Director level job – Solidworks test at interview?

I can understand the potential rationale behind a skills test - if you are expected to direct and mentor people within a small team they’d probably want to make sure you aren’t bluffing. But to surprise you with it seems to be a bit over the top.

Sounds like it was just an early red flag, and like others said better to see it now rather than in a few months when they have you doing grunt CAD work.