Product Design Engineer (Mid-Weight/Senior)

POTR is a design-led, sustainability-driven brand reinventing plant care for modern living. From our origami-inspired, self-watering planters to developing the next generation of indoor growing, we combine clever engineering with bold aesthetics to help people grow at home.

As a key member of our product development team, you will lead the design engineering of our next-generation products, transforming how people grow at home. You will partner closely with industrial designers, electronics/controls engineers, manufacturing & supply-chain partners, and the company founders to bring innovative, sustainable, manufacturable products to market that align with POTR's mission. You'll champion engineering excellence, design for manufacture/assembly (DfM/DfA), cost and sustainability efficiency, and deliver products from concept through to production launch and post-launch sustainment.

Key Responsibilities

• Take a leading role in development projects from concept through prototyping, validation, tooling, manufacture and production launch.
• Work with industrial designers to translate aesthetic & user experience vision into engineered, manufacturable products - ensuring POTR's design language and sustainability ethos are met.
• Create detailed CAD models (solid & surfacing), assemblies, drawings, specifications, tolerancing, material selections appropriate for plastics, metals, composites, and multi-material assemblies.
• Apply DfM/DfA principles, cost-engineering, part count reduction, supplier/manufacturer collaboration to optimise for high-volume, high-quality manufacture and sustainable materials/processes.
• Prototype (rapid and functional), support test plans, validate and iterate on product performance (mechanical, structural, durability, lifecycle, ergonomics, aesthetics).
• Work with electronics/controls engineering (where applicable) to integrate mechanical, structural, thermal, fluidic, user-interaction, and watertight irrigation systems.
• Partner with supply-chain/manufacturing to select vendors, define tooling strategy, support injection moulding, metal fabrication, stamping, sheet-metal, plastic bonded assemblies, composite parts and sourcing a variety of different sustainable materials.
• Maintain and document engineering change control, BOMs, manufacturing specifications, quality and regulatory requirements (safety, CE/UKCA, RoHS, REACH, etc as relevant).
• Drive design reviews, milestone gate-processes, risk-management, issue-resolution and continuous improvement.
• Mentor junior engineers (for Senior level) and foster best-practice engineering culture within the team.
• Help define and embed sustainable engineering practices: material reuse/recycling, carbon footprint, packaging minimisation, end-of-life considerations.

Skills & Experience

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design Engineering, Mechatronics or related discipline.
• For Mid-weight: ~3-5 years' experience in product design/design engineering of consumer-facing/electromechanical products. For Senior: ~5+ years.
• Proven track record of taking products from concept to manufacture, ideally in consumer, lifestyle or home-tech products.
• Strong CAD competency (Fusion used internally but equivalent with SolidWorks, Creo, NX, Fusion etc also accepted) including surfacing, solid modelling, assemblies and detailed drawing output.
• Deep understanding of manufacturing processes (injection moulding, sheet‐metal, stamping, die-casting, extrusion, composites, tooling, assembly, finishing), and design for manufacture & assembly.
• Strong prototyping, testing and validation experience: functional prototypes, test rigs, failure/root-cause analysis and resolution.
• Excellent collaboration across cross-functional teams (industrial design, electronics, firmware, supply-chain, manufacturing, QA, marketing).
• Strong communicator with ability to present engineering decisions to stakeholders, influence design trade-offs, articulate engineering risks and cost implications.
• A passion for user-centred design, sustainability, materials and processes; able to balance aesthetic ambition with technical feasibility.
• For Senior level: Experience mentoring/leading others, taking ownership of major programmes, setting engineering standards and driving continuous improvement.

Desirable

• Experience in hydro-ponic or plant-care/garden-tech or consumer home-growing products.
• Experience with sustainable materials, circular economy design, life-cycle assessment (LCA), low-waste packaging.
• Experience working with global manufacturing/offshore suppliers.
• Familiarity with electronics/controls integration, thermal/fluid/structural simulation.
• Familiarity with project management/stage-gate development process.
• Experience with rapid prototyping techniques (3D-printing, CNC, composite lay-up), and CAD/CAE simulation tools.
• Experience with manufacturing quality systems (PPAP, Six Sigma, design for reliability) etc.

What We Offer

• A role in a fast-growing, design-led, sustainability-driven brand at the intersection of engineering, interior design and modern plant-care; you'll help shape the future of indoor growing and home botanical experiences.
• The opportunity to work on bold, beautiful products with real aesthetic ambition and engineering excellence.
• Close collaboration with a multidisciplinary team (designers, engineers, marketeers) in a creative, hands-on environment.
• Professional development and career growth: mentorship, autonomy, potential to scale into senior leadership roles (especially for the Senior level).
• Hybrid/flexible working (depending on location) and potential for global manufacturing exposure.
• 34 days paid holiday allowance.

How to Apply

Please submit your CV (including portfolio of relevant work) and a cover letter explaining why you're excited about this opportunity at POTR, how your experience aligns with this role, and include a brief overview of one or two product projects you've led (with your role, challenges faced, outcome, manufacturing detail if possible). Please include in your application whether you are applying for Mid-weight or Senior level.

Equal Opportunity Statement

POTR is an equal opportunity employer. We believe diverse teams create better products, better decisions, and better outcomes - we welcome applications regardless of gender identity, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic.