You want to love what you do and love where you work. Gentex gives you the best of both worlds. A global technology company headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan, Gentex is an 8-time winner of the Top Workplaces in Michigan.
Position Overview
A Senior Industrial Designer oversees all stages of the Human Centered Design (HCD) process. They drive strategic design initiatives, routinely collaborate with Cross-Functional Teams (UI/UX Design, UX Research, Advanced Engineering & Tech, Product Platform Managers, Marketing, etc.) to bring great products to market successfully and mentor associate and staff Industrial Designers. This role requires strong design, collaboration and leadership skills, and a deep understanding of the HCD and Product Development Processes.
This role will be working onsite at a Gentex facility. There is no remote or hybrid work at this time.
What You’ll Do
- Design world class products, experiences and services through demonstrable mastery of all phases of Human Centered Design (HCD) and the core Industrial Design skills of inquiry, analysis, creativity, mega and macro market trend awareness, visualization, CMF, ME, material science, manufacturing, and High-Performance Collaboration.
- Demonstrate deep understanding of a problem/opportunity and constraints.
- Effectively analyze findings and translate insights into action via illustrations/CAD/mock-ups to quickly drive broad understanding, promote rapid iteration, learning and decision making within a Cross-Functional Team.
- Lead the creation of compelling and original new Products and Customer Experiences that will be noticed (desirability/beauty), appreciated (utility/usability), and reinforce brand value. Understand and advocate for the basic design principle that less is more/simpler is better.
- Provide our customers with exceptional Products, Services and Experiences by relentlessly striving to understand the values and needs of the target Customer(s), promote those values and satisfy those needs.
- Use research findings, rationale (logical and emotive), professional intuition and compelling storytelling techniques to align the thinking and conviction within a Cross-Functional Team toward a common goal of great products with uniquely valuable User Experiences that resonate with the target Customer(s).
- Be responsible for all A-Surfaces and User Experiences and working closely with the UI/UX Team, UX Research Team, Product Platform Managers, and Advanced Engineering Team to codevelop all B-Surface and technology packaging with an emphasis on manufacturability and quality.
- Lead Core, Adjacent and Breakthrough design initiatives.
- Manage a range of large, medium and small sized projects effectively.
- Oversee the entire HCD process, including Research (Discovery and Analysis) to Delivery (Design Creation and Refinement).
- Provide appropriate leadership when a project moves from HCD into Product Development (production engineering, prototyping, testing, refinement and validation).
- Other duties as assigned.
How You’ll Do It
- Promoting and maintaining high standards of work, looking for ways to improve products and services, while encouraging coworkers to do so as well.
- Works with staff to strengthen the team. Leading by example and going beyond the expected to ensure the success of all involved.
- Making sense of complex, high quantity and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
- Defining a problem, determining the cause, identifying, prioritizing and selecting alternatives for a solution, and implementing a solution.
- Taking on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
- Ensuring information is complete and accurate, following up with others to ensure that agreements and commitments have been fulfilled.
- Finding effective solutions by taking a holistic, abstract, or theoretical perspective.
- Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
- Operating effectively, even when things are not certain or the way forward is not clear.
- Maintaining a high level of honesty, integrity, and confidentiality with respect to company matters.
- Complying with all Company policies and procedures, safety regulations, company safety policies and safely perform all duties, including but not limited to, promoting a safe workplace.
What To Bring
- Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from a leading institution.
- 6-10 years of industry experience as an Industrial Designer.
- Several years of experience designing sophisticated premium products for the consumer electronics market (B2C).
- Experience thriving within fast paced, high performance Cross-Functional Teams focused on creating exceptional Products with extraordinary Customer Experiences.
- Proficiency with standard Industrial Design Tools (e.g. a whiteboard, CATIA, Adobe CS, Keyshot, Procreate (or other digital sketch tool) and the ability to quickly build mock-ups/models as needed.
- Excellent collaboration and communication skills (verbal, written, visual) with the ability to manage cross-functional relationships.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.
What Will Help
- Master’s degree in Industrial Design from a leading institution.
- The proven ability to thrive and produce great work at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts.
- 2-4 years of experience in automotive design and/or premium audio.
- Ability to design sophisticated A-Surfaces in CATIA.
- Ability to travel as business needs requires. Primarily domestic.
- Nimble mindset with the ability to quickly imagine multiple (far better) futures grounded in practical reality.
- Wholehearted belief in the power of a small, high-performance team of aligned values to transform a product, category, brand, organization and the steadfast composure to see it through.
Gentex is an equal opportunity employer
Gentex extends equal employment opportunities to qualified applicants and employees regardless of an individual’s race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), disability, marital status, military service, height, weight, genetic information, or any other reason protected by law.
Assistance
Gentex is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. For accommodation requests, email us at recruiting@gentex.com. Gentex will not discriminate against any qualified individual who can perform the essential functions of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation.
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