Industrial Designer / Designer Engineer - DFM

Zero Surplus; Harlow; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Zero Surplus is seeking an Industrial Designer for Lighting within their UK R&D team. You will own product engineering from concept handover to production readiness, focusing on design for manufacture, prototyping, and testing to meet IEC/UL standards across global markets.

This role involves collaboration with suppliers, QA, and packaging teams, with potential overseas travel. You will drive the NPI timeline, conduct engineering and compliance reviews, and ensure on‑time launches while

Qualifications

• Two years or more as a product design or development engineer in a DFM environment.
• SolidWorks proficiency.
• Experience designing for processes such as extrusion, die casting, injection moulding, pressing, deep draw pressing, fabrication, blown glass or pressed glass.
• An understanding of product testing and why it matters.
• Creative engineering flair and a genuine interest in how things are made.
• Comfortable in a team, able to give and take constructive feedback.
• A professional approach to deadlines.
• Useful: lighting experience or knowledge of relevant standards.
• BIM file creation, photometric data or Change Order processes.

Responsibilities

• Own the engineering of your products from concept handover through to Tool Proof Sample approval.
• Create prototypes, 3D models, drawings and specifications for quotation and manufacture.
• Lead in‑house testing and coordinate external labs for certification.
• Manage the NPI timeline and reviews to meet seasonal launch dates.
• Collaborate with suppliers, packaging, quality, and technical teams; travel to overseas manufacturers as needed.

Skills

Product design

SolidWorks

DFM experience

Product testing

Creative engineering

Team player

Deadline driven

Tools

SolidWorks

Job description

Industrial Designer - Lighting

We’re working with a leading design-led brand in the luxury interiors sector to find an Industrial Designer/Product Development Engineer for their R&D team. A British business founded in the late 1990s, they now sell in over 90 countries with subsidiaries in the US and Asia. Everything they make is designed in house and manufactured through a global supply chain, and this is the role that takes a product from approved concept to something that can actually be built.

The Role

Reporting to the Internal Product Development Leader, you’ll own the engineering of your own products from concept handover through to Tool Proof Sample approval, working to IEC and UL standards for the UK, EU, MEA, APAC and North American markets.

In practice that covers prototyping and 3D printed models, engineering drawings and specifications for quotation and manufacture, in‑house testing, liaison with external test labs for certification, and sample evaluation reports back to the factories. You’ll also own the NPI timeline for your products, calling the concept handover, engineering and compliance reviews, and flagging anything that threatens the seasonal launch dates.

You’ll work closely with suppliers, the packaging, quality and technical teams, and the supplier liaison managers in the China office. There’s scope to visit manufacturers overseas as part of the role.

This is design for manufacture rather than concept design. The creative thinking goes into solving how something gets made to a very high standard, at the right cost, within a launch deadline. If you want to be the person sketching the product in the first place, this isn’t that job.

Compliance is also a real part of the week, not a footnote. IEC, UL and the various market directives sit behind every decision you make, so you need to be comfortable working within them rather than seeing them as an obstacle.

What We’re Looking For

• Two years or more as a product design or development engineer in a DFM environment
• SolidWorks
• Experience designing for specific processes such as extrusion, die casting, injection moulding, pressing, deep draw pressing, fabrication, blown glass or pressed glass
• An understanding of product testing and why it matters
• Creative engineering flair and a genuine interest in how things are made
• Comfortable in a team, able to give and take constructive feedback
• A professional approach to deadlines

Also useful, though not essential:

• Experience in lighting, or knowledge of the relevant standards
• BIM file creation, photometric data or Change Order processes

Why This One

• Full ownership of your own products from concept through to production-ready
• Real variety of materials and processes across a premium product range
• Direct contact with manufacturers, including overseas travel
• A design-led business where quality is taken seriously at every level

Full-time, UK-based, competitive salary and benefits

Due to the location of the offices, this position will suit those commuting from areas such as Bishops Stortford, Harlow, Cambridge, St Albans, Chelmsford, Cheshunt, Hertford, Enfield, London, Brentwood, Basildon, Colchester, Braintree and Welwyn Garden City.