Associate Designer-Consumer Product Design

Overview

Aquent is partnering with a prominent, fast-paced consumer goods company dedicated to enhancing everyday life through innovative and thoughtfully designed products. This organization is renowned for its commitment to quality and a user-centric approach, developing a diverse range of items that resonate with consumers. Joining this team means becoming an integral part of a creative powerhouse, where your design expertise will directly shape the products that delight customers and drive market trends, making a tangible impact on the products consumers love every day.

About Our Partner

Our partner is a leader in the consumer goods space, celebrated for its commitment to quality and a user-centric philosophy. They develop a diverse range of innovative and thoughtfully designed products that seamlessly integrate into daily life. This is an opportunity to join a creative powerhouse where your contributions will directly shape market trends and bring delight to consumers through cutting-edge product design.

About the Opportunity

Are you ready to unleash your creativity and technical prowess on products that touch millions of lives? We are seeking a talented and driven Associate Designer to join our partner’s dynamic product design team. This is an exceptional chance to be at the forefront of product innovation, where your unique vision and skills will contribute to a wide array of consumer goods. You will be instrumental in supporting the entire product lifecycle, from initial concept to final production, directly seeing your designs come to fruition and significantly influencing product development. If you thrive in a collaborative environment and are passionate about shaping market trends, this role offers the perfect platform to accelerate your career and leave an indelible mark on beloved products.

What You’ll Do

• Research industry, consumer, product, color, and design trends, translating key insights into innovative product concepts that push boundaries.
• Develop compelling product concepts rapidly through effective hand sketching and sophisticated digital sketching/rendering techniques.
• Create and refine high-quality product illustrations and design concepts using industry-standard software.
• Support the comprehensive development of a wide range of consumer products, including soft goods, sewn products, plush, hard goods, and molded products, ensuring design integrity across categories.
• Actively participate in critical product and prototype reviews with cross-functional partners, providing insightful design input and fostering collaborative solutions.
• Document prototype feedback, sample changes, design revisions, and next steps with precision and clarity to ensure seamless development progression.
• Maintain meticulous design and product-development information within spreadsheets and other tracking systems, ensuring accuracy and accessibility.
• Develop and update essential technical specifications, product illustrations, design layouts, specification drawings, materials information, and bills of materials with exceptional attention to detail.
• Prepare engaging presentations, product line sheets, technical specifications, samples, sketches, and research boards for design and product meetings, effectively communicating design vision.
• Support critical product development milestones and key design handoffs, expertly managing multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Review and organize material, fabric, and color submissions applicable to assigned product categories, ensuring aesthetic and functional alignment with brand vision.
• Collaborate closely with designers, product development, merchandising, and other cross-functional partners to proactively identify and resolve product and prototype issues, driving efficient problem-solving.
• Utilize and/or learn AI-assisted rendering tools to significantly enhance product visualization and accelerate concept development, embracing cutting-edge technology.
• Contribute innovative ideas that support long-term product innovation and brand growth, actively shaping the future of consumer goods and delighting customers.

Must-Have Qualifications

• Approximately 3–5 years of progressive product design and/or product development experience.
• Strong ability to communicate product concepts visually through both compelling hand sketching and precise digital drawing.
• Proficiency with Adobe Creative Cloud, especially:
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Adobe InDesign
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and effective email-based communication.
• Experience developing or supporting comprehensive technical product documentation.
• Demonstrated ability to review prototypes and clearly document design feedback and required revisions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, enabling clear articulation of complex design ideas.
• Excellent organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects, priorities, and deadlines effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong collaboration skills and comfort participating actively in in-person product reviews and design discussions.
• Professional, adaptable, and able to remain solutions-oriented when priorities or product requirements evolve.
• A compelling portfolio or website demonstrating relevant product design work is required.
• Bachelor’s degree in Product Design or a related design discipline, or an equivalent combination of education, professional experience, and training.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• Experience designing across multiple consumer product categories, showcasing versatility beyond a single specialization.
• Experience with soft goods, sewn products, plush, accessories, hard goods, molded products, or similar consumer products.
• Background within a broad consumer products organization, private-label environment, or similarly diverse product design setting.
• Experience with product lifecycle or project tracking systems such as PLM or Smartsheet.
• Experience with 3D design/rendering software.
• Experience using—or willingness to learn—AI-assisted design and rendering tools such as Gemini.
• Experience collaborating effectively with merchandising, product development, and other cross-functional partners.

About Skill

Skill connects the best professional, IT, engineering, financial and administrative talent with the world’s biggest brands. Our eligible talent get access to benefits such as health benefit contributions, retirement plans with match and flexible spending accounts.

Skill is an equal-opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. We’re about creating an inclusive environment-one where different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued, and everyone can contribute, grow their careers, and thrive.