to last, and many of them are customized or configured to meet specific customer needs.
We are a family-owned company that values quality, teamwork, flexibility, and getting things right. We trust our team, support work-life balance, and believe every role plays an important part in serving our customers well.
About the Role
We are looking for a Mechanical Designer / Draftsperson to join our engineering team. This role is a great fit for someone who enjoys detailed design and documentation work, takes pride in accuracy, and is comfortable working in both SolidWorks and an ERP system.
Our highest current need is document updates and drawing maintenance. This includes updating existing drawings, improving assembly instructions, processing engineering changes, supporting configured product drawings, and helping maintain accurate product information in our ERP system.
This role will also support projects, product improvements, production questions, and ERP-related problem solving. Over time, as documentation becomes more current, project work may increase — but documentation, drawings, BOMs, and ERP support will always remain an important part of the position.
The right person will be comfortable doing repetitive, detail-heavy work while also being flexible enough to jump in wherever needed. In our environment, we value people who are willing to help out, ask good questions, solve problems, and support the team.
Key Responsibilities
- Create, revise, and maintain 2D and 3D drawings using SolidWorks.
- Update existing product drawings, configured product drawings, assembly drawings, and manufacturing documentation.
- Support ongoing document updates, drawing corrections, and miscellaneous engineering changes.
- Process and support Engineering Change Notices, updates, and related documentation.
- Help improve assembly instructions, product documentation, and internal information used by production and customer-facing teams.
- Maintain and support items, Bills of Materials, routings, and product data in the ERP system.
- Serve as a backup/support person for ERP-related product line questions, BOM maintenance, and deeper problem solving.
- Work closely with engineering, production, purchasing, customer experience, and leadership to resolve product and documentation questions.
- Support production with timely drawing, BOM, or documentation clarification.
- Assist with product improvement projects, custom/configured product needs, and manufacturing support as needed.
- Help identify gaps, inconsistencies, or outdated information in drawings, instructions, BOMs, and ERP data.
- Communicate clearly and professionally across departments.
- Balance accuracy, urgency, and practicality when completing work.
- Be willing to help wherever needed in a small-company, team-oriented environment.
What We’re Looking For
This position may be a good fit for you if you:
- Enjoy detailed drafting, documentation, and design support work.
- Are comfortable spending a significant amount of time updating existing drawings and documents.
- Take pride in accuracy, organization, and follow-through.
- Like solving problems and digging into details to understand how things work.
- Are willing to ask questions for understanding, not just reassurance.
- Can balance repetitive work with changing priorities.
- Are comfortable supporting both engineering work and ERP/product data maintenance.
- Want to be involved with real manufactured products, not just sit behind a desk.
- Are flexible, dependable, and willing to help where needed.
- Value a family-oriented, team-first workplace.
Required Skills and Experience
- Associate’s degree, technical diploma, or bachelor’s degree in mechanical design, drafting, engineering technology, manufacturing, or a related field.
- 3+ years of mechanical design/drafting experience
- 3+ years SolidWorks experience (3D CAD modeling)
- PDM (Product Data Management) experience
- Ability to read, create, and revise technical drawings.
- Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
- Ability to work with product data, part numbers, drawings, and BOMs.
- Strong problem-solving skills.
- Good communication skills and willingness to work across departments.
- Experience working in a manufacturing environment.
- Strong technical aptitude with computers and software
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Experience writing technical documents (IE assembly instructions, product spec sheets etc)
- Knowledge of ASME Y14 drafting standards
- Experience in Syteline ERP System
- Experience processing ECN’s
- Experience configuring and designing variations of existing products
- Experience maintaining BOMs, items, routings, or product data in an ERP system.
- Experience with custom manufactured products.
- Experience supporting production, purchasing, or customer service teams with technical product questions.
- Experience with metal fabrication, tanks, bleachers, outdoor furniture, or similar manufactured products.
Traits We Value
- Self-starter – takes initiative and follows through
- Detail-oriented: You care about accuracy and documentation.
- Dependable: You show up consistently and follow through.
- Curious: You ask good questions and want to understand the “why.”
- Flexible: You can shift priorities and help where needed.
- Humble: You are willing to learn, receive feedback, and admit when you need help.
- Persistent: You keep working through problems until they are solved.
- Team-oriented: You understand that your work supports production, sales, customer experience, purchasing, and the customer.
- Practical: You can balance ideal solutions with real-world manufacturing needs.
- Positive: You bring a helpful, respectful attitude to the workplace.
Physical Requirements
This role is primarily office/design-based but will require regular interaction with the production floor. Candidates should be able to:
- Walk through production areas as needed.
- Look at products, parts, and assemblies in person to better understand design or documentation needs.
- Occasionally bend, twist, reach, or lift approximately 25–40 lbs. as needed.
Benefits Overview
- 401(k) with Matching: Save for retirement with company contributions.
- Health Insurance: Comprehensive coverage for your health needs.
- Dental Insurance: Support for dental care.
- Health Savings Account (HSA): Save for medical expenses tax-free.
- Paid Time Off: Time off to relax and recharge.
- Start with 40 hrs vacation
- Flexible Hours: Start your day between 5 AM and 8 AM.
- Skill Development: Opportunities to enhance your skills.
- Supportive and family-oriented environment
What Makes Kay Park Different
We are not a large corporate environment. We are a family-owned manufacturer where people are expected to work together, help each other, and care about getting things right.
Our team values trust, humility, flexibility, and follow-through. We believe work-life balance matters, but we also believe every person plays an important role in helping the company serve customers well.
This role is important because accurate drawings, instructions, BOMs, and product data directly affect production, customer experience, purchasing, scheduling, and overall quality. If you are someone who enjoys improving information, solving problems, and supporting a team through detailed work, this could be a strong fit.
Pay: From $25.00 per hour
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Disability insurance
- Flexible schedule
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Referral program
Application Question(s):
- How many years of mechanical design/drafting experience do you have?
- How many years of Solidworks experience do you have?
- On a scale of 1–5, how comfortable are you learning new software systems without step-by-step instructions every time? Please explain your rating with an example.
Work Location: In person
