Design Lead

What will you work on?

The Design Lead will report to the Manager, Design and be responsible for taking the lead on anything related to play-pattern and aesthetics, from concept through production for our Action team. The Design Lead will work closely and lean on the Design Manager and Directors to balance resources, workload allocation and budget.

How will you create impact?

• Collaborate with Brand teams and Product Development teams on generating new concepts, specifications, and the development of models through to production on cost and on time.
• Lead product review meetings and create action plans for technical deliverables
• Act as the Center Position driving projects from concept to product.
• Ability to create and impart best practices to effectively design high complexity items with strategic initiatives, and early concept explorations
• Identify issues, formulate resolution action plan, and execute through to completion with limited oversight– leverage executive leadership and functional partners to gain necessary resources and support.
• Lead strategic initiatives around future growth and innovation, identifying key market trends, play patterns and mechanisms to provide successful longevity of umbrella brands
• Lead prototyping and proof-of-concept builds to de-risk and test new mechanisms, key features, and/or manufacturing feasibility
• Detail design of components and products for manufacturing
• Be key point of design contact with Manufacturing Engineering teams (in Asia, Mexico, EU, etc), and ensure alignment on all project details
• Ability to travel internationally to support projects
• Drive productivity by implementing design for manufacturing/assembly up front

What are your skills and experience?

• Toy Design or consumer product development experience
• Sketching - creates more refined sketches for communicating ideas internally; Directs vendors with confidence; Can do very good quick napkin sketches to communicate effectively.
• Design Software - can effectively draw or illustrate in Photoshop/Illustrator; Can create engaging PowerPoint presentations with flashy GIFS and animations; Can film and create basic sizzles in video editing software.
• Visual Communications -proficient at creating presentation decks, engaging visual boards and beautiful and focused island shots that communicate exactly what is intended; Understands the importance of layout, colors, text size, product placement etc. and how it can affect the presentation outcome
• Manufacturing Understanding - has gained historical knowledge of manufacturing processes from previous projects; Understands and applies sound principles during all stages of development; Has thorough understanding of manufacturing capabilities within their category.
• Consumer Insight Understanding - knows what and how to test a prototype with the appropriate consumer, what clues and cues to look out for while testing - and how the results inform the RD of a toy throughout its development.
• Product Life Cycle - has completed many rounds of product life cycles and understands how schedule influences each stage and starts to intuitively anticipate next steps and challenges, then plan for them.

The anticipated pay range for candidates who will work in California is $95,000 to $120,000 Per Annum. The offered pay to a successful candidate will be dependent on several factors that may include but are not limited to years of experience within the job, years of experience within the required industry, education, etc. Spin Master Inc. is a multi-state employer, and this salary range may not reflect positions that work only in other states.

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