Sr. Industrial Designer - Luggage

As a member of the YETI Soft Goods Industrial Design Team, a successful candidate will possess a deep understanding of the YETI brand, have extensive experience designing soft goods and luggage, and have a proven history of bringing product concepts to market. The Sr. Industrial Designer- Luggage will champion industrial design efforts of new YETI Bags and Luggage products through an innovative and consumer first lens. They will lead projects with creative problem solving, technical experience within hard and softgoods, excellent communication skills, and collaboration with internal and external teammates to execute unique and progressive products for the YETI Bags category. A high level of teamwork and collaboration is paramount to the success of our organization, “No One Succeeds Alone!“ 
 

Responsibilities: 

• Lead industrial design efforts for the YETI Bags category, specifically luggage, through all phases of the design and development process. 

• Analyze and translate consumer insights into tangible YETI design solutions. 

• Develop competitive product evaluations and benchmarking. 

• Conceptualize compelling ways of providing new value and innovation for YETI users. 

• Guide design intent from initial concept through production. 

• Create initial tech pack drawings for handoff to soft goods development team and suppliers. 

• Maintain and develop brand identity via the established YETI visual design language. 

• Design, prototype, and develop new concepts in hardware for the YETI Bags category. 

• Collaborate with product creation team to ensure comprehensive design and product solutions that live up to YETI product values and customer needs. 

• Guide the research and development process for seasonal and long lead-time projects from concept to commercialization. 

• Create innovative toolbox solutions that advance product performance, manufacturing technologies, and processes. 

• Innovate, improve, and guide development of new or existing manufacturing tools and processes. 

• Document findings and collaborate with QC to create and ensure consistent product performance and repeatability standards. 

• Contribute to building the Design program through creation of global design and outdoor industry trend reports inspired by immersive experiences and/or independent research. 

• Influence design outcomes through mentoring junior staff and educating cross-functional partners. 

• Exercise judgment while working on strategic assignments that may have a long-term impact. 

• Collaborate with management to identify and pursue opportunities for innovation. 

• Work with minimal direction, seeking assistance on new or unusual situations. 

• Regularly interact with leaders up to senior leadership level. 

Qualifications and Attributes: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design or similar. 

• Minimum 8 years relevant experience in industrial design and development of commercialized consumer products, and providing design and technical engineering solutions for manufacturing. 4 of those years of experience desired to be in luggage design and development.

• Engaging storytelling ability through 2D sketching and 3D physical and virtual modeling. 

• Proficient in Solidworks, Fusion 360, or Rhino 3D CAD modeling. Advanced surfacing and assembly a plus. 

• Advanced Adobe CS skills, with an emphasis on Illustrator for tech pack creation. 

• Rapid prototyping and finishing experience. 

• Strong understanding of softgoods patterning, techniques, and common challenges. 

• Strong understanding of hardgoods modeling, manufacturing, materials selection, and techniques. 

• Experience in creating paper and/or sewn prototypes a plus. 

• Strong communication, storytelling, organization, presentation, and collaboration skills. 

• Strong creative thinking and problem-solving skills. 

• A deep understanding of the product development process. 

• Experience working with and developing products with global manufacturing partners including tier 1 factories, textile mills, hardware suppliers (buckles, trims, zippers, wheels, bumpers, frames, etc.), forming suppliers (compression, vacuum, thermoforming), etc.  

• Ability to travel internationally multiple times per year. 

• Personal interest and experience with outdoor pursuits is a plus. 

• Strong cross-functional, project management capabilities. 

• Ability to manage multiple work streams in a dynamic global environment across multiple seasons. 

• Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate requirements and work cross-functionally in a dispersed work environment. 

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