Product Development Engineer

Zero Surplus - Sales Industry Insight & Talent Strategy; Harlow; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Zero Surplus is helping a leading design-led luxury interiors brand recruit an Industrial Designer / Design Engineer for their R&D team in the UK. You will own the engineering of your products from concept handover through to production-ready status, ensuring compliance with IEC/UL standards for global markets.

The role blends prototyping, drawings, tests and supplier liaison to deliver robust, manufacturable designs.

Qualifications

• Two years or more as a product design or development engineer in a DFM environment.
• SolidWorks proficiency.
• Experience designing for extrusion, die casting, injection moulding, pressing, deep draw pressing, fabrication, blown glass or pressed glass.
• Understanding of product testing and why it matters.
• Creative engineering flair and a genuine interest in how things are made.
• Comfortable in a team and capable of giving/receiving feedback.
• Professional approach to deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Own engineering of your products from concept handover to tool proof sample approval.
• Create prototypes and 3D printed models; develop drawings and specifications for quotation and manufacture.
• Conduct in-house testing and liaise with external test labs for certification.
• Prepare sample evaluation reports back to factories and manage NPI timeline.
• Collaborate with packaging, quality and technical teams; liaise with China office suppliers.
• Travel for factory visits where applicable; focus on design for manufacture and cost targets.

Skills

Product design

Development engineering

DFM experience

Creative engineering flair

Teamwork

Deadline-driven

Tools

SolidWorks

Job description

We're working with a leading design-led brand in the luxury interiors sector to find a Industrial Designer / Design Engineerfor 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.