Lead Industrial Designer

RealTruck, Inc. • Full-time • Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States • 3d ago

Position Summary

The Lead Industrial Designer will be responsible for leading entry to senior-level Industrial Design team members in support of RealTruck’s extensive product roadmap, lifestyle, and branding needs. This role will be highly collaborative with Engineering, Product Management, and Marketing covering the development of products in Truck, Jeep, and Off-Road accessories. This position will help define industrial design of all new products within a designated category and strengthen the brands presence within the category with innovative, feature rich design.

Core Functions

Drive the communication of ideas work within a team effectively using a combination of sketching, CAD visualization, 3D models and working prototypes to evaluate potential solutions.
Lead other Designers in the contribution of the development of a design language that solidifies the RealTruck brand for the category.
Research design related areas of influence such as trend, color, materials, processes, software, and AI aided design practices.
Develop designs through sketching, CAD/surfacing, high-quality renderings, mock-ups, and 3D printed models.
Communicate the design intent through visual storytelling to gain acceptance by project teams.
Explore concept generation through ideation, competitive assessments, and identification of unmet user needs.
Participate in brainstorming and concept-generation events to establish opportunities to explore and develop.
Manage several projects concurrently while ensuring communication flow to design lead and stakeholders is maintained.
Create the materials required to convey the design direction to management or cross-functional partners through renderings, and models.
Develop design expertise within the category, seeking to gain in-depth knowledge of the user, the competition, and our production capabilities to drive the development of industry leading design for the category.
Contribute to the identification of new ideas, products and/or features that improve customer satisfaction, seek opportunities to reduce costs and keep our product line at the forefront of our industry.
Hold a creative mindset that can aid in making design decisions in support of the user and the brand/design vision.
Utilize consumer insights and functional needs to provide conceptualization/visualization that enhances new product concepts enabling consumer-centric and winning products for the category.
Maintain awareness and solid understanding of existing products and competitive products within the industry.
Contribute to and support the Company Growth Plan and its goal to ‘Lead the industry through innovation and superior product offering’ by accomplishing the following:
Aid in building an inspired product pipeline for the category.
Introduce category specific consumer-driven innovations year over year.
Help to define product platforms that allow for differentiation and step-up strategies.
Lead as a key contributor that supports targeted incremental revenue growth via new product introduction.
Lead other designers within a category, working in close collaboration with Engineering, R&D, Category Management teams to deliver insight driven, cohesive approach to the design of our products.
Participate in creative workshops and aid in leading design activities that result in innovative design solutions.
Deliver compelling design, meeting the criteria outlined, that supports the desired brand identity and design language.
Coach, mentor, and guide, lower-level designers, sharing knowledge and developing their level of contribution to design projects.
Educate others on the value and contribution of industrial design.
Seek out opportunities to relay the design vision and strategy.

Qualifications & Requirements

Education and Experience

Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design required.
6+ years of experience as an Industrial Designer of consumer products required.

Skills, Abilities, And Knowledge

Knowledge of CAD Modeling – Solidworks.
Knowledge of Rendering Software – Keyshot.
Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, Photoshop, Illustrator.
Skilled in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook); ability to prepare professional PowerPoint presentations.
Strong interpersonal skills that bring a positive and collaborative working relationship at all levels.
Excellent communication (verbal/written) and presentation skills.
Ability to write, speak and comprehend English.
Proven leadership skills that inspire and motivate team members and colleagues.
Strong understanding of branding and the development of a design strategy that aligns with the brand.
Naturally curious, passionate and relentlessly driven to find better solutions to solve for users’ needs.
Ability to dive in, learn, analyze, and create strategy out of ambiguity.

Travel

Occasional domestic travel may be required; less than 10%.

COMPETENCIES

Synthesizes complex or diverse information; Collects and researches data; Uses intuition and experience to complement data; Designs workflows and procedures.
Generates creative solutions; Translates concepts and information into images; Uses feedback to modify designs; Applies design principles; Demonstrates attention to detail.
Displays original thinking and creativity; Meets challenges with resourcefulness; Generates suggestions for improving work; Develops innovative approaches and ideas.
Focuses on solving conflict, not blaming; Maintains confidentiality; Listens to others without interrupting; Keeps emotions under control; Remains open to others' ideas and tries new things.
Approaches others in a tactful manner; Reacts well under pressure; Treats others with respect and consideration regardless of their status or position; Accepts responsibility for own actions; Follows through on commitments.
Balances team and individual responsibilities; Exhibits objectivity and openness to other views; Gives and welcomes feedback; Contributes to building a positive team spirit; Puts success of team above own interests; Supports everyone’s efforts to succeed.
Speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations; listens and gets clarification; Responds well to questions; Demonstrates group presentation skills; Participates in meetings.
Writes clearly and informatively; Edits work for spelling and grammar; Varies writing style to meet needs; Presents numerical data effectively; Able to read and interpret written information.

Supervisor Responsibilities

Lead: working team member who coordinates, supports, trains, and is a knowledge resource for other team members. No direct reports or supervisory responsibility.

Physical Requirements

This position is subject to Sedentary Work: Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects. Sedentary work involved sitting most of the time. Walking and standing are required only occasionally.

Physical Activities

This position is subject to the following physical activities: standing, walking, talking, and hearing.

Visual Acuity

The worker is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; expansive reading; visual inspection involving small defects, small parts and/or operation of machines (including inspection); using measurement devices; and/or assembly of fabrication of parts at distances close to the eyes.

Working Conditions