REQUIRED MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a relevant design or engineering field
• Background in Industrial Design or Engineering with minimum 2 years relevant industry experience
• Demonstrable experience in early product development
• Demonstrated project management experience - industry, internship placement, or university related.
• Proven experience producing visual and technical demonstrators to exhibit new concepts in a form to be evaluated by others.
• Proven competence in 2D and 3D design software (e.g. Adobe Creative Suite and SolidWorks or similar)

PREFERRED/DESIRED SKILLS OR EXPERIENCES:

• Skilled in a variety of rapid prototyping techniques including 3D printing
• Experience with software development
• Experience with electronics (design, prototyping)
• Specific experience with PPE and/or body-worn-devices

PURPOSE OF POSITION:

This position is responsible for contributing to the design and development of new products from ideation to preproduction, generating and evaluating concepts at an elevated pace. They sit within the Front End of Innovation (FEI) and Design team, which effectively serves as an in-house design consultancy, delivering prototypes and concept demonstrators to be evaluated internally and externally (e.g. with suppliers, customers).
The FEI and Design team oversees a hopper of ideas for new products and product enhancements, taking in ideas from various internal and external sources as well as generating new ideas themselves, then estimating the resources and cost to realize these ideas at various stages, and working with Product Category Management and Engineering (and aligned with the strategic initiatives of the business) to prioritize and navigate the list of ideas.
Selected designs are delivered in “handover packets” to engineering teams, from which point they progress through the NPI process. These packets may be comprised of sketches, technical drawings, 3D models, physical prototypes, specifications, and estimated Bill of Materials that then allow the engineering teams to take the designs through validation and manufacturing stages. Additional information may be provided in the packets including research findings, design strategy, branding/UX design, test results, and anticipated Design for Manufacturing approach (potentially including sourcing and logistics). The degree to which a particular concept is developed towards manufacturing readiness will vary between projects. However, the primary objective of this role is to rapidly generate numerous concepts and delegate the tasks of detailed engineering refinement, supply chain setup, and final validation to the team that receives the handover packets. The FEI and Design team is also focused on understanding the IP landscape around a given project, with a goal of generating valuable IP assets.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND/OR FUNCTIONS:

• Develop design concepts that meet the needs of users, are aesthetically pleasing, and are feasible to manufacture.
• Assist the FEI team with creating prototypes of new products and testing them for usability and performance.
• Work with manufacturing engineers to ensure designs are feasible for manufacturing processes and ensure that products can be produced efficiently and cost-effectively.
• Stay up to date on the latest trends in industrial design and manufacturing.
• Work with Product Category team to conduct research and analysis, reviewing and analyzing concept demonstrators.
• Refine and act on customer input/VOC with the FEI Design, Engineering and Product Managers.
• Collaborate in managing the “hopper” of ideas and manage progress through selected designs based on collective priority setting (with leadership and colleagues)
• Develop and implement new technology for protective headwear products.
• Liaise with Product Category, Marketing, and Customer Service on User Experience development (e.g. packaging, naming, sizing, color, finishes)
• Develop, own, and sign-off on Industrial Design Language. Deliver visual demonstrators.
• Work with wider FEI team to provide bid support for products not fully aligned with other technology units.