Industrial Designer, Contract-to-Hire

San Francisco, CA - Hybrid

At IDEO, we use design to create new products, services, experiences; tangible strategies; and creative capabilities.

IDEO San Francisco is in search of a new Industrial Designer to partner with interdisciplinary teams designing innovative and human-centered physical products and services. This role will own a hands-on workstream emphasizing creative problem solving, core industrial design skills, rapid prototyping and advanced visual storytelling. The ideal hire will champion hands-on making & prototyping, and collaborate fluidly with a wide variety of design professionals from communications design to UX researchers (and everything in between).This hire will have the unique opportunity to design cutting edge products, and grow as a Design Thinking practitioner within IDEO’s diverse network of Design Directors, Partners and Business Leaders.

At IDEO, an Industrial Designer is responsible for independently executing components of highly complex client projects, showcasing advanced skills in user-centered physical product design. You will integrate form and function, while balancing user needs and technical considerations to create solutions that resonate with users and businesses alike. What makes a career at IDEO unique is our radical empathy and compassion for the user, always leading with creative confidence and collaborative rigor. You will work with world-class researchers, business designers, data scientists, and others disciplines outside of design, to push the edges of your craft, creating solutions that are as inclusive as they are transformative. 

We are especially excited to meet candidates with exceptional visual storytelling abilities, a drive to “get out from behind the screen” by prototyping in both digital and physical realms, and a grounding in design for manufacturing (DFM). This hire must be within a commutable distance of IDEO’s San Francisco studio. IDEO proudly supports flexible work.

Once here you will:

• Apply your expertise to develop compelling physical product designs and systems, balancing form, function, technical constraints and manufacturability.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, including mechanical/electrical engineers, software developers, visual and interaction designers, brand strategists, and design researchers.
• Present ideas through sketches, CAD models, renderings, and physical mock-ups to clients and team members.
• Actively contribute to and lead human-centered research to inform design strategies.
• Create prototypes at varying fidelities using tools such as 3D printing and other rapid prototyping methods to explore, test, validate design concepts, and aid research efforts.
• Drive cross-functional collaboration and demonstrate leadership over the course of 12+ week projects
• Deliver exceptional visual storytelling using an array of 2D and 3D tools and techniques, creating compelling presentations for clients.
• Explore early-stage inspiration through digital experimentation, including generative AI and other innovative tools.
• Mentor fellow designers within and across disciplines by sharing knowledge, articulating industrial design processes, and demonstrating advanced craft techniques.

Qualifications / Experience:

• 1-2+ years of experience + internships in industrial design, including end-to-end contributions to projects in consumer products, medical devices, soft goods or packaging.
• Demonstrated fluency in digital tools such as SolidWorks, Rhino, Keyshot, Blender, and Adobe Creative Suite.
• Go-to-market (GTM) experience, with the ability to meaningfully contribute to the associated industrial design workstreams within multidisciplinary teams.
• Prototyping expertise, including 3D printing and other rapid prototyping methods.
• A passion for building in 3D while actively prototyping in real time to test insights.
• Visual storytelling abilities, including strong instincts in graphic design and deck-building.
• Strong theoretical or practical understanding of and ability to collaborate on the design for manufacturing (DFM) process.
• Professional experience with one or more of the following:
• Consumer Electronics Design: complex surface design, integration of mechanical and electrical components like screens, speakers, and cameras
• Health and Medical Product Design: Usability and functionality with a focus on ergonomics and medical-specific requirements.
• Packaging Design: design of out-of-box experiences (OOBE), structural packaging design, and sustainability considerations.

• Curiosity and drive to grow in one or more edge skills:
• Strategy, Brand, Digital Interaction Design & Needfinding frameworks.
• Digital Interaction Design.
• Coding, Hacking, Software Development.
• AI-based Visualization Tools.
• Mechanical Engineering.

Salary & Benefits:

IDEO is committed to paying its employees equitably, regardless of gender identity or race/ethnicity/cultural identity. We support the holistic well-being of our community by providing a thoughtfully designed benefits package.
The salary range for this role is $70,000 - $80,000 USD. This range is influenced by several factors, including skills, experience, and geographic location. Final offers may vary based on these considerations.

Health Benefits: Vision, Dental, Healthcare

In addition to base compensation + Health Benefits, IDEO offers a rich benefits package including the following when officially a FTE:

Financial Benefits: 401K matching
Family & Caregiving: Parental Leave, Adoption Assistance, Fertility Assistance, Transgender Medical Assistance, Breastmilk shipment, Back-up/Dependent Care, Pet Insurance
Other Benefits: Flexible Work, Flexible Time Off, Paid Holidays, Annual Education Stipend, Home Office Stipend

Commitment to Diversity

At IDEO, we are committed to the work of advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within our organization and in the world. Our purpose of having disproportionate, world-changing impact through design is directly connected to our ability to bring many different perspectives to the table. This applies to our candidates, the people we hire, the clients and customers we serve, and the communities we learn from in our research.

As a human-centered organization, we are committed to working with and designing for people of every race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, physical ability or attribute, religion, national origin, or political belief. We recognize that this commitment requires ongoing work and sustained attention, as well as adaptation to new insights and best practices.