Technical Illustrator (Vector, Adobe Illustrator) - Contractor

Job Description

StartGuides is a rapidly growing company with a dynamic team and an exciting product. We have ambitious goals and know that our people enable us to provide great products and accelerate our growth. Our innovative apps make a big difference for our country by helping military personnel and others understand how to set up, operate, and troubleshoot their equipment. We are committed to providing a meaningful, secure, and enjoyable career for every person at the company. We are currently at 50+ employees spread across 19 states.

The Role

We’re hiring contract Technical Illustrators to produce precise, brand-consistent vector illustrations of real-world equipment from reference photography. Working from StartGuides’ Illustrator templates and style guidelines, and alongside our App Content Engineers and design team, you’ll turn complex, often imperfect source photos into clean, clear technical art that blends seamlessly with our existing illustration library.

This is steady, deliverable and deadline-driven work, not occasional “hero” pieces. The illustrators who thrive at StartGuides combine genuine drawing craft with mechanical intuition and the discipline to maintain high-quality standards across recurring deliverables.

Our Hiring Process
We respect your time and we want to see how you actually work. Shortlisted candidates are asked to complete two short, structured skills assessments:

A live working session where you walk us through how you build an illustration in Illustrator — so we can see your process, speed, and command of the software firsthand
A paid take-home assignment that mirrors a real StartGuides task on a realistic timeline, so we can evaluate finished craft and accuracy.

Note that you will need to be working in the most up-to-date version of Illustrator for compatibility with the assessment files you will be provided. Assessments may be completed on a PC or Mac.

Work Authorization & Eligibility
Must be able to legally work in the United States and must hold a U.S. Citizenship. Verification will be required to process I-9. Must pass company-sponsored commercial background check and meet eligibility criteria to support U.S. Federal Government contracts. Security clearance beneficial but not required.

Equal Opportunity
StartGuides is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, age, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability protected veteran status, or other legally protected status.

How to Apply
Submit your resume, a brief cover letter, and a portfolio link or technical vector illustration work samples to jobs@startguides.net. Applications without illustration samples or a portfolio link will not be considered.

Responsibilities

What You’ll Do
- Create complex, accurate vector technical illustrations in Adobe Illustrator from reference photographs and supporting visual material.
- Interpret real equipment, including parts that are partially obscured, foreshortened, or mechanically intricate, and reconstruct geometry that is correct and easy to read.
- Apply StartGuides color, line-weight, and style standards so your work blends seamlessly with the existing illustration library.
- Maintain consistent quality and throughput against defined deadlines as part of a project team.
- Take direction and feedback from App Content Engineers and design leads, while bringing your own problem-solving to the table.

Required Skills

What We’re Looking For
- Vector technical or product illustration experience. 3+ years producing technical, product, scientific, or medical-style vector illustration in Adobe Illustrator — not general marketing, layout, or logo work. We weight the body of work over the year count: if your portfolio shows the kind of work described above, we encourage you to apply even if your timeline is shorter.
A portfolio that proves it. Please submit a portfolio link or 3–5 work samples that include, at minimum: complex multi-part objects drawn from reference photographs; deliberate,
- consistent line-weight and stroke hierarchy; and work executed to an external style guide or brand standard. Cutaways, exploded views, or assembly illustrations are a strong plus.
- Mechanical comprehension. Demonstrated ability to look at real, complex equipment and understand how it’s built and how the parts relate — then translate that into accurate art. Our subject matter is military equipment; you’ll routinely be required to figure out and draw complex structures from imperfect references.
- Comfort at production volume. You can sustain consistent quality across a steady, recurring workload and reliably meet deadlines.
- Standards discipline. You follow templates, color systems, and style guidelines closely, so your work is indistinguishable from the team’s.
- Tools & collaboration. You can work on a StartGuides-provided Windows-based PC, have familiarity with Adobe Photoshop, are comfortable reading/navigating Microsoft PowerPoint files, and are willing to collaborate with our team through Microsoft Teams.
- Working style. You are detail-oriented, confident presenting your ideas, responsive to feedback, and able to manage your own time against deadlines.

Preferred Skills

Experience with Adobe Photoshop.
Mechanical aptitude (the ability to look at a simple picture and understand what the parts do).
Remote, work-from-home schedule.
Flexible work schedule.

Qualifications

Will need to share a portfolio or work samples showing technical, product, scientific, or medical-style vector illustration done in Adobe Illustrator
Be a U.S. Citizen
Have at least 3 years of vector technical/product illustration experience in Adobe Illustrator
Available for part-time contract work (roughly 15-30 hours/week)
Able to work on a Windows-based PC
Our process includes a live working session in Illustrator and a paid take-home assignment. Will need to be willing to complete both