Senior Structural Designer

As a Senior Structural Designer, you create detailed structural designs and drawings for construction projects. You work from engineering calculations to produce the actual plans that contractors build from — steel connections, concrete reinforcement layouts, foundation details, and framing plans. The "senior" means you handle complex structures independently and review junior designers' work.

Your day is primarily spent in CAD and BIM software. You might model a steel moment frame in Revit, detail rebar placement for a concrete foundation, coordinate with MEP designers to avoid clashes, or review shop drawings from a steel fabricator. You need to understand structural behavior well enough to produce designs that are both buildable and code-compliant.

The distinction from structural engineering is important: engineers calculate loads and determine member sizes; designers translate those calculations into detailed, constructable drawings. Some roles blur this line, but in most firms, senior designers are deeply technical drafters who understand engineering principles without necessarily stamping drawings. The satisfaction comes from seeing your designs built — literally standing in a building that exists because of your drawings.