Product Design Lead (P/T Contract)

Are you curious & creative? Do you have a passion for sustainable products? Does the idea of creating a waste-free future excite you? If so, we're looking for you!

You:

• Have pulled recyclables out of the trash
• Figure out how to fix it instead of who is to blame
• Are excited about being a part of empowered teams
• Thrive in the grey, bravely finding your way through unknowns
• Appreciate a good debate even with your boss
• Are really interested in electric vehicles

We:

• Work to protect and restore the environment
• Aren't afraid to make mistakes as long as we learn
• Are committed to creating team dynamics that create empowerment vs. entitlement
• Care more about your values and intelligence than your experience
• Believe we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children

Our Core Values:

• Embrace COURAGE by taking action despite uncertainty
• Commit to a culture that builds a strong COMMUNITY
• Live with Awareness and CONSCIOUSNESS of our choices
• Foster CREATIVITY to inspire fresh innovation

The Opportunity:

As our Product Design Leadd, you will be responsible for developing a cohesive Lomi product line, providing design insights & direction as we identify key customer needs within the Smart Waste category. In this contractor role (up to 20 hrs/week), you will work closely with our product development team & cross-department stakeholders to develop new products from initial concept, through iterative development, to multi-channel launch. You will work in a fast-paced, demanding, and fun environment, on a mission to divert billions of pounds of waste from the global waste stream.

The Responsibilities:

• Communicate new product concepts & design direction based on research & analysis with digital sketches & renders. Monitor alignment across departments & with sourcing/manufacturing partners to ensure quality & efficient execution.
• Partner with our Growth, CX & UX departments to identify customer needs. Develop clear feature requirements & documentation to guide execution.
• Work collaboratively with product & marketing leadership to build out the Lomi Smart Waste category. Grow the Lomi brand through new product development, including new Lomi appliances, accessories & consumables.
• Provide direction on aesthetics & optimize storytelling across all Lomi assets. Collaborate with marketing on pitch materials, displays, brochures, etc. to support fast growth across strategic sales channels.
• Collaborate with our mobile dev team where physical product development intersects with digital experience to ensure seamless integration & high value to customers.
• Forecast industry trends and standards as they relate to relevant products and design. Explore new products, materials, and production technologies, and advocate for how they could be applied to the benefit of our mission.
• Research & evaluate market trends, target personas, materials and manufacturing methods to lead innovation.
• Partner with marketing on packaging direction for all products, with a focus on structural design, materials selection & UX. Ensure cohesive & compelling branding & optimize for placement across diverse sales channels.
• Develop designs into CADs with mechanical solutions for prototyping. Work with a CAD engineer to deliver all DFM (Design for manufacturing) deliverables (BOM, 2D drawings, 3D CAD files, assembly instructions, CMF mapping) for our product development team.
• Provide product direction throughout the development process, including guidance on color/material selection, shape language, user interface, UX.

Qualifications:

• Strong visual communication skills - ability to clearly express ideas visually, as well as verbally
• Software fluency - must have advanced skills in:
• Experience with overseas manufacturing
• Minimalistic design approach with outstanding attention to detail, composition, proportions and quality
• Experience prototyping with 3D printing is a nice to have
• Ability to independently roll out new products from ideation and research to prototyping, detailed design packages, CADs and spec sheets
• Passion and curiosity for all things tech is a plus, specifically mobile connected appliances
• Strong ability to bring together function, form, texture, color, materials and production methods
• 10+ years of experience as a Product / Industrial designer; consumer goods experience is a plus
• UX led design. Sensitivity to human experiences and product use scenarios
• Accustomed to working in a fast‐paced, dynamic, deadline-oriented environment
• 'Get it done' mentality - You deliver high quality on time, and come with solutions rather than problems

– 3D CAD software (Solidworks or similar)

– Adobe Creative Suite (Premier Pro, Photoshop, Illustrator)

Please provide a link to your portfolio in your application.

Commitment to Diversity

Pela is committed to cultivating and preserving a company culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This means we seek out people with a diversity of opinions and strengths that will be complementary to our existing organization. We know that we will grow and learn better with a diverse team. When recruiting new members of our team, we welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of your education, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, age, religion, and sexual orientation.