Industrial Design Lead

About the role

The Industrial Design Lead at DECKED is responsible for establishing the design language for the company's products, ensuring they align with DECKED’s brand pillars of Rugged, Intuitive, No B.S. This role involves working closely with the VP of Hardware Engineering to set standards for texture, tolerancing, and appearance, and collaborating with the engineering team to bring new products to market.

Responsibilities

• Establish an iconic design language for the DECKED brand
• Work with the VP of Product, VP of Brand, and CEO to outline common design elements
• Work with the VP of Hardware Engineering to establish standards around texturing, tolerancing, and appearance
• Champion these design elements to ensure all DECKED products share a unified design language and iconic branding
• Develop and socialize key design requirements for new products
• Conduct in-depth reviews of competitive products to understand existing solutions and the corresponding user pain-points
• Produce drafts and concept sketches to establish key design features
• Aid in decision-making around product trade-offs through user research and consumer-focused prototyping
• Manage external and internal resources to complete prototyping and ID iteration on time and within budget
• Assist Category Managers and engineering team in executing design requirements
• Optimize design compromises for function, ID, feasibility, cost, timeline, and user ergonomics
• Champion functional requirements in design reviews
• Iterate on design challenges with the engineering team
• Lead the collection and synthesis of user insights to outline customer needs
• Conduct regular benchmarking of competitive products to understand DECKED’s competitive landscape and identify areas of future development
• Evaluate strategic opportunities through open-ended qualitative research to understand unsolved user pain points and identify potential whitespace

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Mechanical Engineering or a related field
• Experience: 6+ years of experience designing consumer, automotive, or outdoor products, with a strong portfolio of work
• Leadership: Experience leading and managing people, with a track record of mentoring and developing talent
• Collaboration & Communication: Strong storytelling ability with excellent verbal and visual presentation skills to convey design ideas clearly
• Design Software: Proficiency in SolidWorks, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) and/or other design software
• 3D Modeling & Surfacing: Strong ability to create complex surface models and detailed 3D representations of products
• Prototyping & Hands-on Work: Experience with various prototyping methods, including 3D printing, CNC machining, and hand fabrication
• Manufacturing Knowledge: Strong understanding of injection molding, plastics, metals, coatings, and finishing techniques for large-scale production
• User Experience & Ergonomics: Understanding and curiosity for how human interaction influences product design and usability
• Creative Problem-Solving: A passion for solving design challenges with innovative solutions that balance function, form, and feasibility
• Project Management: Ability to juggle multiple projects, work efficiently under deadlines, and thrive in a fast-paced environment

Skills

• Sketching and surfacing expertise