Jobs · Engineering · Illinois

Industrial Designer – Furniture

Design Observer · Chicago, IL · 2 wk ago
EngineeringFull-time

About Us

We are a high-end, made-to-order furniture brand designing and manufacturing exclusively for the design trade — partnering with interior designers, architects, and dealers rather than selling direct to consumers. Every piece is designed and built in-house, from concept through final fabrication, which means our design and engineering team has real ownership over how a piece is drawn, engineered, prototyped, and produced. We hold ourselves to the standards of fine furniture making: exacting proportions, honest materials, and construction meant to last generations. Because we design to order rather than to inventory, our team works on a constantly evolving mix of bespoke commissions and core collection pieces — no two weeks look the same, and no detail is treated as "good enough."

About The Role

We are seeking a creative design engineer to join our product development team as a Mid to Sr level Industrial Designer for a luxury furniture brand. This role sits at the intersection of design and engineering — translating creative concepts into buildable, production-ready furniture, components, objects, and hardware for new and existing product lines. Working closely with the design team and principals, this person brings both an inventive design sensibility and hands-on engineering rigor to develop new product processes and methods, while facilitating and engineering improvements to the current product line.

Responsibilities

  • Document and organize dimensioned and rendered 3D concepts in a shared file system; update drawings and modifications through all phases of development.
  • Assist with the Schedule of Materials and Bill of Materials (BOM); conduct CMF (color, material, finish) research.
  • Program CAD/CAM for CNC fabrication (3- and 4-axis).
  • Produce SolidWorks drawings for approval on in-house orders; work with the product team to create 3D models and renderings.
  • Maintain computer filing systems for all CAD/CAM and rendering programs.
  • Support product development of furniture and objects — including cast, formed, and fabricated items — through concept development, hand-sketched renderings, vendor and material research, mock-up development, and design documentation.
  • Organize and take notes in prototype production meetings; track follow-up schedules.
  • Assist the in-house production team with rapid prototypes and full-scale models (both hand-built and CNC-built parts); modify drawings as needed and engineer process improvements and solutions.

Skills

  • SolidWorks
  • Fusion 360
  • Photoshop
  • Blender
  • KeyShot
  • CAD/CAM programming for CNC production

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design or higher.
  • 3+ years of experience in industrial or furniture design engineering, ideally with high-end/luxury furniture and hands-on prototyping or fabrication experience.
  • Demonstrated ability to move fluidly between digital modeling and physical model/prototype making.
  • Must be eligible to work in the United States.

This is an in-person, full-time position based in Chicago, IL. We are not accepting applicants for remote work.

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