New Product Design Lead (Industrial Designer) – Consumer Goods & Lifestyle Products Full Time NEW

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are building a design-led product innovation engine and are looking for an Industrial Designer who can transform consumer insight briefs into beautifully designed, manufacturable products. This is a lead role — you will own the end-to-end physical design of new products, from the first concept sketch all the way through to a production-ready specification.

You will work closely with the Category Manager, who brings deep consumer and market intelligence — the “what and why”. Your job is to deliver the “how it looks, feels, and works”. This is not a graphic design or digital role. We need someone who has held, tested, and shipped real physical products.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Product Concept & Design

• Receive consumer and category briefs and independently generate multiple product design concepts
• Lead industrial design of new products — defining form, structure, ergonomics, materials, surface finish, and user interaction
• Translate abstract consumer needs and emotional language into concrete, functional design directions
• Create detailed sketches, mood boards, CAD models, and rendered visualisations to communicate concepts to cross-functional stakeholders

Packaging Structure Design

• Own structural packaging design — form factor, closure mechanisms, dispensing systems, and material selection
• Work with packaging engineers and vendors to develop prototypes and finalise production-ready dielines
• Balance aesthetics, functionality, sustainability, and cost in every packaging decision
• Ensure pack designs are shelf-ready, retailer-compliant, and consumer-intuitive

Prototyping & Iteration

• Build rapid prototypes (physical and digital) to test form, usability, and consumer appeal
• Conduct internal and consumer-facing prototype testing; iterate fast based on feedback
• Drive multiple design rounds simultaneously across different product lines

Vendor & Manufacturing Coordination

• Collaborate directly with manufacturers, tooling vendors, and packaging suppliers to ensure designs are production-feasible
• Manage tooling development timelines, sample review cycles, and pre-production sign-offs
• Negotiate material and tooling costs without compromising design intent
• Maintain a reliable vendor network for rapid prototyping and production scale-up

Documentation & Standards

• Create and maintain comprehensive design documentation — spec sheets, dielines, material callouts, tolerances, and BOM inputs
• Establish and own the design-to-prototype process, including stage gates and review checkpoints
• Build a centralised design library and asset repository for the team

Team & Collaboration

• Work as the design bridge between the Category Manager (insights/briefs), Brand Manager (aesthetics/identity), and Supply Chain (feasibility/cost)
• Build and eventually manage a small in-house design team as the company scales
• Present design work clearly and confidently to founders and senior leadership

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Must-Have

• 5 – 9 years of hands-on industrial design experience
• A strong portfolio of physical products taken from brief to shelf — portfolio submission is mandatory for consideration
• Proficiency in CAD tools: SolidWorks, Rhino, Fusion 360, or equivalent
• Deep understanding of materials, manufacturing processes (injection moulding, thermoforming, blow moulding, etc.), and packaging engineering
• Ability to independently read a consumer insight brief and convert it into design concepts without heavy hand-holding
• Experience managing vendor and tooling relationships end-to-end
• Strong visual communication skills — sketching, rendering, and presenting to non-design audiences
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with lean resources and shifting priorities

Good to Have

• Experience in food & beverage, beauty, personal care, or home lifestyle categories
• Worked on sustainable, eco-friendly, or refillable packaging structures
• Prior experience in a D2C brand or early-stage startup
• Exposure to consumer research or usability testing processes
• Familiarity with Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop) for design communication