Senior Toy Designer

Blue Marble is seeking an experienced Senior Toy Designer to lead the development of innovative toys, play experiences, and consumer products from concept through commercialization in our Ashland, Oregon studio.

About the Role

As a Senior Toy Designer at Blue Marble, you will establish creative direction, influence product strategy, mentor fellow designers, and collaborate cross-functionally to deliver engaging products that delight consumers while achieving business objectives. This is a hands-on, collaborative role in a fast-paced environment where you'll drive the creative vision for toys and play experiences from initial concept to production.

Responsibilities

• Lead the creative vision, design, and execution of toys, play experiences, and consumer products from concept through production.
• Champion innovative product concepts that balance creativity, consumer appeal, manufacturability, cost targets, and commercial success.
• Apply user-centered design principles to create engaging, age-appropriate play experiences.
• Conduct trend research, competitive analysis, and material exploration to identify new product opportunities and inspire portfolio growth.
• Create compelling sketches, renderings, CAD models, prototypes, and presentations that clearly communicate design intent.
• Mentor and provide creative guidance to fellow designers through concept development, design reviews, and product execution.
• Partner with Product Development, Engineering, Marketing, Sales, Licensing, and overseas manufacturing teams to guide products from concept through commercialization.
• Present product concepts, design strategies, and recommendations to executive leadership, licensors, retailers, and key stakeholders.
• Utilize design thinking methodologies to solve complex product challenges and create engaging consumer experiences.
• Stay current with emerging trends, technologies, materials, manufacturing processes, and competitive products.
• Translate consumer insights and product testing into meaningful design improvements and future product opportunities.
• Own product development from concept approval through tooling, pilot production, and mass production while maintaining design intent.
• Create and maintain detailed product documentation, including CAD files, CMF specifications, engineering support materials, and presentation assets.
• Evaluate engineering samples, prototypes, and factory samples to ensure product quality, manufacturability, and cost objectives are achieved.
• Demonstrate expert proficiency in SolidWorks, KeyShot, and Adobe Creative Suite to develop production-ready CAD, renderings, presentations, and technical documentation.
• Maintain and evolve CMF libraries, design standards, and specification documentation.
• Apply advanced knowledge of plastics, tooling, manufacturing processes, and Design for Manufacturing (DFM).
• Ensure products meet applicable safety regulations, licensor requirements, and international product standards while partnering closely with the Compliance Team.
• Collaborate with patent attorneys to prepare intellectual property documentation, including claims, illustrations, and supporting materials.
• Identify patentable innovations and contribute to the growth of Blue Marble's intellectual property portfolio.
• Ensure products comply with licensor brand guidelines and international product marking requirements.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design, Toy Design, Product Design, or a related field.
• Minimum 7 years of professional experience designing toys, play experiences, children's products, or consumer products.
• Extensive experience designing children's toys, play experiences, educational products, licensed products, or consumer products.
• Proven success leading products from concept through commercialization.
• Exceptional sketching, ideation, visualization, storytelling, and physical prototyping skills.
• Advanced knowledge of plastics, tooling, manufacturing processes, and consumer product development.
• Expert proficiency in SolidWorks, Adobe Creative Suite, and KeyShot.
• Strong understanding of design thinking methodologies and user-centered design practices.
• Excellent verbal, visual, and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to present concepts and product strategies to executive leadership, licensors, retail partners, and cross-functional teams.
• Experience mentoring designers and fostering creative growth within a collaborative environment.
• Experience working directly with overseas manufacturing partners and cross-functional product development teams.
• A portfolio demonstrating exceptional creativity, technical excellence, and commercially successful products is required.

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience leading licensed product development.
• Experience with rapid prototyping, 3D printing, and AI-assisted design tools such as Vizcom.
• Experience with Rhino, Alias, ZBrush, Creo, or other advanced 3D modeling software.
• Experience collaborating directly with overseas manufacturing partners throughout product development and commercialization.

Work Environment

• Location: Onsite in Ashland, Oregon.
• Work Style: Collaborative, hands-on, and fast-paced.
• Travel: Less than 10%.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and performance-based bonus opportunities.
• Comprehensive health benefits (medical, dental, vision, life).
• 401(k) to help you plan for the future.
• Flexible paid time off—we trust you to recharge when you need it.
• Employee Assistance Program.
• A creative, collaborative, and playful culture.
• The chance to help shape iconic and emerging toy brands.
• Real opportunities to develop within a dynamic, high-growth organization.