Lead Industrial Designer

Lead Industrial DesignerBeer & Beverage Industry | Austin, TXLocation: Austin, Texas (On-Site, Full-Time)Reports to: Design DirectorTaphandles designs and manufactures custom tap handles, dispense towers, and branded point-of-sale for breweries and beverage brands worldwide. Our products show up where brands compete hardest: at the bar.We're hiring a Lead Industrial Designer for our Austin studio. Reporting to our Design Director, you'll work directly with our sales team to turn customer briefs into products that ship within months, and you'll carry the Design Director's creative and technical standards into the day-to-day work of the Austin studio. The role grows into supervising the Austin design team under the Design Director's leadership.We move quickly, value originality, and design products built to get made.What You'll DoPartner with Sales to translate customer briefs and brand assets into original, compelling product conceptsJoin customer conversations to present ideas, gather feedback, and shape creative directionGenerate high-level hand sketches and rapid ideation drawingsExplore multiple directions before refining toward strong solutionsCreate presentation-ready renderings and visual storytelling assetsBuild and refine 3D modelsApply design-for-manufacturing principles from the earliest concept stagesSet file-prep standards in Adobe Illustrator so artwork reaches our factory and global production partners accurate and completeGive day-to-day direction, feedback, and review to the Austin design and production spec team, in alignment with the Design DirectorSupport prototyping, sampling, and production documentationWork with the Design Director on hiring, onboarding, and development of new Austin designersWho You Are4+ years of professional design experience in industrial design, packaging, point-of-sale, signage, promotional products, or brand designA portfolio demonstrating exceptional craft, taste, and visual thinkingStrong sketching ability and conceptual skills; you generate ideas and refine them to completionFluent in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)Strong 3D modeling (Rhino preferred) and rendering (KeyShot) experienceExperience guiding or informally leading other designers, with a collaborative, encouraging styleConfident communicator who enjoys working directly with sales and customersNatural problem-solver who asks smart questions when information is incompleteDeep interest in physical products and how things are madeOpen to feedback and able to iterate quicklyPermanent U.S. work authorizationWe value raw ability, design taste, and problem-solving instincts, and we want a portfolio that shows your range.Bonus ExperienceZBrush or digital sculpting toolsExposure to branding, packaging, or beverage-related productsCompensation & BenefitsSalary: $75,000 – $95,000 annually (based on experience and portfolio strength)Comprehensive benefits packagePaid time off401(k) with 4% company matchEqual OpportunityTaphandles is an equal opportunity employer.To ApplyFor best consideration, email your resume and portfolio (PDF under 10MB) along with a brief introduction to recruit@taphandles.com.