Mechanical CAD Designer — Concept + 3D Scan to Production STEP Files

I'm looking for a CAD designer to provide ongoing support designing a new mechanical product and delivering clean, production-ready STEP files. To be clear about the starting point: nothing about the product itself is modeled yet. The only 3D data I have is a scan of the surface the product mounts to. That scan is your reference envelope — everything that bolts to it is new geometry that you'll design from my written engineering brief. In other words, you're taking my concept and turning it into real, manufacturable parts, with the scan ensuring everything fits the surface it installs on. The product combines extruded aluminum profiles, formed sheet-metal components, and standard hardware, with sliding interfaces that need tight, well-toleranced fits. I'll be upfront: the individual parts aren't exotic, but there's a lot of design to do across several subsystems, and it will take a fair number of revision passes before anything is locked. I want someone who has the bandwidth and the appetite to commit to this for the long haul, not a one-off contributor. Just as important — I'm not looking for someone to just push out drawings. You're the one building these models, so I want your engineering judgment on it. I've deliberately left several decisions open in the brief. Where I ask for a recommendation on what's strongest or the best way to manufacture something, I want 2-3 options and your honest take. If you see a better approach than what I've laid out, say so. That input is a big part of why I want you on this. The work, handled iteratively, subsystem by subsystem: - Clean the provided 3D scan of the mounting surface into an accurate reference solid to design against - Design all new components and the full assembly from my written brief, to a manufacturable standard (extrusion, CNC, sheet forming, off-the-shelf fasteners) - Where a profile or interface is left open, propose 2-3 candidate options for review before the final design is locked - Run basic FEA / load-path sanity checks where the brief flags a load case - Deliver watertight STEP files ready for the manufacturer Requirements: - Proven ground-up mechanical/product design from a written spec — not just retracing existing parts. Please point to examples where you took a concept or requirements doc to finished, manufacturable CAD. - Solid scan-to-CAD skills (cleaning a scan mesh into a usable reference solid). - A genuine mechanical engineering background — a degree or equivalent professional depth. You should be comfortable reasoning about loads, tolerances, and failure modes, not just modeling to a picture. - Strong design-for-manufacturing judgment across aluminum extrusion, sheet-metal forming, and standard hardware. - Comfort working independently from written engineering specs and flagging questions before starting, rather than redoing work after the fact. - Diligent, detail-obsessed, and responsive. Terms: - Hourly, ongoing, long-term. - A signed NDA is required before any detailed files, scans, or specs are shared. I keep project details limited until we've agreed to work together — please don't ask me to send files before that step. If this sounds like your kind of work, tell me about a project where you took a concept or written spec all the way to finished, manufacturable CAD, and what software you work in.