Director, Industrial Design: Award Winning Design + Innovation Studio
Location: New York, NY. Hybrid.
Our client is an award-winning design & innovation studio that builds purpose-driven brands, products, and experiences. A multi-disciplinary team of strategists, 2D designers, and industrial designers, works together to bring brands to life, whether crafting their strategic DNA, developing a graphic identity, or developing their physical and digital products.
They seek a collaborative and innovative Director of Industrial Design with deep experience bringing physical products to market from strategic translation to concept through distribution and be a key voice in evolving the vision and mission of the studio’s design practice. The ideal candidate will bring exceptional design ideas to market for the studio’s clients while helping maintain team health and shaping the strategic vision and growth of the studio.
Responsibilities:
Lead and oversee the work:
- Lead the full design process including strategic thinking, inspiration-gathering, ideation, 3D modeling, physical prototyping, visual rendering, design for manufacturing, and visual asset creation.
- Manage multiple projects simultaneously, from quick sprints to large, complex initiatives
- Work with client leads to outline the structure of new projects, helping establish the appropriate scope, staff resourcing, and deliverables while estimating and managing project cost and profitability.
- Develop and pilot new project types and ways of working to ensure we are continuously innovating in our approach to design.
- Execute on impactful customer and product experiences, recruiting internal insights teams to lend their support through user research when appropriate.
- Maintain high quality standards for design, ensuring the work is strategic, aesthetically appealing, improves the experience of users, and supports business goals.
- Be a champion for ethics in design with a demonstrable interest in and knowledge of social & environmental principles, paired with a drive to continuously improve our impact on human communities and natural ecosystems.
Lead and Mentor the team:
- Join other leaders in coaching, managing, and motivating the design team
- Help build team culture, recruit great talent, and create a greater brand presence for the studio
- Be a champion for the design team within the broader organization. Communicate and advocate for the mission and needs of the team clearly and concisely.
- Work with other design teams within the company to build a collaborative culture in service of user, and business outcomes.
Build relationships:
- Develop trusted relationships with clients
- Help to build a network of trusted freelancers and collaborators
- Actively spot and unlock new opportunities with current or new clients
Requirements:
- 10+ years of relevant design experience
- Strong portfolio, demonstrating exceptional taste, ideation, and execution
- Degree in Industrial Design or equivalent experience
- Experience building and leading a design team, with a leadership style that inspires trust and commitment through integrity, passion, and professional excellence
- Comfortable helping to define proposals and scopes of work for a variety of project types, from quick conceptual sprints to long-term product development partnerships.
- A good sense for delegation balanced with a willingness and ability to get hands-on.
- Fluent in human-centered design approaches and experience design principles and concepts
- Excellent communication and presentation skills
- Deep experience guiding products through a development & engineering process while protecting the integrity of the design intent.
- Demonstrable experience liaising with manufacturers, engineers, & prototypists
- Ability to create and amplify culture and motivate employees at all levels within the studio
- Concept, strategy, sketching, and rendering skills
- Expert-level proficiency in Keyshot
- Expert-level proficiency in Solidworks (preferred) and/or other 3D CAD packages (Rhino, Alias, etc.)
- Expert-level proficiency in basic Adobe Creative Suite software
- Familiarity with Figma, Google Suite, and/or Microsoft Teams a plus
- Located in NYC or surrounding areas, or willing to relocate
Apply Now
Send your resume to jodi@trurecruitment.com.