Lead Product Designer

About Us

TentBox was established in 2015, and is the UK’s leading roof tent brand and the facilitator of unforgettable outdoor experiences. 

We’re revolutionising adventure and making outdoor exploration simpler and more convenient with a range of high-performance roof tents. So whether you’re a novice camping family, an experienced solo-explorer – or anything in between – you can embrace the freedom to get out and see the world.

Our Values

Exceptional Products

Product quality is at the core of everything we do. All our products are designed by our world-class product team in the UK.

Unrivalled Customer Service

We care deeply about our customer service, and work tirelessly to ensure everyone has a positive experience with TentBox.

Inclusive Community

The TentBox Community is everything to us. We understand that a TentBox is so much more than a product – it's a lifestyle. 

The Role

We are seeking a self driven, talented Lead Product Designer to join our New Product Development team at TentBox. As our lead Designer, you will be the technical and commercial anchor for a collection of products within the TentBox range. You are responsible for the end-to-end delivery of new products, ensuring they transition seamlessly from a design concept into a high-quality, market-ready reality.

In this role, you act as the central hub, leading on the assembly and timely delivery of your assigned range. While you are a "hands-on" designer, you will also have a shared pool of internal talent to support, including Product Design Engineers, Industrial Designers, and Pattern Makers, to leverage their specialist skills and ensure your projects meet our rigorous standards.

Key Responsibilities

• End-to-End Category Accountability: Own the delivery of multiple, fast-paced complex projects within your category, ensuring they launch on time, on budget, and to the TentBox standard.
• Resource Coordination: Act as the project lead for your range, identifying when to pull in specialist support from our pool of Engineers, ID Designers, and Pattern Makers to resolve specific challenges.
• Technical Resolution: Use your experienced design background to lead the CAD development, resolving complex assemblies, and leading the development from early sketch to production.
• Hands on Prototyping: Take a maker approach to design. You will be expected to get hands-on in the workshop, building physical prototypes to rapidly validate ideas, test mechanisms, and prove concepts before committing to high-fidelity CAD or tooling.
• Commercial Management: Manage product costs in-line with margin targets and ensure all development remains within agreed project budgets.
• Factory Liaison: Work directly with manufacturing partners in the Far East to assess technical issues, define resolutions, and manage the critical path through sampling to production.
• Market Alignment: Maintain a strong sense of what "lands" for the TentBox customer, creating innovative solutions that are customer driven and commercially viable.

Ideal Candidate

• Technical Foundation: A degree in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design, Industrial Design, or a related technical field.
• Proven Track Record: 4+ years of experience developing complex consumer goods from concept through to manufacture, with a portfolio showcasing successful launches and your involvement in the execution.
• Manufacturing Knowledge: A deep understanding of manufacturing processes and experience working directly with overseas factories to solve production issues.
• Software Fluency: High proficiency in 2D and 3D tools (SolidWorks/Rhino, Keyshot, and Adobe Creative Suite) to visualise, resolve and communicate design intent.
• Communication: The ability to clearly communicate technical challenges and commercial solutions to senior stakeholders.
• Collaborative Leadership: The ability to influence and motivate a multidisciplinary team of specialists without needing a formal line-management structure to drive results.
• Drive: A self-motivated approach with the ability to challenge conventional thinking while keeping ideas delivery focused.
  

What We Offer

• 25 days annual leave + bank holidays / pro-rata
• Private Health Care
• Standard Nest Pension contributions
• Staff discount
  
  

Location: This is an office-based role with flexibility to work from home, depending on the needs of the team (Southampton, UK)