Product Designer

Industrial / Product Designer

Robert Axle Project and Old Man Mountain (OMM) and The Robert Axle Project (RAP) are two Bend, Oregon-based cycling brands. Our success is rooted in the integrity of our products and our relationships with our customers, employees, partners, supplies and industry peers.

OMM designs and sells bikepacking and bike touring gear for bikepackers, bike tourers and everyday riders. RAP makes and sells precision thru-axles and accessories that riders use for adding racks, trailers, trainers and other accessories to modern bikes. Our products are manufactured both offshore and in Oregon, and are all sold globally through multiple sales channels.

After years of working with exceptional contract designers, we are ready to bring product design in-house. This is a foundational hire — the person who takes this role will shape how we develop products for years to come. We are a small, hands-on team; prototypes live on our desks and ideas get tested on local trails and gravel roads before they ever hit a spec sheet. This role will lead design across both brands — mostly for OMM, with projects for RAP as needed.

The Role

This is a broad, hands-on role suited to someone who thrives in a small-company environment where they can see their work go from sketch to shelf. You'll also help establish a more structured, scalable design process — templates, libraries, and review rhythms that can grow with the company.

You will own the full product design cycle across hard goods (aluminum, steel, and engineering plastics) and soft goods (bags, packs, and welded or sewn fabric systems) — from initial concept and sketching through engineering drawings or tech packs, prototyping, and manufacturing hand-off.

You'll work side-by-side with our Product Development Manager — translating design intent for our overseas factory partners, sharpening manufacturing processes, resolving DFM questions without losing the design vision and driving design iteration with the team.

Key Responsibilities

• End-to-end product design. Lead the design and development for new hard goods (metal, plastic, carbon) and soft goods (sewn and welded fabrics, accessories), from design brief through prototyping, technical and production-ready drawings, manufacturing handoff and QC documentation and processes.
• Materials and hardware application. Apply working knowledge of sewn and welded textiles, metal alloys, structured plastics, and hardware and integrate and combine materials for exceptional products.
• Prototypes and samples. Plan, create and iterate physical prototypes and samples using in-house and external resources.
• Design library. Create and manage our product drawing library and design file organization including detailed CAD models, tech packs and engineering drawings that communicate clearly with overseas manufacturers.
• Maintain consistent design language. Apply branding, CMF and graphics integration that reinforces brand values and identity
• Testing and iteration. Work with Product Development Manager and contract engineers to help test and iterate products to established testing standards. Ride, load, abuse prototypes and samples in-house and in the field.
• Product Strategy: Contribute to product strategy conversations — identifying gaps in the line, opportunities for improvement, and ideas for new categories.

You could be the right fit if you have:

• 3 to 5 years of product design experience, with a portfolio showing products taken through manufacturing and selling — not just concept work.
• Work experience and/or personal experience in the cycling and outdoor industry.
• Strong hard-goods chops: familiarity with aluminum alloys, steel, and structural plastics, and an understanding of how design decisions affect tooling cost and lead time. Experience with a variety of manufacturing processes – machining, forging, casting, welding, injection molding.
• Strong soft-goods chops: solid understanding of soft goods construction — seam types, stitch specifications, technical fabrics (including welded constructions), closures, and hardware — with the ability to write a complete tech pack from scratch.
• Proficiency in SolidWorks (preferred) or Fusion 360, including the ability to produce engineering drawings with proper tolerances.
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite for tech packs, graphic callouts, and presentation.
• Understanding of design-for-manufacturability principles and how design decisions affect tooling, cost of goods and lead times.
• Knowledge and experience with rapid prototyping through various methods.
• Strong written and verbal communication — you can brief an overseas factory on CMF, support or argue for a design decision, and write a clean tech pack.

Extra credit given to you if you have:

• Work experience with Asian contract manufacturers.
• Hands-on pattern-making experience, 3-D printing, sample evaluation, or working directly with cut-and-sew factories on fit and construction corrections.
• Experience managing a CAD file library or product data management (PDM) system.
• Experience sourcing technical fabrics, webbings, and hardware from outdoor industry suppliers.
• Color and graphics sensibility — you can hold your own on CMF and brand-right product graphics.
• Light experience with FEA or basic stress/load analysis for load-bearing parts.

Compensation and Benefits

• 100% company paid medical and vision insurance.
• Paid vacation time and sick pay.
• Eight paid holidays.
• Matching 401k plan.
• Bike parts stipend, and access to discounted bike parts.
• A small, tight-knit team that moves fast and cares deeply about quality — what you design is what we ship.
• Life in Bend, Oregon: mountain and gravel biking, trail running, skiing, in one of the best small cities in the American West.
• Occasional taco lunches with the famous local taco truck green sauce.

How to apply

Send us your cover letter, resume and a portfolio that shows products you designed and took through production to market. We want to see the process, not just the finished product — sketches, CAD, drawings, and photos of final goods are all welcome. Send your application to katy@robertaxleproject.com. In your cover note, tell us: what product you are most proud of having brought to market, and why.