SUNEX Tools Staff Industrial Designer

Staff Industrial Designer

SUNEX Tools | Industrial Design | Product Marketing

Job Title: Staff Industrial Designer

Job Type: Full Time, On-Site

Location: Greenville (area), South Carolina

About Us: SUNEX Tools is a subsidiary of VIS LLC. A leader in the Professional Tool & Equipment Industry, SUNEX/VIS is a fast-paced, family-owned company with a global customer base and a diverse manufacturing footprint across multiple countries. We strive to innovate aiming to enhance finish, function, and efficiency for the Tool & Equipment Professional.

Your Mission: As an integral part of our team, your goal is to lead the design, development, and evaluation of new products. You will embrace each product as an opportunity to infuse creativity into both form and function through your skills in sketching, volume studies, renderings, and CAD.

Position Overview: As a Staff Industrial Designer at SUNEX Tools, you will help shape innovative products that solve real user needs and strengthen the company’s product design language. This mid-level role is ideal for a curious, hands-on designer with 2 years of professional experience who thrives in a fast-paced product development environment. You will explore form, function, aesthetics, usability, and manufacturing considerations while translating insights into compelling concepts and production-ready solutions. Working with increasing autonomy and in close partnership with senior designers, engineering, marketing, research, and supplier teams, you will play a key role in bringing user-focused products to market. This position reports to the Lead Industrial Designer or Industrial Design Manager.

·        Concept Development: Explore product ideas through sketching, ideation, competitive analysis, and

identification of unmet user needs.

·        Design Execution: Develop concepts using paper and digital sketching, technical drawings,

renderings, 2D illustrations, 3D CAD, and physical mockups while considering manufacturing, cost,

quality, and performance requirements.

·        Visual Communication: Communicate design intent clearly through visual storytelling, presentations,

models, and documentation to support alignment and decision-making.

·        Innovation: Maintain a strong curiosity for users, tools, materials, and emerging technologies, and

bring fresh thinking to product programs and design challenges.

·        Product Enhancement: Apply a strong understanding of proportion, ergonomics, interaction, and

product aesthetics to create designs with clear functional value.

·        Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner within industrial design, brand marketing, engineering,

product management, and sourcing teams to deliver designs that meet established business, user,

and technical criteria.

·        Design Reviews: Prepare and present concepts, renderings, models, mechanical drawings, and

written reports for milestone reviews and leadership approval.

·        User Research: Participate in research reviews, hands-on product activities, and observational jobsite

visits to understand user requirements and translate findings into actionable design insights.

·        Materials, Finishes, and Brand Alignment: Recommend construction approaches, mechanisms, color,

materials, surface finishes, and manufacturing processes while ensuring designs align with SUNEX

Tools brand and product design standards.

·        Manufacturing Integration: Work closely with engineering and suppliers to maintain design intent

through production, with solutions optimized for injection molding, assembly processes, scalable

manufacturing, cost, quality, and performance.

·        Project Execution: Manage multiple design activities concurrently and respond effectively to shifting

priorities, schedules, and project direction.

·        Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, or equivalent professional experience.

·        2 years of professional industrial design or product design experience.

·        Strong understanding of form development, ergonomics, and manufacturable design.

·        Proficiency in paper and digital sketching, technical drawings, renderings, 2D illustration, 3D CAD,

and physical model making.

·        Excellent communication, presentation, and visual storytelling skills with the ability to influence cross-

functional partners.

·        Ability to manage multiple projects, adapt quickly to change, and contribute effectively in a fast-

paced development environment.

·        Knowledge of manufacturing processes, materials, finishes, injection molding, and assembly methods

is preferred.

Why Join SUNEX Tools? This role offers the opportunity to contribute to meaningful product innovation, collaborate with a dynamic cross-functional team, and help shape tools designed for demanding real-world applications. If you are passionate about industrial design and eager to make an impact, we encourage you to apply.