Product Design & Development Engineer I

About VIVA Railings

VIVA Railings is a leading American manufacturer of architectural railing and metal panel systems. From our 67,000-square-foot headquarters in Lewisville, Texas, we design, engineer, fabricate, and install stainless steel, aluminum, glass, and cable railing systems for large commercial projects nationwide — along with decorative metal wall and facade systems through our METALSPACES division.

Because design, engineering, fabrication, and installation all live under one roof, the people who develop our products watch their decisions play out on the shop floor and at the jobsite within weeks, not years. For a designer or engineer early in their career, that feedback loop is the fastest way to get good — you will see what your drawings actually cost to build, and what an installer thinks of them.

Position Summary

The Product Design & Development Engineer turns railing and metal panel concepts into manufacturable, code-compliant, installable products. This is a hands-on design and detailing role at the center of VIVA's new product development pipeline: you will model and detail new systems and product-line extensions in SolidWorks, build the drawing packages and BIM content that let them be quoted, fabricated, and specified, and prototype and test them against IBC, ADA, and ASTM criteria.

Roughly a quarter of the role supports product quality. You will help investigate non-conforming product and field issues, execute the drawing and model corrections that resolve them, and carry what you learn back into the next design. Ownership of non-conformance disposition and formal corrective action sits with the Product Engineer and the New Product Development Manager — your job is to do the technical legwork and close out the design-side fixes.

The position reports to the New Product Development Manager and works daily with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Project Management, and Field Installation.

Key Responsibilities

Product Design and Development (~60%)

• Design and modeling — Model and detail new products and product-line extensions in SolidWorks — parts, assemblies, configurations, weldments, and sheet metal — and produce complete 2D detail and fabrication drawing packages.

• Design for manufacturability and installation — Design around VIVA's in-house capabilities (fiber laser cutting, CNC machining, forming, welding, and finishing) and around what an installer can realistically do on a ladder, with input from fabricators and field crews.

• Prototyping and testing support — Build and fit up prototypes and mock-ups; set up and run structural and performance tests to IBC, ASTM, and ADA criteria; record results and revise the design against them.

• Engineering calculations — Perform load, deflection, connection, and anchorage hand calculations under the direction of senior engineering staff; run basic FEA where appropriate; assemble the documentation packages that go to third-party engineers of record and testing labs.

• Revit content and BIM deliverables — Build and maintain parametric Revit families and BIM content so architects and design teams can place VIVA systems accurately in their models; keep the published library current with released designs.

• Standardization and modularity — Grow VIVA's library of standard connection details, common parts, and configurable components so fewer project hours are spent re-engineering solved problems.

• Technical documentation — Produce and maintain BOMs, part numbers, assembly and installation instructions, tolerance and finish specifications, and product data sheets; keep drawings and revision history clean in PDM and ERP.

• Stage-gate participation — Deliver your assigned design work on schedule through the NPD stage-gate process, with clear design intent, honest cost and lead-time input, and the documentation each gate requires.

• Customer and field input — Sit in on architect, contractor, and installer feedback with Product Management and Sales, and translate what you hear into concrete design changes.

Product Quality and Issue Support (~40%)

• Non-conformance investigation support — Assist the Product Engineer on NCRs from the shop floor and the field: measure and inspect the affected parts, check them against the released drawings and models, and document what you find.

• Root cause legwork — Contribute to structured root cause analysis (5 Why, fishbone) with the analysis that supports it — tolerance stack-up checks, drawing and revision history, dimensional measurement, and fabrication method review.

• Corrective design changes — Execute the drawing, model, and detail revisions that come out of corrective action, and update the affected documentation, instructions, and BIM content so the fix is actually captured.

• Engineering change support — Prepare ECRs and process approved ECOs: assess and document the impact on active projects, inventory, and existing documentation, and communicate the change to the groups it touches.

• Field and warranty support — Help respond to field escalations and warranty claims with dimensional analysis, retrofit details, and repair drawings; travel to project sites occasionally when the issue has to be seen in person.

• Inspection criteria — Help develop practical, measurable inspection checkpoints and acceptance criteria — particularly for finish quality, weld quality, glass and cable interfaces, and dimensional accuracy.

• Design feedback loop — Log recurring issues against the product families you work on and feed them into design standards and the detail library, so the same problem is not engineered twice.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Provide day-to-day drawing and detailing support to Manufacturing, Project Management, and Field Installation on product application and problem-solving.

• Read and interpret architectural drawings and specifications, and support submittal and design-assist efforts with buildable detailing.

• Contribute to installer guidance, shop-floor briefings, and internal technical reference material.

• Support continuous improvement in the fabrication shop — fixturing, process capability, and lean/5S efforts.