Senior Director of Design & Advanced Development

SharkNinja•Needham, MA

10d

About The Position

SharkNinja is a global product design and technology company, with a diversified portfolio of 5-star rated lifestyle solutions that positively impact people’s lives in homes around the world. Powered by two trusted, global brands, Shark and Ninja, the company has a proven track record of bringing disruptive innovation to market and developing one consumer product after another has allowed SharkNinja to enter multiple product categories, driving significant growth and market share gains. Headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts with more than 4,100 associates, the company’s products are sold at key retailers, online and offline, and through distributors around the world. At SharkNinja, we are redefining how products improve everyday life—and our Senior Director of Design & Advanced Development sits at the very heart of that ambition. We’re seeking a creative leader and future thinker to head up our global Front-End Innovation team: a passionate, hands-on group of design storytellers, engineers, and inventors who bring breakthrough product ideas to life. This isn’t just a design leadership role—it’s about leading the spark behind SharkNinja’s next generation of iconic products. You'll be the creative catalyst shaping what’s next, helping teams turn blue-sky thinking into tangible, consumer-loved innovations that define categories. Your team will shape the early concept architecture that eventually fuels mass production through our NPD (New Product Development) pipeline. The ideal candidate is a designer at heart, with deep engineering and design credentials, a natural flair for storytelling, and a relentless passion for solving consumer problems in inventive, inspiring ways.

Requirements

A degree in Product Design Engineering, Industrial Design, or a related field that blends design and engineering. A PDE background is highly valued for its unique balance of technical rigor and creative thinking.
10+ years of experience in product design and innovation, ideally in high-volume consumer goods environments.
A rich portfolio of category-defining consumer products that demonstrate design excellence, storytelling, and successful commercialization.
Proven leadership in building and developing creative teams—mentoring talent, championing new voices, and fostering collaboration across disciplines.
An ability to lead with vision and conviction while remaining hands-on, detail-oriented, and deeply engaged in the creative process.
A natural presenter and communicator, with the charisma and clarity to sell ideas across all levels of the organization—from engineers to executives.
Strong technical foundation in high-volume manufacturing and an appreciation for the intersection of creativity and feasibility.
A love for "making"—whether sketching, building, modeling, or hacking together ideas to inspire others.
Bold thinking, grounded in insight, empathy, and a deep understanding of consumer behavior.
A proficiency in SolidWorks or Creo, KeyShot, and Adobe Suite.

Responsibilities

Lead SharkNinja’s Front-End Innovation team, responsible for driving concept creation, design storytelling, and early platform exploration across all product categories.
Inspire a team of Industrial Designers and Product Design Engineers to generate physical and visual prototypes that sell ideas and excite cross-functional partners and senior executives.
Be a design storyteller—capable of pitching future-focused concepts in a way that connects emotionally and drives alignment across the business.
Champion a studio culture that blends hands-on making, iterative sketching, advanced prototyping, and bold thinking grounded in technical feasibility.
Partner with Mechanical Engineering, R&D, Product Development, and Product Marketing to ensure early concepts are rooted in a strong, scalable product strategy.
Integrate deep knowledge of materials, manufacturing methods (e.g., plastic injection molding, die casting, sheet metal), and DFM/DFA to ensure ideas are not just exciting—but achievable.
Bring context and imagination to every phase of development, combining user insights, trend forecasting, and emerging technologies to shape future design visions.
Cultivate a high-energy environment where curiosity, creativity, and invention are celebrated and continuously pushed forward.
Maintain a consumer-obsessed mindset, with a focus on developing products that change behaviors, exceed expectations, and lead markets.