Architectural / Structural CAD Technician

Company: Dow Engineering PLLC

Location: Sumner, WA 98390 — in person

Job type: Full-time

Pay: $28.00 – $35.00 per hour, depending on experience

Schedule: Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Experience: 2–4 years preferred

About Dow Engineering PLLC

Dow Engineering PLLC is a licensed Washington professional engineering firm specializing in small-site civil engineering and structural engineering for residential, ADU, addition, and light commercial projects. Based in the Sumner / Bonney Lake area, we serve King and Pierce Counties and the west side of Washington. We are known for quality work, quick turnaround, and being available when clients and building departments need us.

Job summary

We are hiring an in-person Architectural / Structural CAD Technician to prepare residential permit drawing sets in AutoCAD LT. You will draft site plans, architectural plans, elevations, sections, and details under the direction of our licensed engineer. This is a production drafting role for someone who already understands wood-frame construction and can turn redlines into clean, permit-ready sheets.

Responsibilities

• Prepare complete residential permit sets in AutoCAD LT, including site plans, floor plans, roof plans, elevations, building sections, and wall sections.
• Draft architectural and structural details consistent with wood-frame construction and the engineer’s design.
• Incorporate redlines from the PE, clients, and building-department review comments quickly and accurately.
• Coordinate architectural sheets with structural framing, foundations, beams, headers, shear walls, and connections.
• Assist with Washington State Energy Code documentation. We use the WSU C3 calculator; prior C3 or WSEC-R experience is a plus.
• Research local submittal requirements and standard notes used by Western Washington building departments (Pierce County, King County, and cities such as Sumner, Puyallup, Bonney Lake, Auburn, Tacoma, and similar jurisdictions).
• Maintain CAD standards, layering, title blocks, sheet indexes, and file organization.
• Communicate clearly with the engineer, clients, and occasionally plan reviewers about missing information or drawing conflicts.

Required qualifications

• 2+ years of professional drafting experience using AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT (residential architectural or structural work strongly preferred).
• Demonstrated ability to produce permit-quality residential drawings: site plans, floor plans, elevations, and sections.
• Working knowledge of wood-frame construction and structural components (studs, joists, rafters/trusses, beams, posts, hold-downs, shear walls, foundations).
• Ability to read and apply building-code concepts and typical residential construction detailing.
• High attention to detail, clean linework, and consistent dimensioning / notes.
• Reliable transportation to our Sumner, WA office. This is an on-site position.
• Legal authorization to work in the United States.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience preparing full residential building-permit packages for Washington jurisdictions on the west side of the state.
• Washington State Energy Code (WSEC-R) experience, including the C3 calculator.
• Familiarity with Pierce County, King County, and city building-department intake checklists, correction letters, and resubmittal practices.
• Experience drafting architectural details (eaves, decks, stairs, flashing, energy-code assemblies).
• Certificate or associate degree in drafting, CAD technology, architecture, or a related field.
• Bluebeam, Adobe Acrobat, and Microsoft Office proficiency.

What success looks like

Within the first 90 days you can take a marked-up residential project and produce a complete, internally consistent permit set with limited rework. You ask good questions early, catch framing conflicts before they go to the building department, and keep files organized so the engineer can stamp with confidence.

How to apply

Submit your resume and 2–3 sample sheets from a residential permit set (site plan, floor plan, elevation, or section preferred) through Indeed.

Pay: $28.00 - $35.00 per hour

Expected hours: 40.0 per week

Experience:

• AutoCAD LT: 2 years (Required)
• Drafting: 2 years (Required)

Language:

• English (Required)

Location:

• Sumner, WA 98390 (Preferred)

Ability to Commute:

• Sumner, WA 98390 (Required)

Work Location: In person