Residential Drafting Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Residential Designer / Lead Drafter

Lifestyle Lumber — St. Martin, MN
Hybrid Position | Must Reside Within 100 Miles of St. Martin, MN
Residential Drafting Experience Required

About Lifestyle Lumber

Lifestyle Lumber is a growing lumber and building materials dealer serving homeowners, builders, contractors, and rural communities across central Minnesota.

We combine genuine small-town service with modern design tools, accurate quoting, premium building materials, and dependable project support.

As we continue to grow, we are looking for a skilled Residential Designer / Lead Drafter who can help customers turn ideas, sketches, plans, and project concepts into accurate, buildable designs with reliable material takeoffs and bills of materials.

Position Summary

This is a customer-facing residential design and drafting role.

This position is not an entry-level drafting job and is not a general CAD-only role. We are looking for someone with practical experience designing residential or light construction projects such as homes, garages, decks, additions, pole buildings, agricultural buildings, remodels, or similar structures.

The right candidate must be comfortable working directly with homeowners, contractors, sales staff, and internal team members. Strong communication, accuracy, construction knowledge, and drafting software experience are essential.

This is a hybrid position, but the candidate must maintain a physical residence within 100 miles of our St. Martin, Minnesota location. The role requires attendance at monthly corporate meetings, occasional onsite project meetings, customer meetings, training sessions, and other in-person needs as required.

Key Responsibilities

• Create accurate 2D and 3D residential and light construction designs.

• Design projects such as homes, garages, decks, additions, pole sheds, agricultural buildings, remodels, and related structures.

• Prepare construction drawings, layouts, elevations, and design documents.

• Produce material takeoffs and bills of materials to support accurate quoting and ordering.

• Work directly with customers to understand project goals, design needs, site considerations, and construction details.

• Communicate clearly with homeowners, contractors, sales staff, and vendors.

• Read and interpret blueprints, sketches, field notes, measurements, and construction documents.

• Support the sales team with customer presentations, plan revisions, estimating support, and project clarification.

• Help improve internal drafting, estimating, takeoff, and design workflows.

• Maintain a high level of accuracy and professionalism throughout the design process.

Required Qualifications

• Proven experience in residential drafting, residential design, architectural drafting, construction design, or a closely related field.

• Ability to create accurate 2D and 3D drawings using SoftPlan, Revit, AutoCAD, Chief Architect, or similar design software.

• Practical understanding of residential construction methods, building materials, framing, layouts, and project planning.

• Experience preparing material takeoffs, estimates, or bills of materials.

• Ability to read and understand construction drawings, blueprints, sketches, and field notes.

• Strong attention to detail and accuracy.

• Strong spoken and written English communication skills required for customer meetings, phone calls, plan review, and internal coordination.

• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

• Must maintain a physical residence within 100 miles of St. Martin, Minnesota.

• Must be able to attend monthly in-person corporate meetings and occasional onsite meetings as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• SoftPlan experience.

• Experience working for a lumberyard, building materials supplier, residential builder, general contractor, drafting firm, or architectural design office.

• Experience designing pole sheds, agricultural buildings, garages, barndominiums, decks, additions, or custom residential projects.

• Technical degree, certificate, or formal training in drafting, residential design, architecture, construction management, or a related field.

• Experience working directly with homeowners and contractors.

• Understanding of lumber, building materials, product selection, and construction estimating.

This Role Is a Strong Fit For Someone Who:

• Has real residential drafting or construction design experience.

• Enjoys working with customers and helping them turn ideas into buildable plans.

• Understands that accuracy matters because designs directly impact quoting, ordering, delivery, and construction.

• Can communicate clearly and professionally with customers, contractors, and team members.

• Is comfortable balancing design quality, construction practicality, and business workflow.

• Wants to help build and improve a growing design department.

This Role Is Not a Fit If:

• You do not have residential drafting, architectural drafting, or construction design experience.

• Your experience is limited to unrelated CAD work, manufacturing drafting, mechanical drafting, or general design without building construction knowledge.

• You are unable to communicate clearly with customers by phone, video, and in person.

• You are not legally authorized to work in the United States.

• You do not live within 100 miles of St. Martin, Minnesota or are not willing to relocate within that range.

• You are looking for a fully remote position with no in-person meeting requirements.

Work Arrangement

This is a hybrid role. Some design work may be completed remotely, but this position requires regular connection with our St. Martin office.

The selected candidate must be available for:

• Monthly in-person corporate meetings.

• Occasional customer meetings.

• Occasional project review meetings.

• Onsite training or workflow meetings as needed.

• Coordination with sales, estimating, and operations staff.

Compensation and Benefits

• Competitive pay based on experience.

• Health insurance.

• Profit sharing.

• Paid time off.

• Hybrid flexibility for the right candidate.

• Opportunity to grow into a leadership or department management role.

• Stable, growing company investing in better tools, systems, and processes.

• Supportive team environment with strong customer relationships.

• Opportunity to help shape and grow the design department.

Why This Role Matters

At Lifestyle Lumber, design is more than drawing plans. It connects the customer’s vision, the contractor’s workflow, the sales process, material takeoffs, quoting, ordering, and delivery.

A good design process helps projects move forward accurately and efficiently. This role will play a key part in improving that process for our customers, contractors, and internal team.

If you have real residential drafting experience, strong construction understanding, and the ability to communicate clearly with customers and team members, we would like to hear from you.

Required Application Materials

To be considered, applicants should submit:

• Resume.

• Residential drafting, architectural design, or construction design portfolio.

• Examples of completed residential or light construction drawings, if available.

• List of drafting/design software used.

• Current city and state of residence.

• Confirmation that you are legally authorized to work in the United States.