Manager, Design Studio, Kitchens

Opportunity

Develop and manage a world-class design team that continually sets new standards for style, function, and innovation in North America Retail Kitchen Faucets & Bath Faucet Collections. Your expertise will guide the design process from conceptualization to production, ensuring our offerings meet the highest standards and market appeal with an eye toward efficiency. While working collaboratively with the new product development team, challenge convention when it comes to process, ideas, and materials with motivation toward advancing the position of Kohler Co. as it competes in the industry. Partner in the development of business strategies, product strategies, consumer research, and human factors opportunities.

Specific Responsibilities

•Lead new product development concept development, support new product strategy planning; coordinate new product development strategy with cross-functional partners.
•Assign and manage design resources; recruit, manage, and develop design resources; participate in product category management with category business teams to deliver business results.
•Lead design teams on large, complex projects; coordinate design activities with outside industrial consultants; develop relationships and contracts with vendors and design consultants.
•Lead design projects from concept generation through implementation; analyze consumers’ requirements, including functional aspects of design aesthetic need and business and cost objectives.
•Provide design and technical guidance to team and junior Industrial Designers; analyze customer and competitor product offerings including product design trends in both the U.S. and in foreign market.
•Design innovative products to ensure functional aspects are consistent along with aesthetic needs and cost objectives of customers.
•Prepare sketches, detailed drawings, and design intent documentation; modify and refine designs using working models.\
•Utilize experience in product design and user experience design processes to improve interactions between end-users and company products/services and to analyze consumer requirements for new product development.
•Review product samples for aesthetic approval.
•Application of human factors and ergonomics to develop products that are safe and reliable for use; graphic design, visual presentation, Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office software to create visual material in order to present ideas, concepts and research results; manufacturing design processing, including 3D printed models, CAD generation, file export, and 3D printing for injection molded plastics, ceramic and metal casting; 3D CAD modeling (such as Rhino, Solidworks, Alias or Creo); and, computer rendering to generate photo realistic concepts using software (such as Keyshot).