Product Design Lead - DFM - Furniture

Product development engineering is your passion and you enjoy nothing more than taking a concept and ensuring its seamless transition from a creative idea into physical form. You’re not obsessed with features, colours or materials (unless integrally flawed for the concept to work), but you do get excited about transformation and turning a visual representation into a viable and successful product.

If that sounds like you we have a position that could excite you as much as that table concept you engineered two years ago finally arriving in the warehouse wrapped in cellophane ready for distribution! We’re working with one of the world’s leading specialists in their field of furniture, with an enviable list of customers stacked with logos from some of the world’s biggest brands, as they seek to hire a new and passionate individual to head up their DFM team.

Here’s some more technical information about what you could expect to be involved in on a daily basis:

• Collaborate with departments/Heads to ensure products are technically feasible and meet design specifications.
• Manage the product development process to value engineer product designs for effective manufacturing .
• Ensure that products meet high-quality standards, are functionally efficient, and deliver value to the customer.
• Stay ahead of industry trends to inform manufacturing and ensure products remain cost-effective.
• Identify new materials, technologies, and design solutions to improve product offerings.
• Work closely with product development engineers, CAD technicians, and production teams to ensure seamless integration of design and functionality.
• Oversee the management of existing product lines, identifying areas for improvement, cost reduction, and quality enhancement.
• Ensure that products are delivered on time and within budget while maintaining the highest standards of quality.
• Provide training and mentor product engineers, production operatives and installation teams, fostering a culture of creativity, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure the team is well-supported, motivated, and equipped with the necessary resources to perform effectively.
• Report on product readiness progress to senior leadership, including project timelines, costs, and any issues impacting delivery.

If the above sounds like something you can do, you have extensive experience in the furniture industry or a relatable sector such as aerospace interiors or workspace product design, and can work out of a Hertfordshire office, then we would love for you to get in touch with your CV and portfolio.

Zero Surplus is East Anglia’s premier recruitment agency, based just outside Cambridge our recruiters source staff for small and international businesses across Hertfordshire, Northants, Milton Keynes, Cambridgeshire, and the East of England.

For registration purposes please could you let us know where you are currently based or which locations you are considering as well as your required salary and notice period.

Please upload a Microsoft Word version of your CV where possible, excluding text boxes or images. Any data we collect from you will be stored and processed in accordance with Zero Surplus’ Privacy Policy.