Industrial Designer/Toy Designer
KiwiCo
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See open jobs at KiwiCo.See open jobs similar to "Industrial Designer/Toy Designer" BBG Ventures.Design
Mountain View, CA, USA
Posted 6+ months ago
About Us
KiwiCo is an innovative e-commerce company that sparks kids’ creativity and curiosity through offline and online materials and inspiration. We offer kids a delightful, engaging way to explore, create, and learn. Our core offering is a subscription service. We design and deliver awesome hands-on projects to kids. We also manage an e-commerce storefront and content platform. We take great pride and ownership in the products we build and in the community of parents and kids we serve. Our office is located in Mountain View, within walking distance to the Caltrain station. Currently, we work a hybrid schedule of Tuesday and Wednesday in-office and remote work the rest of the week.
Role and Responsibilities
We’re looking for an Industrial Designer/Toy Designer to join our Product Design team and spearhead the development of compelling creative products for kids. You are an independent go-getter, with strong design intuition, interested in fulfilling our promise to delight kids and families with hands-on, educational toys and content. As a Product Designer with an industrial design background, you are responsible for ideating and concepting new products that compliment the current KiwiCo product assortment but explores new play patterns, materials and price points to appeal to a large audience. You are mechanically inclined and know how to make your concepts super fun and functional. But you also have a great eye for design and know how to make something that captures the imaginations of kids and their adults at a glance.
Ideation, brainstorming, and research of hands-on product concepts. We’re a fun, creative bunch and our products span themes across arts, crafts, science, imaginative play, and more. We love pushing the boundaries of what we can deliver to your doorstep!
Prototyping and design iteration. You must be a maker at heart. Physical prototyping is our bread and butter, a daily activity that brings life to our ideas, informs design decisions, and drives our process forward. We like to get our hands dirty, move quickly, and iterate often.
Product testing and analysis of user feedback. We hold weekly product testing sessions with kids, and the feedback we glean from these sessions deeply impacts our product direction.
Material sourcing and sampling. We work with our Sourcing and Operations teams, as well as our manufacturers to ensure that our products meet the highest quality standards. As a Product Designer, you write product specs, sample materials, work with manufacturers, and are responsible for spreadsheets to track product quality and cost, ensuring we hit company targets.
Editorial. A project is only as good as its instructions. We work closely with our Editorial team to create compelling and clear instructions sets, as well as magazine content and DIY activities.
Required Qualifications
- As a start-up celebrating creativity and development, we believe and encourage the same in our team. We seek team players with an infectious positive energy, great initiative, and a get-it-done attitude. Candidates must thrive in ambiguity and love a rapid pace.
- Passionate about kids, creativity, and early childhood development. You love kids and the power of hands-on learning and development. Creative projects are your jam, and you love bringing a spark to a child’s eye as they learn something fun and new.
- Experience: 2-5 years+ designing physical products and knowledge of industrial design. Experience with all aspects of the product development process, from conception through to a finished product. You are passionate about the design process and tirelessly pursue excellence in all aspects.
- Creative with an eye for design. You love well designed products, things that are clever, delightful, functional and aesthetically pleasing. You have a knack for identifying things that are universally fun and turning them into the next product that everyone has to have!
- Strong physical prototyping skills. You’re a maker at heart and love getting creative with your hands. You’re always bursting with crafty new ideas and can whip them up in a jiffy. Taking an idea from your head to a physical prototype and then rapidly iterating comes naturally.
- Effective problem solver, with a hands-on, “get things done” mentality. You are eager and able to solve challenges and tackle opportunities, identify potential issues and hurdles, and develop ways to get around them. You can adapt quickly to figure out innovative ways to get things done.
- Time management skills and ability to multitask. We move fast. Effective prioritization and organization to stay positive and proactive in an ambiguous environment is a must. We always have several projects on the burner, and learning to parse and prioritize is essential.
- Detail & process-oriented. We move quickly, but we bring care and thoughtfulness to everything we do. We care deeply about the details, and strive for excellence in every aspect of the product development process.
- Collaboration & communication skills. We work closely with our Operations, Sourcing, Editorial, and Marketing teams. You have exceptional communication skills that allow fluid cross-functional team discussions, projects, and collaborations. A true team player.
- Always learning. As a growing startup, we’re always faced with new and exciting challenges. We enthusiastically own our many hats, and dive into the unknown. We love to learn, grow, and push the boundaries of what’s possible.
- More about you: You're positive, motivated, dynamic, thoughtful, creative, enthusiastic and entrepreneurial with excellent judgment. You’re also a maker at heart and love to be creative and work with kids.
Desired Qualifications
- Proficient in Adobe Suite
- Background in industrial design with manufacturing experience
- Experience designing educational projects for kids.
If you’re passionate about delivering innovative, delightful, and enriching products and experiences for kids, we’d love to hear from you.
Diversity
KiwiCo is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Individuals seeking employment at KiwiCo are considered without regard to race, ethnicity, color, age, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, physical or mental disability, marital status, veteran or military status, or any other legally protected category.
For the health and safety of our employees, proof of Covid -19 vaccination will be required for all employees who will be at KiwiCo Mountain View. KiwiCo will make reasonable accommodations to this policy for sincerely held religious beliefs and medical reasons on a case-by-case basis. This will not impact the consideration of your candidacy.
This job is no longer accepting applications
See open jobs at KiwiCo.See open jobs similar to "Industrial Designer/Toy Designer" BBG Ventures.