The Role
Lead end-to-end industrial design for lunar hardware, collaborating with engineering and marketing to translate technical constraints into cohesive product form. Own CMF strategy, rapid prototyping, and visualization using Blender, Adobe Creative Suite, and Alias. Ensure designs meet manufacturing, mass, thermal, and structural constraints while preserving brand identity across products.
Summary Generated by Built In
Astrolab is The Lunar Operations Company. We design and build the systems and hardware the lunar economy will come to depend on — rovers, power, and data networks for sustained operations on the Moon. We are focused on the problems that must be solved before the next chapter of human exploration can scale. The Moon does not forgive untested assumptions. The people who work here know that, and they wouldn't have it any other way.
As an Industrial Designer at Astrolab, you will be the creative anchor of our product vision. At Astrolab, our design function operates within a studio model embedded inside the Marketing organization. We believe that design sits at the intersection of engineering and brand; it is the visual language that translates our technical DNA into a consistent identity that defines a market. You will work day-to-day with our Fractional Chief Creative Designer (a world-class automotive ID designer) and our Head of Marketing, while collaborating deeply with engineering to ensure that the rovers and systems we build perform flawlessly and look unmistakably like Astrolab.
As an Industrial Designer at Astrolab, you will be the creative anchor of our product vision. At Astrolab, our design function operates within a studio model embedded inside the Marketing organization. We believe that design sits at the intersection of engineering and brand; it is the visual language that translates our technical DNA into a consistent identity that defines a market. You will work day-to-day with our Fractional Chief Creative Designer (a world-class automotive ID designer) and our Head of Marketing, while collaborating deeply with engineering to ensure that the rovers and systems we build perform flawlessly and look unmistakably like Astrolab.
In this role, you are not just making things look good; you are making design decisions that impact physical products bound for the lunar surface. You will bring a deep understanding of form, function, and constraint-driven design, ensuring our hardware reflects our brand identity without compromising its mission-critical engineering.
What you'll do:
Product Design & Development
- End-to-End Design: Lead the industrial design process from initial concept sketches to final production-ready forms, ensuring the physical product embodies the Astrolab brand
- Constraint-Driven Creativity: Collaborate directly with aerospace and mechanical engineers to navigate the extreme constraints of lunar operations (thermal, structural, mass) while maintaining design integrity
- CMF Strategy: Own the Color, Materials, and Finish (CMF) strategy, understanding how materials behave in space and how they translate into a cohesive visual language
Studio Model Collaboration
- Cross-Functional Integration: Operate at the intersection of marketing and engineering, acting as the translator between technical requirements and brand identity
- Creative Partnership: Work closely with the Fractional Chief Creative Designer to establish and refine the overarching design language for all Astrolab hardware
- Brand Stewardship: Ensure that every physical touchpoint, from the rover chassis to the smallest payload interface, feels intentionally designed and distinctly Astrolab
Visualization & Communication
- Design Communication: Use Blender, Adobe Creative Suite, and Alias to communicate design intent clearly to both technical (engineering) and non-technical (leadership, investors) audiences
- Iterative Prototyping: Rapidly iterate on forms and concepts based on engineering feedback, testing, and brand alignment
What you'll bring:
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in industrial design, transportation design, product design, or a related field
- Experience taking physical products or hardware from concept through production
- Experience using Blender and Adobe Creative Suite, with working knowledge of Alias; Class A modeling experience is a plus
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience applying Color, Materials, and Finish (CMF) principles to physical products or hardware
- Portfolio demonstrating product design work, including complex design challenges and design constraints
- Experience in transportation, robotics, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, or a related industry
- Experience working in a studio environment or at the intersection of brand, product design, and engineering
- Experience communicating technical or complex design concepts to cross-functional teams and stakeholders
- Experience designing hardware for extreme environments or regulated industries
- Experience developing designs that account for manufacturing requirements, material constraints, environmental conditions, and product performance
Benefits and Perks
- Join a team of best-in-class engineers building the foundation of planetary surface exploration
- Equity ownership in the company
- Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health support
- 401(k) plan with company match
- Flexible PTO and parental leave
- Home office set up reimbursement
- Weekly lunch stipend, plus complimentary snacks and beverages on-site
- Once a month social hour on-site with food and drinks
About
Having a strong, inclusive, and inspired team is essential to accomplishing our bold mission. Employees are our biggest asset, and we are deeply committed to them and our values. At Astrolab we…Demonstrate and inspire trust. Interactions are direct, honest, and respectful. We are fair and transparent with what we do and why.Thrive in balance. Balance gives us perspective and keeps us motivated and inspired. We commit to rewarding work and a fulfilling personal life. Seek diverse perspectives. We ask questions, engage in productive debate and offer alternatives to ensure our solutions and products are robust and a reflection of our collective best.Move with purpose. Quality and reliability are accomplished through efficient ideation and iteration. We act with a sense of urgency and deliver what we promise, always with the big picture in mind.Make an impact. We intentionally move our community and industry into the future through our work, practices, and actions.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in industrial design, transportation design, product design, or related field
- Experience taking physical products or hardware from concept through production
- Experience using Blender
- Experience using Adobe Creative Suite
- Working knowledge of Alias
- Class A modeling experience
- Experience applying Color, Materials, and Finish (CMF) principles
- Portfolio demonstrating product design work, including complex design challenges
- Experience in transportation, robotics, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, or related industry
- Experience working in a studio environment at the intersection of brand, product design, and engineering
- Experience communicating technical or complex design concepts to cross-functional teams and stakeholders
- Experience designing hardware for extreme environments or regulated industries
- Experience developing designs that account for manufacturing requirements, material constraints, environmental conditions, and product performance
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The Company
What We Do
Astrolab designs and develops robotic mobility systems for planetary exploration, deploying surface mobility and infrastructure to enable sustained human and commercial operations on the Moon and Mars.
