Industrial Designer, Contract-to-Hire

About the role

At IDEO, we use design to create new products, services, experiences; tangible strategies; and creative capabilities. IDEO San Francisco is in search of a new Industrial Designer to partner with interdisciplinary teams designing innovative and human-centered physical products and services.

Responsibilities

• Apply your expertise to develop compelling physical product designs and systems, balancing form, function, technical constraints and manufacturability.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, including mechanical/electrical engineers, software developers, visual and interaction designers, brand strategists, and design researchers.
• Present ideas through sketches, CAD models, renderings, and physical mock-ups to clients and team members.
• Actively contribute to and lead human-centered research to inform design strategies.
• Create prototypes at varying fidelities using tools such as 3D printing and other rapid prototyping methods to explore, test, validate design concepts, and aid research efforts.
• Drive cross-functional collaboration and demonstrate leadership over the course of 12+ week projects.
• Deliver exceptional visual storytelling using an array of 2D and 3D tools and techniques, creating compelling presentations for clients.
• Explore early-stage inspiration through digital experimentation, including generative AI and other innovative tools.
• Mentor fellow designers within and across disciplines by sharing knowledge, articulating industrial design processes, and demonstrating advanced craft techniques.

Requirements

• 1-2+ years of experience + internships in industrial design, including end-to-end contributions to projects in consumer products, medical devices, soft goods or packaging.
• Demonstrated fluency in digital tools such as SolidWorks, Rhino, Keyshot, Blender, and Adobe Creative Suite.
• Go-to-market (GTM) experience, with the ability to meaningfully contribute to the associated industrial design workstreams within multidisciplinary teams.
• Prototyping expertise, including 3D printing and other rapid prototyping methods.
• A passion for building in 3D while actively prototyping in real time to test insights.
• Strong theoretical or practical understanding of and ability to collaborate on the design for manufacturing (DFM) process.
• Professional experience with one or more of the following: Consumer Electronics Design, Health and Medical Product Design, Packaging Design.

Qualifications / Experience

• A curiosity and drive to grow in one or more edge skills: Strategy, Brand, Digital Interaction Design & Needfinding frameworks.
• Digital Interaction Design.
• Coding, Hacking, Software Development.
• AI-based Visualization Tools.
• Mechanical Engineering.

Skills

• Exceptional visual storytelling abilities, including strong instincts in graphic design and deck-building.
• A grounding in design for manufacturing (DFM).

Benefits

• Salary range: $70,000 - $80,000 USD.
• Health Benefits: Vision, Dental, Healthcare.
• Financial Benefits: 401K matching.
• Family & Caregiving: Parental Leave, Adoption Assistance, Fertility Assistance, Transgender Medical Assistance, Breastmilk shipment, Back-up/Dependent Care, Pet Insurance.
• Other Benefits: Flexible Work, Flexible Time Off, Paid Holidays, Annual Education Stipend, Home Office Stipend.

Commitment to Diversity

We recognize that this commitment requires ongoing work and sustained attention, as well as adaptation to new insights and best practices.