Senior Cad Technician

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. (WJE) is seeking an exceptional Senior CAD Technician join our bridges and transportation structure team in Northbrook, Illinois.

WJE solves some of the most interesting challenges in the built world, and our Senior CAD Technician plays a key role in helping project teams deliver high-quality, accurate bridge design and construction documents, efficiently and within budget, all while meeting the demands of a fast-paced work environment.

Our bridges and transportation structure team works on a variety of bridge rehabilitation and retrofit projects, including emergency and no-notice repairs with extremely accelerated schedules and high workload demands. As a Senior CAD Technician, you will have the opportunity to learn from and grow alongside industry-leading experts on these projects.

The CAD Administrator works as a drafting team workflow supervisor and provides strong technical knowledge of MicroStation CAD drafting software. Direction and feedback are provided by engineers on the project team, and the Senior CAD Technician completes moderate to complex drafting assignments independently, while also providing direction and QC support to other drafting staff.

Responsibilities:

• Produce high-quality, accurate construction documents or shop drawings for the repair and rehabilitation of various bridge structures and infrastructure systems
• Develop preliminary and final drawings using the information derived from existing structural drawings, including hand produced drawings dating back to the early 1900’s, backgrounds, and/or rough layouts, and with assistance from the project team
• Receive field notes, sketches, drawing markups in electronic format, or verbal instructions from engineers and assigns drafting tasks to other members of the drafting team.
• Review completed drafting assignments from other team members for accuracy and completeness
• Take hand-drawings or electronic drawing markups as 2-D sketches and generate additional views from 3-D space
• Translate complicated markups into well laid out CAD sheets following applicable CAD standards and to appropriate scale
• Maintain project and drafting deliverable schedules
• Set follow-up tasks and establish backlog for drafting team
• Perform detailed dimensional checks against sketches and existing drawings, bill of material checks, quantity takeoffs, and basic and complex layouts
• Provide feedback to Project Managers regarding use of standard Department of Transportation details during the design process.
• Make suggestions or improvements to details with engineering staff, and is able to identify conflicts and interferences
• Manage the use of DOT specific plot styles, pen tables, fonts, and drawing borders in MicroStation software
• Maintain local CAD standards, sets up client CAD standards, catalogs and organizes standard details, and serve as a mentor for other staff as it relates to CAD
• Maintain up to date knowledge of industry trends and new technologies
• Propose and implement changes to workflow to improve efficiency
• Is familiar with and able to learn/ identify new digital delivery methods for project files

Requirements:

• Ten years of relevant work experience with an associate degree in construction technology, drafting technology, or computer-aided design and drafting (Certification with equivalent experience will be considered in place of a degree.) OR
• Bachelor’s degree in construction management, civil or mechanical engineering, engineering design technology, architectural studies, or related field of study and relevant work experience.
• Advanced proficiency in MicroStation CAD software is required
• Moderate proficiency in AutoCAD and other Autodesk software is required
• Experience with and familiarity with typical bridge component terminology, including being able to locate and implement standard DOT details for common components is preferred
• Familiarity with structural steel and concrete detailing, layout of bolted connections with consideration for entering and tightening clearances, welding details, concrete reinforcing details, mechanical (machinery) and/ or structural detailing experience is preferred.
• Knowledgeable/Skilled with ancillary software such as Adobe Acrobat, Photoshop, and/or Bluebeam is required
• Detail-oriented with effective written and verbal communication skills
• General PC skills with proficiency in MS Word/Excel/ Outlook
• Self-starter, driven with the enthusiasm for producing high quality, accurate drawings efficiently, and within budget
• Willing and able to meet tight deadlines associated with project deliverable schedules and responses to no-notice emergency assignments

Physical Requirements:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

• This position requires visual acuity and listening ability along with the ability to read and write.
• Individuals must have the dexterity to be able to operate office equipment such as a computer, printer, fax, copier, telephone, voice mail system, and other office equipment.
• The position requires the ability to remain for extended periods at a workstation, as well as the ability to lift 25 pounds.
• Ability to attend meetings at the various office, field, and construction sites
• Ability to perform inspections of buildings and other structures, both visually and with instruments
• Ability to read construction drawings, diagrams, printed materials, and computer screens
• Ability to record data clearly and write passages for reports, letters, etc.
• Ability to understand and appreciate safety training specific to numerous workplace and construction hazard

Annual starting base salary (gross): $76,480 - $114,000. Actual salaries will vary and will be based on several factors including consideration for a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, and proficiency for the role. Base salary is one component of our total compensation package for employees. WJE offers an industry-leading total rewards package that enables our employees to grow and thrive with comprehensive health and financial benefits including robust and affordable health plans, generous 401(k) matching and bonus programs, time off to care for yourself and others, and investments in employees’ professional development, to name a few. More information on WJE’s total rewards package can be found here.

WJE is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We invite all qualified applicants to apply including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans (VEVRAA federal contractor).

WJE will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of Fair Chance Ordinances.