Senior Industrial Designer

Job Title: Senior Industrial Designer

Job Description

The Senior Industrial Designer will design, define, and deliver the system layout, appearance, tactile experience, and ease of use for optical networking hardware line cards, optical modules, chassis systems, and other high‑performance optical platforms. This role blends mechanical design expertise, human‑centered design, and systems thinking to create intuitive, visually coherent, ergonomic, mechanically reliable, and premium‑feeling interfaces for dense, thermally constrained environments.

Responsibilities

• Design and refine the layout, appearance, and tactile experience of optical networking hardware line cards, optical modules, chassis systems, and other high‑performance optical platforms.
• Develop intuitive, visually coherent, and ergonomic user interfaces that enhance ease of use in dense, thermally constrained environments.
• Apply industrial design principles to balance aesthetics and functionality, ensuring products are both visually appealing and highly usable.
• Focus on color, material, and finish (CMF) to create cohesive, premium‑feeling product experiences that reinforce brand and product identity.
• Collaborate closely with mechanical engineering teams to ensure designs are mechanically reliable and compatible with manufacturing constraints.
• Integrate human factors, ergonomics, and sensory design into product concepts to optimize user interaction and comfort.
• Design for manufacturability (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA), particularly in sheet metal and related fabrication processes.
• Contribute industrial design expertise to data center hardware such as servers, routers, switches, and security appliances.
• Participate in cross‑functional collaboration to align industrial design, engineering, and manufacturing requirements.
• Present and defend design concepts using a strong portfolio of high‑quality user interface and product designs.

Essential Skills

• Minimum of 5 years of direct experience in industrial design for hardware products.
• Strong proficiency with SolidWorks for mechanical and industrial design work.
• Hands‑on experience designing for color, material, and finish (CMF) to create visually coherent and premium product experiences.
• Demonstrated expertise in industrial design with a focus on sensory and tactile qualities.
• Experience designing data center products such as servers, routers, switches, and security appliances.
• Practical knowledge of design for manufacturability (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA).
• Experience working with sheet metal components and sheet metal fabrication processes.
• Background in industrial design collaboration, human factors engineering, or ergonomics.
• Portfolio of high‑quality user interface designs that showcase human‑centered design and systems thinking.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience collaborating in multidisciplinary teams that include mechanical engineering, manufacturing, and product management.
• Ability to integrate ergonomics and human factors into complex hardware systems for data center environments.
• Strong visual communication skills for presenting design concepts and rationale.
• Familiarity with dense, thermally constrained hardware environments and their impact on industrial design decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to balance aesthetic goals with functional and reliability requirements.

Work Environment

This is an onsite role based in a hardware development environment, requiring presence in the facility 5 days per week. You will work closely with engineering and manufacturing teams on optical networking components, modules, integrated line cards, and chassis systems. The environment emphasizes innovation, miniaturization, and manufacturing automation within the rapidly growing data center hardware space, offering exposure to advanced optical and data center technologies and a culture focused on high performance and continuous improvement.

Job Type & Location

This is a Permanent position based out of Milpitas, CA.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $170000.00 - $225000.00/yr.

401k medical dental vision bonus

Workplace Type

This is a fully onsite position in Milpitas,CA.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Aug 20, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.