Industrial Designer (Contractor) in London

About Huawei Research and Development UK Limited. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. We have 207,000 employees and operate in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.

Our vision and mission is to bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. To this end, we will drive ubiquitous connectivity and promote equal access to networks; bring cloud and artificial intelligence to all four corners of the earth to provide superior computing power where you need it, when you need it; build digital platforms to help all industries and organizations become more agile, efficient, and dynamic; redefine user experience with AI, making it more personalized for people in all aspects of their life, whether they’re at home, in the office, or on the go.

This spirit of innovation has led Huawei to work in close partnership with leading academic institutions in the UK to develop and refine the latest technologies. With a shared commitment to innovation and progress, both parties have worked together to achieve common goals and establish a strong partnership. The partnership between UK and Huawei helps to develop the technologies of the future that will transform the way we all communicate, work and live.

For the past 30 years we have maintained an unwavering focus, rejecting shortcuts and easy opportunities that don't align with our core business. With a practical approach to everything we do, we concentrate our efforts and invest patiently to drive technological breakthroughs.

This strategic focus is a reflection of our core values:

• Staying customer-centric
• Inspiring dedication
• Persevering
• Growing by reflection

Huawei Research and Development UK Limited Overview. Huawei’s vision is a fully connected, intelligent world. To achieve this, we work to inspire passion for basic research around the world. Our combined passion drives development across the global innovation value chain. Huawei has the largest Research and Development organization in the world with 96,000+ employees in research centers around the globe. In the UK, we already have design centers in Cambridge, London, Edinburgh and Ipswich. We continue to explore and define new research directions and new services. We have expanded our collaborations with academic researchers; researched new network architectures, integration of communications and key enabling technologies; and developed the fundamental theories of these technologies. We invite you to join us on this exciting journey and drive your career forward.

Job Summary. We are a compact team of humble and ambitious designers shaping Huawei’s next generation of premium consumer devices. Our work sits at the intersection of industrial design, materials engineering, cultural instinct and storytelling. We handle the early, ambiguous stages of projects and define the archetypes that later become global products. Our ethos is paradoxical: we aim to create mass-scale products that read like unique objects.

We are looking for an industrial designer with intent: someone who thinks form, technology and culture - someone who cares about the emotional weight of objects. If you join us, your work will define smartphones, wearables, experiences and product categories used by millions.

Why This Team? A small, low-ego studio culture - we’re pragmatic, serious about design and focused on delivering work with depth. We ship significant products - from Huawei’s triple-foldable smartphone to our high-end smartwatches. We operate at a unique intersection: small enough to stay sharp, backed by a global R&D infrastructure in AI, software and hardware. Our creative mandate is expanding as Huawei re-enters an innovation-driven phase, meaning more room for ambitious and exploratory ideas. You will be designing products that launch into a fiercely competitive market, where excellence is expected. You will work in a studio that values craft, ambition grounded in humility and business realism, and depth rather than surface-level trend fluency.

Key Responsibilities:

• Research cultural signals, human behaviour and emerging opportunities; translate them into strategies and narratives rooted in culture, craft and material technology.
• Create original design languages and produce potent archetypes with the artistry of an accessories house and the scale of mass manufacturing.
• Translate concept directions and design archetypes into robust 3D models and early prototypes.
• Own CMF as strategy: material stories, finishing and the subtle details that make an object feel worth owning.
• Create, develop, refine, illustrate and pitch complete design solutions: innovate new experiences, features and interactions; produce on-screen and off-screen visuals; build concept decks and 3D animations.
• Collaborate closely with London colleagues and Huawei teams in China across key decisions, prototyping and development phases.
• Contribute to exploratory projects around new material technologies, functions, scenarios, features, interaction paradigms, AI-driven workflows and future categories.

This job description is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. The jobholder will carry out any other duties as may be reasonably required by his/her line manager. The job description and personal specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of Huawei Research and Development UK Limited.

Person Specification: Designers with a distinct point of view - accessories, footwear, high-end electronics work strongly valued. Someone able to think beyond form and CMF: history, identity, (sub)cultures, material processes and manufacturing logic. Strong skills in Rhino/SolidWorks/Catia, KeyShot/Blender and Adobe Suite; demonstrated interest in emerging tools such as generative AI workflows (2D/3D/coding), procedural modelling in Blender/Grasshopper/Houdini, hybrid methods, etc. Observational intelligence: instinct, curiosity and the ability to read people, contexts and culture without relying on trend reports. Someone who thrives in the nuances of corporate realities: ambitious yet grounded; collaborative yet independent; a designer with strong personal taste who embraces designing for others and can create meaningful work within real-world constraints.

Required:

• A portfolio and CV in PDF format (websites are not reviewed).
• A concise statement describing why you want to work at Huawei.
• The right to live and work in the UK.