Industrial Designer

Astrolab; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership in the company

Comprehensive health benefits

401(k) plan with company match

Flexible PTO and parental leave

Home office set up reimbursement

Weekly lunch stipend, snacks on-site

Job summary

Astrolab, The Moon rover company in Hawthorne, CA, seeks an Industrial Designer to anchor our product vision. You will work within a studio model inside Marketing, partnering with the Chief Creative Designer and engineering to ensure rovers and hardware reflect the Astrolab identity while meeting mission-critical requirements.

You will drive form, function and constraint-driven design, collaborating across engineering and branding to deliver production-ready concepts and visual language for

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in industrial design or related field.
• Experience taking physical products or hardware from concept through production.
• Experience using Blender and Adobe Creative Suite, with working knowledge of Alias; Class A modeling experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• End-to-End Design: Lead the industrial design process from concept to production-ready forms, embodying the Astrolab brand.
• Constraint-Driven Creativity: Collaborate with aerospace and mechanical engineers to navigate lunar constraints while maintaining design integrity.
• CMF Strategy: Own Color, Materials, and Finish strategy for space-grade performance and aesthetics.
• Cross-Functional Integration: Translate technical requirements into brand identity across marketing and engineering.
• Creative Partnership: Align design language with the Fractional Chief Creative Designer and leadership.
• Brand Stewardship: Ensure every touchpoint feels intentionally designed and Astrolab-branded.
• Design Communication: Use Blender, Adobe Creative Suite, and Alias to communicate intent to engineering and leadership.
• Iterative Prototyping: Rapidly iterate forms based on engineering feedback and brand alignment.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in industrial design, transportation design, product design, or a related field

Tools

Blender

Alias

Adobe Creative Suite

Job description

Compensation: $180,000 - $210,000 / year

Department: Marketing

Location: Hawthorne, California

Compensation: $180,000 - $210,000 / year

DescriptionAstrolab is The Lunar Operations Company. We design and build the systems and hardware the lunar economy will come to depend on — rovers, power, and data networks for sustained operations on the Moon. We are focused on the problems that must be solved before the next chapter of human exploration can scale. The Moon does not forgive untested assumptions. The people who work here know that, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

As an Industrial Designer at Astrolab, you will be the creative anchor of our product vision. At Astrolab, our design function operates within a studio model embedded inside the Marketing organization. We believe that design sits at the intersection of engineering and brand; it is the visual language that translates our technicalDNA into a consistent identity that defines a market. You will work day-to-day with our Fractional Chief Creative Designer (a world-class automotive ID designer) and our Head of Marketing, while collaborating deeply with engineering to ensure that the rovers and systems we build perform flawlessly and look unmistakably like Astrolab.

In this role, you are not just making things look good; you are making design decisions that impact physical products bound for the lunar surface. You will bring a deep understanding of form, function, and constraint-driven design, ensuring our hardware reflects our brand identity without compromising its mission-critical engineering.

What you'll do:

Product Design & Development

• End-to-End Design: Lead the industrial design process from initial concept sketches to final production-ready forms, ensuring the physical product embodies the Astrolab brand
• Constraint-Driven Creativity: Collaborate directly with aerospace and mechanical engineers to navigate the extreme constraints of lunar operations (thermal, structural, mass) while maintaining design integrity
• CMF Strategy: Own the Color, Materials, and Finish (CMF) strategy, understanding how materials behave in space and how they translate into a cohesive visual language

Studio Model Collaboration

• Cross-Functional Integration: Operate at the intersection of marketing and engineering, acting as the translator between technical requirements and brand identity
• Creative Partnership: Work closely with the Fractional Chief Creative Designer to establish and refine the overarching design language for all Astrolab hardware
• Brand Stewardship: Ensure that every physical touchpoint, from the rover chassis to the smallest payload interface, feels intentionally designed and distinctly Astrolab

Visualization & Communication

• Design Communication: Use Blender, Adobe Creative Suite, and Alias to communicate design intent clearly to both technical (engineering) and non-technical (leadership, investors) audiences
• Iterative Prototyping: Rapidly iterate on forms and concepts based on engineering feedback, testing, and brand alignment

What you'll bring

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in industrial design, transportation design, product design, or a related field
• Experience taking physical products or hardware from concept through production
• Experience using Blender and Adobe Creative Suite, with working knowledge of Alias; Class A modeling experience is a plus

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience applying Color, Materials, and Finish (CMF) principles to physical products or hardware
• Portfolio demonstrating product design work, including complex design challenges and design constraints
• Experience in transportation, robotics, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, or a related industry
• Experience working in a studio environment or at the intersection of brand, product design, and engineering
• Experience communicating technical or complex design concepts to cross-functional teams and stakeholders
• Experience designing hardware for extreme environments or regulated industries
• Experience developing designs that account for manufacturing requirements, material constraints, environmental conditions, and product performance

Benefits and Perks

• Join a team of best-in-class engineers building the foundation of planetary surface exploration
• Equity ownership in the company
• Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health support
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Flexible PTO and parental leave
• Home office set up reimbursement
• Weekly lunch stipend, plus complimentary snacks and beverages on-site
• Once a month social hour on-site with food and drinks