Industrial Designer - Intermediate

Position Summary

Teknion is committed to empowering our customers through design. We make what we sell and we recognize the accountability that entails - to our clients, our employees, and our planet.

We are currently looking for an Intermediate Industrial Designer who is passionate about furniture to join our Corporate Design & Innovation department, located at our North York, ON head office.

This position will focus on designing all types of furniture for the office environment, exclusive of seating.

Reporting to the Design Director, the successful candidate will be curious, creative, and collaborative. They will enjoy working within multidisciplinary teams that strive to create meaningful and holistic product experiences for the evolution of work, workers, and workplace.

Responsibilities

• create new concepts - outlining the opportunity, concept, features, form, strategy and application - in support of the creation of a new project brief or in response to an existing one
• participate in Design Sprints to explore new ideas and product categories
• develop meaningful and aesthetic form solutions through an understanding of materials, structure, manufacturing, ergonomics, user needs, and business requirements
• incorporate customer insights and validation into the development process
• evolve concepts through a systematic process of modeling, testing, analysis and refinement alongside the design engineering team
• provide insights and decision-making rationale on design-related issues in cross-disciplinary project teams to collectively solve product design and development issues
• communicate product design and design story through different media including sketches, renderings, mockups, 3D CAD models, documents and presentations
• ensure compatibility with design brand and portfolio while championing innovative solutions that meet project briefs
• create human-centered design solutions using qualitative design research methods (competitive landscape, industry trends, field observation, product benchmarking, portfolio reviews, interviews, observations)
• maintain organized design documentation for projects including project scope maps, the tracking of key decisions & development, compatibility guidelines, and any reference notes required for user guides
• communicate any project related issues to management in an accurate and timely fashion including project status, key decisions, and critical path reporting
• create formal and informal presentations to support development work and communicate design intent; able to modify style and content to communicate with different audiences

Skills & Knowledge

• sketch / think on paper in order to solve detailed design problems
• aptitude for problem solving, able to balance the creative and technical
• ability to integrate & synthesize external inputs in the development of ideas; agile and adaptable as project needs change
• self-manage time, tasks, and next steps; pay attention to detail and verify work
• continuous learner, curious, asks questions and grows skill set
• working knowledge of materials and manufacturing process and their impact on designs
• comfortable using shop tools to create scale models
• proactively assists and involves others; initiates collaboration and seeks input from others
• demonstrates integrity; treats everyone equally with fairness, honesty, and respect

Education / Technical Qualifications

• Bachelor of Industrial Design degree
• 5-8 years work experience as a practicing Industrial Designer, experience with a range of materials
• strong verbal and written communication skills
• proficient in SolidWorks and standard design software (i.e. Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, Keyshot)

NOTE : As part of your application, please include two examples of projects that demonstrate the full design process.

Teknion is committed to supporting a culture of diversity and accessibility across the organization, starting with the hiring process.

It is our priority to remove barriers to provide equal access to employment.

Teknion welcomes and encourages applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

By applying for a position with Teknion, you understand that, should you be made an offer, it will be contingent on your undergoing and successfully completing a background check consistent with Teknion's employment policies.

Background checks may include some or all the following based on the nature of the position : SSN / SIN validation, education verification, employment verification, credit check and criminal check.

You will be notified during the hiring process which checks are required by the position.