Industrial Design Manager

Jool Baby; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and benefits

Opportunity to lead Jool Baby growth

Job summary

Jool Baby in New York is seeking an experienced Industrial Design Manager to lead the design and development of juvenile products for children and families. This hands-on leadership role blends design, product development, and strategy, guiding concepts from ideation to tooling, testing, and launch.

The ideal candidate has deep juvenile product knowledge, a strong portfolio of market-ready products, and proven team leadership across cross-functional teams including engineering, compliance, and

Qualifications

• 7+ years of industrial/product design experience and 3+ years in management.
• Significant experience with juvenile products, toys, baby/kids products, home gear, or related consumer categories.
• Strong portfolio showing products brought to market.
• Experience developing product families or platforms, not just individual products.
• Understanding of materials, manufacturing processes, tooling, finishes, and cost.
• Experience taking products through full development cycle, including overseas manufacturing.
• Knowledge of juvenile product safety, testing, compliance, and regulatory requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of designers from ideation through production and launch.
• Mentor and provide creative direction to designers.
• Identify opportunities for new products, platforms, and adjacent categories.
• Translate insights and trends into compelling product concepts.
• Develop cohesive product families and design languages.
• Balance aesthetics with safety, cost, manufacturability and speed to market.
• Collaborate with engineering, compliance, manufacturing and marketing.

Skills

Industrial design leadership

Product development leadership

Juvenile products knowledge

Team mentoring

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Mandarin (bonus)

Tools

SolidWorks

Rhino

Fusion 360

KeyShot

Adobe Creative Suite

Job description

POSITION OVERVIEW

We are seeking an experienced and highly creative Industrial Design Manager to lead the design and product development of innovative products for children and families.

This is a hands‑on management role that combines industrial design, product development, and strategic product thinking. The ideal candidate will have significant experience developing juvenile products, toys, baby/kids products, home gear, or related consumer products, and a strong understanding of what makes products successful with both children and the parents who purchase them.

The successful candidate will help shape the direction of our product portfolio, identify opportunities for innovation and growth, and develop products that are highly differentiated in the marketplace. A key part of the role will be identifying opportunities to expand into new categories and develop product lines that can create meaningful growth for the business.

The role will collaborate closely with the Industrial Design, Engineering, Compliance, Manufacturing, and Marketing teams, taking products from early concept and design development through engineering, tooling, testing, production, and launch.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Industrial Design & Product Innovation

• Lead a team of designers in the design and product development process from early concepts and ideation through production.
• Manage, mentor and provide creative direction to a team of designers.
• Develop innovative, differentiated products that address real needs for children, parents, and families.
• Identify opportunities for new products, product platforms, and adjacent categories that can expand the business and strengthen the brand.
• Translate consumer insights, market trends, competitive intelligence, and emerging technologies into compelling product concepts.
• Develop cohesive product families and design languages that create a strong, recognizable brand presence.
• Balance creativity and innovation with functionality, usability, safety, cost, manufacturability, and speed to market.
• Help establish a product vision that can support a meaningful new category or line of products.

Juvenile Product Expertise

• Bring a deep understanding of designing products for babies, toddlers, children, parents, and caregivers.
• Understand the unique relationship between the child as the user and the parent/caregiver as the purchaser and decision‑maker.
• Apply knowledge of ergonomics, child development, play, safety, durability, usability, and parent convenience to product design.
• Understand the safety, testing, regulatory, and compliance considerations associated with juvenile products.
• Bring a strong understanding of the juvenile/toy marketplace, consumer expectations, retail environment, and competitive landscape.
• Stay current with emerging trends in parenting, children's products, home, play, materials, and manufacturing.

Product Development & Execution

• Own the product development process from concept through engineering, prototyping, tooling, testing, production, and launch.
• Develop and communicate concepts through sketching, CAD, renderings, prototypes, models, and presentations.
• Work closely with Engineering to ensure designs are functional, manufacturable, durable, and cost‑effective.
• Partner with the Compliance team to ensure products meet applicable safety and regulatory requirements.
• Collaborate with overseas manufacturing partners throughout development, tooling, sampling, production, and commercialization.
• Travel internationally as needed to support product development, factory reviews, prototyping, tooling, and production.
• Make informed design and development decisions when balancing aesthetics, functionality, safety, cost, tooling, quality, and manufacturing requirements.
• Maintain design intent and product quality throughout the development and production process.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Collaborate closely with the Industrial Design, Engineering, Compliance, Manufacturing, and Marketing teams to bring products successfully to market.
• Establish and communicate a clear design and product vision.
• Present concepts, product strategies, and recommendations to leadership.
• Help prioritize the product development pipeline and ensure projects remain aligned with business objectives.
• Build strong cross-functional relationships and advocate for the consumer, the product, and the design vision.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

The ideal candidate is a strong industrial designer who has grown into a strategic product development leader.

You have demonstrated success developing consumer products and understand how to move an idea from a sketch into a product that consumers actually want to buy.

You bring

• 7+ years of industrial/product design experience, with 3+ years of management.
• Significant experience with juvenile products, toys, baby/kids products, home gear, or related consumer categories.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating exceptional industrial design and products successfully brought to market.
• Experience developing product families or platforms, not just individual products.
• A proven ability to identify opportunities and turn consumer needs into innovative product concepts.
• Strong understanding of materials, manufacturing processes, tooling, finishes, and cost.
• Experience taking products through the full development cycle, from concept through overseas manufacturing and production.
• Strong understanding of juvenile product safety, testing, compliance, and regulatory requirements.
• Experience collaborating with engineering, manufacturing, compliance, marketing, and other cross‑functional teams.
• Experience managing, mentoring, or providing creative direction to other designers.
• Excellent communication, presentation, organizational, and project management skills.
• Fluency in Mandarin is a plus.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Advanced proficiency in SolidWorks, Rhino, Fusion 360, or comparable 3D CAD software. KeyShot or comparable rendering and visualization tools.
• Adobe Creative Suite.
• Strong hand sketching and concept development skills. Physical prototyping and model‑making experience.
• Ability to clearly communicate design intent to engineering and manufacturing teams.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Success in this role means creating products that are meaningfully differentiated, commercially successful, and relevant to today's families.

The successful candidate will help evolve the existing product portfolio while identifying opportunities to enter new categories, create new product platforms, and develop products that can change the competitive landscape.

You will bring together creative design, juvenile‑product expertise, consumer insight, engineering, manufacturing, and commercial thinking to create products that parents want, children love, and the business can successfully bring to market.

WHAT WE OFFER

• A dynamic and innovative work environment.
• Opportunity to lead and make significant impact on the growth of the Jool Baby brand.
• Competitive salary and benefits.