Industrial Designer, Contract-to-Hire

IDEO•San Francisco, CA

2d•$70,000 - $80,000•Hybrid

About The Position

IDEO San Francisco is seeking an Industrial Designer to collaborate with interdisciplinary teams on innovative, human-centered physical products and services. This role emphasizes creative problem-solving, core industrial design skills, rapid prototyping, and advanced visual storytelling. The ideal candidate will champion hands-on making and prototyping, and work fluidly with diverse design professionals. This position offers the opportunity to design cutting-edge products and grow as a Design Thinking practitioner within IDEO’s network. An Industrial Designer at IDEO is responsible for executing complex client projects, demonstrating advanced user-centered physical product design skills. You will integrate form and function, balancing user needs and technical considerations. IDEO's approach is characterized by radical empathy, creative confidence, and collaborative rigor. You will work with researchers, business designers, data scientists, and other disciplines to push the boundaries of your craft and create inclusive, transformative solutions. We are particularly interested in candidates with exceptional visual storytelling abilities, a drive for hands-on prototyping in both digital and physical realms, and a grounding in design for manufacturing (DFM). This role requires the candidate to be within a commutable distance of IDEO’s San Francisco studio. IDEO supports flexible work.

Requirements

1-2+ years of experience + internships in industrial design, including end-to-end contributions to projects in consumer products, medical devices, soft goods or packaging.
Demonstrated fluency in digital tools such as SolidWorks, Rhino, Keyshot, Blender, and Adobe Creative Suite.
Go-to-market (GTM) experience, with the ability to meaningfully contribute to the associated industrial design workstreams within multidisciplinary teams.
Prototyping expertise, including 3D printing and other rapid prototyping methods.
A passion for building in 3D while actively prototyping in real time to test insights.
Visual storytelling abilities, including strong instincts in graphic design and deck-building.
Strong theoretical or practical understanding of and ability to collaborate on the design for manufacturing (DFM) process.
Professional experience with one or more of the following: Consumer Electronics Design, Health and Medical Product Design, Packaging Design.
Curiosity and drive to grow in one or more edge skills: Strategy, Brand, Digital Interaction Design & Needfinding frameworks, Digital Interaction Design, Coding, Hacking, Software Development, AI-based Visualization Tools, Mechanical Engineering.

Responsibilities

Apply expertise to develop compelling physical product designs and systems, balancing form, function, technical constraints, and manufacturability.
Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, including mechanical/electrical engineers, software developers, visual and interaction designers, brand strategists, and design researchers.
Present ideas through sketches, CAD models, renderings, and physical mock-ups to clients and team members.
Actively contribute to and lead human-centered research to inform design strategies.
Create prototypes at varying fidelities using tools such as 3D printing and other rapid prototyping methods to explore, test, validate design concepts, and aid research efforts.
Drive cross-functional collaboration and demonstrate leadership over the course of 12+ week projects.
Deliver exceptional visual storytelling using an array of 2D and 3D tools and techniques, creating compelling presentations for clients.
Explore early-stage inspiration through digital experimentation, including generative AI and other innovative tools.
Mentor fellow designers within and across disciplines by sharing knowledge, articulating industrial design processes, and demonstrating advanced craft techniques.