Product Design Manager

At Bestway USA, our passions and innovations come to life thanks to the people who work here. We value diversity and believe that different backgrounds, ideas, and perspectives help us spread happiness and create a culture of positivity. We embrace flexibility and many of our positions offer a hybrid work-from-home schedule. Bestway USA was selected as one of the top companies to work for in Arizona for 3 consecutive years, most recently in 2023! We generously start all employees with at least 20 days of paid time off annually and 11 paid holidays. We are a hard-working, casual, dog-friendly company (yes, your polite and playful pup is always welcome at our office!). We invest in our employees' - and their families - health; we believe this is part of your total compensation, so we strive to keep employee costs low and contribute thousands each year to every plan's premium. Our Core Values of Respect, Recognition, Accountability, Leadership, and Communication guide our decision making, how we engage with others, and how we lead our teams.

The Product Design Manager will help lead the NPD product design team, which consists of Industrial Designers and Product Designers (Graphics), to ensure they achieve the set expectations of design quality and continuity, project efficiency, and production cost while meeting all deadlines. 

Essential Functions:  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• Develop and maintain a creative environment focused on collaboration and best design thinking practices and processes
• Oversee the R&D Design Manual update and maintenance
• Leverage user research and usability testing to ensure designs meet customer needs
• Encourage closer collaboration with engineering, marketing, and sales teams for a more holistic product development approach
• Establish a dedicated time for education courses to enhance employee knowledge in design or other areas of interest, such as Fusion 360, Adobe, Keyshot, leadership skills, time and project management tools, etc. 
• Support the designer’s project review meetings and provide brainstorming sessions to support ongoing ideation flow
• Assist the Product Design & Innovation Director with department tasks and projects
• Help with cross-pollination of ideas and increase design continuity and innovation
• Provide one-on-one support to the design team to help with work/life balance and increase team morale
• Enhance the design review process, including education on production cost, manufacturing limitations, and final sample outcome
• In collaboration with the Product Design & Innovation Director, develop, refine, and implement processes that coordinate NPD projects across worldwide design resources
• Track metrics to assess design impact, team productivity, and project success
• Manage deadlines efficiently while working with the Product Design & Innovation Director for additional design support or deadline reprioritization
• Support the Product Managers and sales department by establishing yearly trend reports and specialized design sales tools to enhance profitability
• Update the development and distribution of yearly material swatch booklets, working with EU and SH teams
• Provide and support human resource functions including, but not limited to: annual employee reviews, time-off approvals, department resource planning in collaboration with the Product Design & Innovation Director

Competencies: 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Self-motivated to identify improvement opportunities
• Strong project management skills with the ability to plan tasks, manage progress, and resolve conflict
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Comfortable with international travel, primarily to the People’s Republic of China
• Curiosity, flexibility, positivity, and a good sense of humor
• Experience working in the consumer goods industry or related field
• Technical capacity with the ability to provide unique and complex solutions
• Personal effectiveness, credibility, and willingness to take accountability while showing strong leadership skills

Travel: Travel required, including international and domestic.

Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related design field
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in a related design role
• Minimum of 2 years of experience in a supervisory role
• Experience working directly with overseas manufacturing operations
• Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite
• Proficient in Microsoft Office 365 Suite
• An ideal candidate would have experience with CAD and rendering software

Bestway (USA) Inc. is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. All employment decisions at Bestway will be based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. We do not discriminate upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.