Sr. Industrial Designer

New York, NY (In-Office) · Full-Time

About the role

In under a year, Firefly went from a handful of sketches to a tooled product suite — custom PCBs, finished skins, hardware in hand. Idea in February 2025; shipping product by January 2026. That timeline is almost unheard of in industrial design, especially for tooled enterprise tech hardware. Most industrial designers wait two-plus years to see their first product reach the market. Here, you'll ship several.

We're hiring a senior Industrial Designer to own the next chapter of that velocity — and to shape not just how Firefly's devices look and feel, but how the entire product experience hangs together across the physical hardware and the digital platform around it. You'll have real authority over how a defining American safety brand shows up in the hands of the people who use it.

We're open to candidates who lean more strategic or more form-forward. The ideal hire can flex both ways; we'd rather meet a range of strong people than over-narrow the search.

This is an in-office role based in our New York City office.

You should apply if:

• You want to ship, fast. Most ID careers are measured in years between sketch and shelf. Here it's months. Your work lands in customers' hands, not just in a portfolio.

• You think in experiences, not just objects. You can hold the device, the install moment, and the app in your head at once — and design across all of them rather than only the object on the bench.

• You're equally curious about form and the person holding it. You're as comfortable in CAD or in front of a Keyshot render as you are running a user interview and turning what you heard into product direction.

• You want to be with the best. You'll work alongside teammates from Apple, Verkada, and Pentagram who care deeply about craft and speed, and ship relentlessly.

In this role, you will:

• Lead industrial design across the Firefly product line — from sketch and bluesky concept through CAD, prototype, tooling, and launch

• Shape the holistic product experience: how the physical device looks and behaves in space, and how it connects to the digital platform that lives alongside it

• Sketch fluently — to think through problems, develop form, and bring teammates and stakeholders into a concept fast

• Model in CAD (Onshape or SolidWorks preferred), render in Keyshot for reviews and stakeholder alignment, and prototype hands-on with 3D printing

• Plan and run user research — drafting studies, conducting qualitative interviews with installers, operators, and end users — and convert what you hear into product decisions

• Define and defend user needs based on what came out of the field, not what we assumed at our desks

• Partner closely with mechanical engineering, electrical, software, and marketing to keep form, function, and experience locked together as the product matures

• Set the bar for industrial design craft at Firefly as we scale

Minimum requirements for this role:

• Candidate likely has ~5 or more years of professional industrial design experience, ideally including time on a tooled enterprise or commercial product that actually shipped

• A portfolio with work you carried from concept through production — not just concept renders

• Proficiency in CAD — Onshape or SolidWorks preferred

• Strong Keyshot rendering skills

• Sketching as a daily tool — for working through problems, developing form, and illustrating concepts to teammates and stakeholders

• Hands-on experience with 3D printing for prototyping and iteration

• Comfortable working with a high degree of autonomy: you can scope your own work, run multiple parallel projects, and ship without close oversight

• Strong written and verbal communication — you can present work, defend choices, and bring stakeholders along

An ideal candidate also has:

• Experience drafting user research studies and running qualitative interviews, particularly for physical products

• Comfort synthesizing interview feedback into clearly defined, defensible user needs

• A bluesky brainstorming practice — generating, visualizing, and pressure-testing far-out concepts

• Concept visualization sketching that can carry an idea from the napkin to a stakeholder room

• Experience at an enterprise hardware, IoT, or connected-device company where the device and the software ship together

• Exposure to hospitality, healthcare, education, public safety, or other regulated or trust-driven markets

A note before you apply

Studies have shown that women and people from underrepresented groups are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every requirement listed, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be exactly who we're looking for.

Compensation

The base salary range for this full-time position is $115,000 – $140,000, plus equity and benefits. Actual compensation will depend on factors including job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Firefly is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are committed to building a team where people from all backgrounds can make an impact. If you require accommodations during the application or interview process, please let your recruiter know.