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About Defy

At DEFY, we are passionate about helping the planet by stopping the production of virgin plastic. Roughly 90% of the world's yearly plastic use is currently sourced from virgin, fossil fuel based sources that ultimately ends up in landfill. Our mission is to DEFY the path to landfill.

This is achieved by demonstrating the potential of recycled plastic as competitive or even exceeding virgin plastics in function, aesthetics and even price. With everything under one roof, we design, prototype and test new products that utilize locally sourced, 100% recycled plastic waste. Additionally, Defy is committed to the practices of the circular economy by accepting any of the products we have manufactured at their end of life, for further recycling and reuse of the material. Our vision is for this to be the new standard of plastics manufacturing in Australia.

As a young company, we have bold plans for the future. Defy’s vision is to revolutionize the recycling industry all over Australia and beyond as we propagate our factory model nationwide and then globally.

About the Role

In order to successfully achieve circular products, we need designers to wield their training and expertise to create strong designs and products that can utilize recycled plastic for the unique advantages it provides.

As a senior designer, your role would be to work closely with our clients throughout the entire design and manufacture journey, to bring their concepts to life. This extends to developing internal products for DEFY’s own product line that demonstrates our capabilities.

You will need to be able to help with idea/problem definition, brief creation, concept generation, concept reviews, prototyping, mock ups all the way through to design for manufacture and the creation of production documentation.

Defy utilizes a number of manufacturing techniques, including injection moulding, compression moulding, and CNC machining of sheet material. The ideal candidate will have some experience and knowledge across these three manufacturing processes, and the relevant design requirements of each. However for the role Defy is seeking primarily a joinery / furniture specialist, and intimate knowledge of designing for CNC cutting is key for the successful candidate.

To complement the stage of growth DEFY is in, the ideal candidate would also have a passion for developing internal systems and resources to strengthen our design department. This will help us cultivate knowledge and processes that benefit our employees and clients alike. Ultimately, we want to make the process of launching a new product as easy as possible and to push the quality of what recycled materials can become.

Role Responsibilities:

Drive the full end-to-end design process from working through initial problem definition and concept generation to detailed CAD models and 3D prototypes all the way through to production documentation, batch manufacture and launch

Manage a project and client through the design development process

Manage and communicate timelines and budgets

Work effectively and collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams, primarily liaising between design and production teams

Design and facilitate user research, client workshops, brainstorming sessions, and stakeholder interviews to establish a shared vision and elicit design requirements

Help drive the early-stage development of new projects and client relationships

Stay atop the latest design trends, standards, materials and manufacturing techniques

Help identify and foster relationships with suppliers

Mentor and coach other design team members to develop their expertise

Develop systems, processes, resources and templates for yourself and the rest of the design team to use

To be successful here, we encourage you to:

Bring the previous experience of having led projects from concept to manufacture

Have experience of planning and driving projects autonomously as a hands on designer, and subsequently a design manager

Show great facilitation skills, collaboration and communication to both clients and your team of designers

Bring passion and inspiration to the table when mentoring and leading product designers

Effectively utilize design thinking and strategic design skills when developing client briefs and projects

Bring your own flavor, passions and ideas to projects and to the company

Must haves:

5 + years experience in a similar role within various industries within a related design discipline (i.e. Industrial Design, Product Design)

Bachelor’s degree or above in a design related field (i.e. Industrial Design, Product Design)

Experience in designing furniture and joinery, in either commercial or residential settings

Intimate understanding of designing for CNC cutting principles, as well as competent hand skills with power tools and machinery

Demonstrated ability in leading end-to-end industrial design projects across a variety of scales and manufacturing processes

Demonstrated expertise in industrial design principles and processes (e.g. design thinking, user centered design, Design for manufacture )

Demonstrated ability in managing clients and delivering projects

Advanced technical skills in industry standard software and applications (SolidWorks, Adobe, excel/google sheets)

Nice to haves:

Knowledge of the various types of plastics

Design for molding principles

Injection molding experience

Compression molding experience

Pad printing experience

Vac forming experience

Thermoforming experience