Senior Toy Designer - Dolls

About the role

The Senior Toy Designer in our Dolls division will lead the design and development of innovative doll lines for high-profile licensed brands. This role requires an expert balance of creative vision and strategic alignment to translate premier entertainment properties into compelling consumer products.

Responsibilities

• Instrumental in generating new toy concepts and designing new play experiences for new and/or existing brands and product lines.

• Deliver end to end product design including research, concepts, prototypes, and user testing.

• Champion great design in our high-quality products and help assure they are within target cost and QA/QC requirements.

• Oversees the product design process.

• Create systems of play centered around compatibility, usability, and superior play experiences.

• Work collaboratively with your branding, product management, engineering, packaging, licensor, and other internal team partners to create product that is the best fit for the brand and meets licensor requirements.

• Attend Brand and licensing meetings and brainstorming to obtain enough information for product design.

• Successfully present and communicate concepts to the brand, development, management, and licensor teams.

• Ensure delivery of precise, clear, and complete product turnover specifications and ensure they fully understood by the international team/factory.

• Support the overall strategic goals of product, provide direction and feedback during the development process that is attentive to licensor and for brand assurance.

• Responsible for completing, reviewing, documenting specification changes, submitting for licensor approval, and providing comments for illustrative turns, sculpts, paint masters, and sample reviews.

• Work closely with brand/management teams to resolve development issues, while assuring designs meet the target cost, schedule, and brand standards.

• Participate in the entire life cycle of project development from a concept through initial ideation, refinement, prototype execution, and turn over packages to development teams.

• Champion high quality designs and products that are within target cost and QA/QC requirements.

• Collaborate with packaging design team to assure product and packaging are aligned.

• Manage People: No

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in toy design, industrial design, industrial engineering, or industry relevant field is a plus.
• 5+ years of toy or consumer product design experience (experience with dolls, fashion, or kids' products preferred).
• 1+ years of experience working with global manufacturing factories (Asia preferred).
• Exhibit interest and knowledge of the current trends/innovations as well as an understanding the competitive marketplace in the toy industry.
• Proactively observe and gain understanding of the competitive marketplace including current trends and innovation.
• Computer proficiency in Microsoft Office & G-Suite.
• Strong proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign) or other similar tools.
• Strong project management skills.
• Able to work cross functionally and reciprocally with multiple departments.
• Able to work independently or collaboratively.
• Knowledge of materials and multiple manufacturing processes.
• Knowledge of working with licensed brands.
• Exceptional visual, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Able to multitask, organize, prioritize, and manage time efficiently.
• Can easily adapt to shifting priorities, and can manage multiple priorities at one time, while also demonstrating vigilance in keeping projects moving forward and hitting deadlines.
• Effective problem solver and critical thinker; proactive in resolving issues.
• Expertise in control drawings and rendered illustration concepts.
• Able to deal effectively with diverse individuals at all organizational levels in a professional manner.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the toy/baby/costume/pets industry.
• Knowledge of 3D modeling, sculpting, and rendering (Familiar with Zbrush/Rhino/Fusion 360).
• Multilingual.

Pay

$86,400.00 - 105,420.00 / Yr.

Schedule

Monday through Thursday on-site, with an optional WFH on Fridays, up to 20 workdays fully remote each year.