Product Developer - Continuous Learning Opportunities

Team: Product Development
Classification: Exempt
Job Type: Salary, Full-time
Location: HQ - Butner, NC
Annual Salary: $110,200-121,700*
Reports to: Director of Product Development

Nugget, a direct-to-consumer play furniture brand, is looking for an experienced Industrial Designer/Product Developer to support all phases of product development at Nugget – from initial brainstorming through production and beyond! As a member of the Product Development team, you will explore and refine designs through iterative conceptualization and prototyping, working alongside teammates from a variety of backgrounds. This role will be a key interface between our suppliers and the Product Development team. You will be responsible for creating and testing clever and careful design solutions – understanding the big picture, and the details that make a difference. Our ideal candidate has a strong, demonstrated design background in both hard and soft goods, excellent prototyping skills, 3D CAD capability, and the technical aptitude to bring products to market in the kids product space.

If you have experience as an Industrial Designer/Product Developer and are excited to roll up your sleeves and problem solve like there is no tomorrow and a lot of tomorrows at the same time, and to create and make-happen alongside a creative team - we'd love for you to apply!

What is Nugget? We are an industry-leading, fun-loving furniture company (est. 2014) that seeks to bring bold play and big imaginations into everyday life at home. We design, develop, market, manufacture, sell, and ship our part-toy, part-furniture, four-piece Nuggets all from one location, with a team of ~100 Nuggeteers, in Butner, North Carolina (just outside of Durham). And we're just getting started — in both 2020 and 2021, Inc. Magazine named us the fastest-growing manufacturing company in the United States. We're proud to continue the industrial legacy of North Carolina, and to make kids furniture for growing imaginations.

ABOUT THIS ROLE:

• You'll own product development projects and collaborate with stakeholders throughout the entire product lifecycle, from definition and creation, through design, production, and next-gen improvements
• You'll lead brainstorming, problem solving, and insight gathering sessions with cross-functional teammates to explore and develop new product opportunities
• You'll research, identify, create, and apply testing standards for new and existing products and materials. Tests will cover usability, quality/consistency, durability, etc
• You'll conceive and present new product concepts to management and marketing teams
• You'll create and manage product documentation for multiple product development projects at a time: project briefs, tech packs, bill of materials, and other supporting research and development documentation
• You'll work closely with external suppliers, Nugget Supply Chain/Quality, Nugget Manufacturing/Engineering, and Nugget Marketing/Customer/Creative teams to execute Product: from design and development to production and consumer use
• You'll swiftly and frequently make rough prototypes to learn quickly
• You'll use sketches, refined prototypes, and digital 3D models to effectively test, refine, and communicate design intent of new and in-process ideas
• You'll serve as a resident expert and liaison for supplier manufacturing processes and capabilities
• You'll ensure and maintain Nugget product compliance with applicable product health/safety/consumer/environmental regulations and voluntary certifications
• You'll prepare handoff documentation for internal and external teams including Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and Engineering
• You will model and advise on trade-offs between cost, complexity, timeline, feasibility, and quality
• You'll travel domestically and internationally as needed to support projects, conduct research, contribute to Nugget's product development toolkit, etc. (~2x per year)
• You'll collaborate with external partners during the product development process to support short term development needs in research, testing, engineering, prototyping, etc

• You have 5-7 years of experience practicing Industrial Design or Product Design, including both hard and soft goods, and bringing products to market
  • Bonus: Experiences in toy and play are highly beneficial
• You have a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design or similar educational background
• You have proven commercial success designing and developing innovative consumer products from concept to manufacturing, including work with domestic and foreign manufacturing partners
• You have a strong sense of brand identity and an ability to develop a cohesive brand language across product designs
• You have experience with sewn goods, and an understanding of pattern development, various textile material characteristics, manufacturing processes, and industry standards
• You have advanced knowledge of 2D and 3D design software platforms including SOLIDWORKS, KeyShot, and Adobe Illustrator
• You have a solid understanding and ability to apply engineering fundamentals
  • Bonus: You have applied knowledge in injection molding and other related plastic manufacturing processes
• You have the ability to decipher and deploy insights from user research, as well as communicate them via storyboards and trend reports, all with a strong point of view
• You have excellent oral, written and listening communication skills, and you apply them to convey technical details in a relatable manner to a variety of audiences, and most importantly, to describe design intent and direction effectively and persuasively
• You excel at planning, organization, and prioritization, and can assess the actions, time and resources required to achieve your goals
• You can anticipate and balance the needs of multiple stakeholders, incorporating both business needs and our consumer needs when presenting solutions and making decisions
• You are excited to build strong partnerships and work collaboratively to share, gather, and utilize others' ideas and opinions throughout the product design process
• You can make sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems within a rapidly evolving company
• You enjoy creative problem solving – coming up with useful ideas and ways of thinking that are new, better, or unique, then taking those creative ideas and putting them into practice!
• You approach product development work with a "no job is too small" attitude and have a curious mind - always willing to learn and grow your imagination

Competitive Pay + Annual Company Bonus

Medical, Dental, and Vision covered at 100% for employees

PTO + Wellness, Holidays, Summer and Winter Break

401k Employer Match

Paid Parental Leave

Free Nugget + Team Discount