Industrial Design Co-op - Fall 2026

Company Description

Hillman is a $1.3B leader in complete hardware solutions, delivered with industry-best customer service to over 26,000 customers including Lowe's, Home Depot, Walmart, and Amazon. Hillman designs innovative products and merchandising solutions for complex categories that deliver outstanding customer experiences. Leveraging a world-class distribution and sales network, Hillman delivers a "small business" experience with "big business" efficiency.

Job Summary

Hillman is seeking two (2) Industrial Design Co-op students for Fall 2026. One position will support our Hardware Solutions team, and the other will support our Everyday Solutions team. These roles provide hands-on experience in product design, packaging, and innovation while offering exposure to key design processes and cross-functional collaboration. This is a full-time, hybrid position (40 hours/week). A portfolio is required for consideration.

Essential Job Functions*

• Contribute to ideation with design, marketing, and engineering teams to inspire and facilitate new product concepts.
• Communicate design intent through hand sketching, digital sketching, CAD modeling, and rendering.
• Assist in user research, trend identification, and innovation workshops to uncover opportunities within product categories.
• Produce design documentation to communicate concept direction to cross-functional partners.
• Apply both critical and creative thinking to solve consumer, customer, and business challenges.
• Maintain a positive, collaborative attitude and contribute to team and company success.
• This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.

Employees are expected and encouraged to participate in safety and health program activities including immediately reporting hazards, immediately reporting unsafe work practices and incidents to supervisors, wearing required personal protective equipment, and participating in and supporting safety committee activities.

Education & Experience

• Currently enrolled in an accredited Industrial Design program.
• Experience in product and/or packaging design preferred but not required.
• Experience with innovation or design thinking methodologies preferred but not required.
• A portfolio demonstrating design skills is required.

Competencies - Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Exceptional visual communication skills, including analog and digital sketching.
• Strong proficiency in 3D CAD and rendering tools (SolidWorks, Rhino3D, KeyShot).
• Strong proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
• High attention to detail and strong organizational skills.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to collaborate in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment.
• Ability to balance creativity with practical problem-solving.

Operational Equipment

• NA

Work Environment and Physical Demands

Work Environment

Office: Office setting. Seldom exposed to fumes or airborne particles. Loud working environment of the shop area. Functional vision and hearing required.

Physical Demands

Office: Sedentary.

The Hillman Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental disability, protected veteran or military status, genetic information, citizenship status, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations or ordinances. The information collected by this application is solely to determine suitability for employment, verify identity and maintain employment statistics on applicants.