Senior Industrial Designer
Senior Industrial Designer
Job Description
The company:
Knafs is a goofy little company that makes interesting pocket knife schtuff. We’re a small operation with 10 employees launching this rocket ship to glory in Clearfield, Utah. We sell our products on Knafs.com, Amazon, and to 40 dealers across the world.
The job:
We need someone who dreams in blade lengths, handle materials, and steel types. We need an experienced executor who can imagine beautiful things, then make them real– hard goods and soft goods, beginning to end. This person obsesses over trends and data. They manage suppliers with a steady, clear hand. A tidy tech pack gives goosebumps. Prototypes are a dopamine hit. Sell-through is nirvana.
The job is on-site, not hybrid or remote, position in Clearfield, Utah. We need someone here to handle, poke, prod, examine, and smell products alongside our team. We probably smell our knives more often than necessary.
Pay: $70-75K
Responsibilities:
- Product: maintain and expand our product line of pocket knives and accessories.
- Manage: new product development calendars and timelines, drawings, prototypes, running changes, project management software (monday.com), and that cabinet of samples that always seems to be overflowing.
- More Manage: this position is part of the management team at Knafs and will be involved in hiring, performance evaluations, coaching, quarterly meetings, goals, planning, and high-level direction of the company.
Essential Skillz:
- Communication: this is the most important. Communicating vision via tech packs, emailing suppliers, managing products, interfacing with manufacturing, marketing, and ops– this person must be a master communicator.
- Pocket knives: must have or quickly develop deep interest in knives, steel, locking mechanisms, materials, and the pocket knife industry.
- Adobe Illustrator: must be able to effectively build tech packs that are clear, concise, and wicked cool. Photoshop and Keyshot are helpful.
- CAD: highly proficient in Fusion 360 or Solidworks. Ability to make cool schtuff and bring it to life in 3D.
- Rapid Prototyping: 3D printing, cardboard cutouts, a hacksaw and a file– anything to conceptualize a physical product and keep it moving to completion.
- R+D: tear down prototypes, systematically test, torture, and improve.
- Manufacturing Understanding: CNC process, stamping, die-cutting, finishing, stonewashing, laser cutting, hot forge, anodizing, grinding, fixtures, injection molding, sewing, stitching.
- Problem Solving: most of our messes don’t come with an instruction manual. You must be able to look critically at the mess and decide if you use a paper towel, mop, or plumber to clean it up. We haven’t had to call a plumber yet.
- Education: 4-5 years work experience. Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design preferred. Degrees from the school of hard knocks are also perfectly acceptable, provided the skills and work experience line up.
- Travel: yearly travel to China, Taiwan, and U.S. suppliers required, along with occasional jaunts to trade shows; approximately 3-4 weeks of total travel yearly. Mandarin proficiency is a huge plus, but not required.
- Able to work in an office environment, including sitting for long periods.
Additional Information
Notes on the Company:
We run on a healthy handful of core values:
- Kind - We make their day
- Efficient - Intelligent, proactive action
- Dependable - We do it right
- Humble - Willing to listen, learn, and teach
- Goofy - Make it fun
Benefits:
- 401(k) with company match
- 9 paid yearly holidays
- 12 days of accrued PTO yearly
- Employee discounts on everything we make.
- Growth: Knafs is on a wild growth pattern right now. We’re seeing cool things happen, and we need people who are willing to grow with us. We can’t promise you the Moon, but that’s where we’re headed.
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Note: we don’t offer health benefits yet, but it’s on our list of things we’re working toward as a small company.
