Job description 

POSITION AVAILABLE FROM:
November 2026

Location:
Athlone Industria, Cape Town, South Africa.

Job Description:
The organisation is seeking a permanent employee to join our Drawing Office.
The successful candidate will be part of the Drawing Office team, supervising the Composite (yourself + 2 team members) and Deck (3 team members) departments. It includes activities such as composite design and engineering, deck hardware design, and deck outfitting.
Together with your team, you will be responsible for delivering drawings to production according to the required standards and within defined time frames. You will also be expected to engage and communicate effectively with subcontractors, composite engineering firms, exterior naval architects, and various suppliers.
This post is based at our manufacturing site in Athlone Industria, Cape Town.

Remuneration:
Salary matching experience and industry standards

Characteristics:
Regularly reporting to the Drawing Office Supervisor, the successful incumbent will:

• Be in close relation with your team, Drawing office manager, other drawing office supervisors and your related Technical Coordinators
• Take into account specifications and keep updated on rules and regulations
• Be force of proposals to decision makers
• Produce 3D models included in the overall boat assembly using SolidWorks
• Use 3D models to check interaction with other departments
• Produce 2D production drawings
• Engineer some composite scantlings and deck component sizing
• Liaise with architects, structure engineers, sub-contractors and designer to insure design integration

Education and Experience Requirements:

•   Naval architecture / Yacht design Degree or Master or B-Eng / B-Sc with work experience in yacht building

• 7+ years’ experience working in within the marine industry.
• Good experience in 3D parametric model (SolidWorks or equivalent) and 2D drawings (Autocad or equivalent) is required.
• Practical sailing Experience is a mandatory.

Personal:

• Strong technical engineering skills and knowledge
• Strong spatial awareness and understanding of 3D concepts
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written)
• Team-oriented mindset
• Self-motivated and willing to take on challenges
• Proactive and able to make constructive proposals
• Highly adaptable to different working methods, requests, environments, and situations
• Detail-oriented, open-minded, reflective, creative, organized, and responsive
• Comfortable working in a multicultural environment
• Willing to share knowledge and unite a team around common goals
• Able to meet deadlines and manage priorities effectively
• Willing to work overtime when required
• Reliable, honest, and able to perform under pressure
• Fluent in English
  
  

The employer:
Southern Wind Shipyard builds luxury sailing yachts for the global market. The yachts are of contemporary Italian design and built with South African craftsmanship. Each yacht is unique, offering a high level of customization and the option of adapting design elements according to Clients’ personal preferences. The company has been in existence for more than 27 years with a Marketing division based in Italy and manufacturing facility based in Athlone Industria. For more information please visit www.sws-yachts.com

Please submit your details to apply for the above position

To apply please submit your Curriculum Vitae (maximum 4 pages) including three relevant & contactable references, a short motivational letter (maximum 1 page), and current contact details via form or email to recruitment@sws-yachts.com.

Please note: Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for follow-up interviews. Candidates who have received no response within three weeks of the closing date should kindly assume that their application has not been successful.