Furniture and Product Designer

Studio Ashby Ltd; London; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading design studio in London is looking for a talented Furniture and Product Designer to create bespoke high-end furniture and accessories for luxury residential and hospitality projects. The successful candidate will work collaboratively on design concepts, technical drawings, and product development, while bringing strong design knowledge and creative problem-solving skills to the team. This role offers the opportunity to influence innovative designs and engage with clients and suppliers in delivering exceptional projects.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 4 years post-graduate experience in luxury residential/hospitality sector.
• Strong hand sketching abilities with proficiency in iPad sketching applications.
• Experience of furniture and product development processes.

Responsibilities

• Provide creative bespoke high-end designs for furniture, lighting, and accessories.
• Produce detailed design drawings for new product developments.
• Manage product design and development calendars, collaborations, and internal projects.

Skills

Design History Knowledge

Sketching

SolidWorks

Adobe Creative Suite

Problem Solving

Communication Skills

Education

Degree in Furniture, Product or Industrial Design

Tools

SolidWorks

Adobe Creative Suite

Vectorworks

Job description

Job Description: Furniture and Product Designer

Who are we?

Studio Ashby is a London-based interior design studio, founded by Sophie Ashby in 2014. We are a dynamic group of twelve experienced designers, working across residential and commercial interior design and creative direction in the UK and Internationally. We pride ourselves on our positive, professional and personal approach in all that we do. We work efficiently and collaboratively to bring integrity and soul to interior life.

What do we do?

Our mission is to create habitable spaces with identity. Whether it’s a home, a restaurant, a hotel or a commercial development, we apply the same creative approach that starts with envisioning the lives of the people who will inhabit it. We question what inspires them, what moves them and how we can fulfil their desires and support their needs with our design. Art plays a central role in our inspiration and process. Stemming from Sophie’s own passion and training in art history, we believe art has a vital place in every interior and no space feels complete without it.

Together with interior design we also provide creative direction. This allows us to create immersive experiences in the environments we design, ensuring the character and style of our clients is felt in substance across all details and touch points. Our creative direction includes many aspects that affect how we experience our environments: from art consultancy and buying to bespoke collaborations, books to uniforms, planting to fragrance. With greater consideration to the many layers that make up our interior world, the deeper the connection we have to it in response.

Relationships are core to all that we do: relationships with our clients, our customers, our suppliers, manufacturers and the many craftspeople and ateliers we work closely with. Our work is a collaborative process involving many different people, and strong relationships are crucial for achieving good results. We believe design should be a positive experience and it’s important to have fun along the way.

Job Summary:

Working within a team you will be providing creative bespoke high-end designs for furniture, lighting and accessories, through all stages of a project. Through Concept conception, design development, technical drawings and specifications for multiple high-end residential and hospitality projects.

What we’re looking for:

• Someone with passion and knowledge in the history of design, antiques, furniture, arts and beautiful things for the home.
• A confident, loyal, trustworthy, dynamic, charming person who can hold their own with project consultant teams, suppliers, contractors and fabricators.
• A resourceful and organised person
• An assertive, pro-active and solution orientated team player
• A furniture designer who is interest in developing the in-house furniture range.

The ideal candidate would have:

• Degree in furniture, product or industrial design or equivalent
• At least 4 years post-graduate experience with a minimum of 4 years in the luxury residential / hospitality sector
• Strong hand sketching abilities. Proficient in iPad sketching applications such as Sketchbook or Procreate.
• Full proficiency using Solid works, Keyshot, Adobe Creative Suite, Vectorworks, & Microsoft Suite
• A strong background in high-end bespoke furniture
• Strong aesthetic and technical design skills
• An exceptional eye for scale and balance, detail, colour and awareness of ergonomics within a design
• An understanding of joinery construction, manufacturing process, materials and finishes
• Experience and knowledge of upholstery, fabrics, soft furnishing construction methods both traditional and modern.
• Experience of furniture and product development, through process and supplier research, sampling, prototyping, testing requirements and production
• Strong problem solving skills, naturally curious, with an interest in developing current practices to instigate positive change.
• Agility when responding to the demands of project work and enjoys working in a changing environment.
• Knowledge of suppliers, assisting current team with developing supply chain and logistics.
• A strong commercial & material awareness with financial understanding of project costs, value engineering and budgets.
• An understanding of project programs and deadlines.
• Awareness & understanding of furniture standards & performance regulations, for commercial, hospitality and residential sector.
• A passion for sustainability and longevity of products.
• Demonstrates strong collaborative abilities, with excellent communication, interpersonal & presentation skills, both verbal & written. Must be fluent in spoken and written English.

The role will include:

• Working alongside the Senior Furniture & product designer, produce concepts through to detailed design drawings for new product developments.
• Alongside the Senior Designer & new product development colleagues, co-own and manage the product design and development calendars, collaborations and internal projects, ensuring key calendar milestones are met.
• Identify new supplier opportunities, working with New Product Development colleagues to target those aligned with Sister/Studio Ashby brand direction, quality & price parameters.
• Working closely with Senior Designer & branding to ensure design briefs are executed to the highest standard, whilst meeting commercial expectations.
• Designing and developing beautiful bespoke furniture, products and accessories including case pieces, upholstery, lighting and joinery, using your creative and technical skills.
• Hand sketching, 3D modelling and producing renders.
• Putting together presentations.
• Producing bespoke furniture and accessories delivery drawings and specifications.
• Liaising with suppliers, manufacturers, makers & contractors. Responsible for managing and checking information produced by suppliers and manufacturers.
• Travelling to manufacturers and suppliers to review prototypes, samples and assess production quality.
• Upkeep of Studio and Sister bespoke furniture inventory.
• Helping to establish and streamline furniture design templates.
• Contributing to streamlining processes and procedures to increase quality and efficiency.

We're keen to hear from applicants who are open to either permanent; full-time or part-time roles, or freelancers.

Please submit a CV and portfolio in PDF format to [e-mail] with the subject ‘Furniture and Product Designer’