Senior Manager of Industrial Design & Integrated Experiences

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POSITION SUMMARY:

The Senior Manager, Industrial Design & Integrated Experiences leads the industrial design function and advances the development of cohesive product, program, and environmental experiences. The role ensures that teams deliver innovative, manufacturable, and cost-conscious solutions that meet customer, end-user, and business requirements.

This leader establishes functional priorities, allocates resources, develops team capability, and provides design leadership from early concept development through design refinement, prototype learning, engineering transition, and implementation. The role considers how individual products, fixtures, digital touchpoints, and physical environments work together within broader customer programs and branded experiences.

Operating with a high degree of autonomy, the Manager serves as a strategic partner to Engineering, Development Project Management, Commercial Technology, Sales, Operations, and customers. The position works closely with Engineering leadership to ensure concepts are technically supported, commercially viable, and transitioned effectively into development and production. The ideal candidate brings strong experience in industrial design, custom product development, environmental or experiential design, and manufacturing, along with sound design judgment, people leadership, and the ability to guide teams through ambiguity and changing business needs.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

•    Lead the Industrial Design function and provide design leadership across product, program, and integrated experience initiatives, including physical products, fixtures, branded environments, and technology-enabled customer experiences.

•    Set functional priorities and resource assignments by balancing customer needs, project complexity, timelines, team capabilities, financial requirements, and business priorities.

•    Build and maintain visibility into workload, capacity, priorities, risks, dependencies, and key milestones through appropriate systems, dashboards, and reporting.

•    Establish and continuously improve design processes, standards, tools, documentation, and review practices to increase consistency, quality, scalability, and execution speed.

•    Guide the translation of customer objectives, brand standards, shopper or end-user insights, operational requirements, and commercial constraints into clear design strategies and actionable concepts.

•    Ensure design solutions account for the complete experience, including product interaction, placement, environment, communication, accessibility, durability, serviceability, and installation requirements.

•    Lead design reviews and provide clear direction on concept quality, usability, brand alignment, feasibility, material selection, construction, cost, and intended user experience.

•    Partner with Engineering to evaluate technical feasibility, resolve design risks, and transition approved concepts into detailed development, prototyping, testing, and production.

•    Collaborate with Development Project Management to define scope, design deliverables, decision points, dependencies, and timing across customer programs.

•    Partner with Commercial Technology when solutions include interactive, connected, or technology-enabled elements to ensure physical and digital components form one coherent experience.

•    Engage Sales and customers during discovery, concept presentation, and design refinement, communicating the rationale, tradeoffs, and business value behind proposed solutions.

•    Promote design-to-value practices that preserve the customer experience while improving manufacturability, repeatability, cost, lead time, and quality.

•    Develop team capability through coaching, feedback, performance management, mentoring, succession planning, and targeted development opportunities.

•    Foster a collaborative, accountable, and solutions-oriented culture that encourages creativity while maintaining disciplined execution and ownership.

•    Support capability planning, hiring, onboarding, and the thoughtful use of external design partners when project demand or specialized expertise requires additional capacity.

•    Stay informed about relevant trends in retail design, materials, manufacturing, sustainability, technology, and customer experience, and translate useful developments into practical business opportunities.

•    Other responsibilities as assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY:

This position has direct supervisory responsibility for the Industrial Design function and is responsible for coaching, feedback, performance management, mentoring, succession planning, team development, hiring, and onboarding.

DECISION AUTHORITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY:

•    Own functional work allocation, design review practices, and day-to-day team priorities within approved business and project parameters.

•    Recommend design direction, capability investments, staffing needs, process improvements, and development priorities to the Director of Development.

•    Escalate material scope, timing, feasibility, cost, quality, or resource conflicts with clear options and recommended actions.

•    Maintain accountability for design quality, timely deliverables, effective cross-functional handoffs, and team performance.

•    POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

•    Strong understanding of industrial design principles, human factors, materials, manufacturing processes, prototyping, and design for manufacture and assembly.

•    Ability to connect individual design elements to a broader product, program, brand, and environmental experience.

•    Sound business judgment and the ability to balance creativity, customer value, technical feasibility, cost, quality, and speed.

•    Strong people leadership, coaching, delegation, performance management, and team-development skills.

•    Ability to organize multiple priorities, make decisions with incomplete information, and guide others through ambiguity and change.

•    Excellent visual, verbal, and written communication skills, including the ability to present concepts and recommendations to customers and senior leaders.

•    Strong cross-functional collaboration skills and the ability to influence without relying solely on formal authority.

•    Proficiency with relevant design, visualization, collaboration, and project-management tools; familiarity with current 3D design and rendering workflows is expected.

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

•    Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Environmental Design, Experience Design, or a related discipline; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.

•    Seven or more years of progressive experience in industrial design, custom product development, retail environments, branded experiences, or a related field.

•    Three or more years of experience leading people, design teams, or complex cross-functional design programs.

•    Demonstrated experience developing products or environments from concept through engineering, prototyping, manufacturing, and implementation.

•    Experience in retail fixtures, displays, branded environments, consumer products, architectural products, or custom manufacturing is strongly preferred.

•    Portfolio demonstrating strong design thinking, design judgment, problem solving, technical awareness, and successful implementation of physical experiences.

LEADERSHIP EXPECTATIONS:

•    Vibrant: Creates energy around strong ideas, encourages curiosity, and helps the team see possibilities while remaining grounded in customer and business needs.

•    Intentional: Establishes clear priorities, decision criteria, ownership, and disciplined design practices that lead to measurable outcomes.

•    Respectful: Builds trust across disciplines, invites useful challenge, communicates directly, and values the expertise required to move work from concept to implementation.

•    Agile: Adjusts direction as requirements evolve, learns quickly from prototypes and feedback, and helps the team respond constructively to change.

OTHER JOB REQUIREMENTS:

•    Works in a professional office and collaborative design environment, with periodic activity in prototype, manufacturing, warehouse, installation, showroom, and customer settings.

•    May need to review physical prototypes, materials, fixtures, displays, or installed environments and use appropriate personal protective equipment when required.

•    Periodic domestic and international travel may be required to support customers, suppliers, manufacturing partners, installations, and global teams.

•    Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals to perform the essential functions of the position.

•    The above is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for the performance of this job. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities, or physical requirements. Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

STATEMENT OF EMPLOYMENT

All employees of VIRA Insight are expected to:

•    Act as an ambassador of and in accordance with the company’s Core Values.

•    Adherent to the company’s Principles of Business and Conduct.

•    Demonstrate good judgment and respect the confidentiality of company and personnel information.

•    Deal professionally and courteously with all internal and/or external contacts.

•    Seek guidance and direction as necessary in the performance of duties.