Product Design and Innovation Lead

Job Purpose:

Through the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), you will be working in partnership with Adam Equipment and BNU School of Art, Design and Performance, and School of Creative and Digital Industries. This is a chance to utilise your academic knowledge and experience in an industrial setting by leading a high profile and strategically important project to a successful conclusion. The KTP will develop a framework for product design, manufacturing and renewal at Adam Equipment, which will include the setting up of processes and strategies for prototype development and renewal of Adam scale and measurement equipment through research and design practice. The process will also incorporate software and communication functionality, by including and upgrading digital user interfaces, the setting up of network (IoT) communication capabilities and the setting up of backend servers for performing data analytics.

Main Duties & Responsibilities of the role:

• Manage and deliver the project activities as agreed in the Knowledge Transfer Partnership project with Adam Equipment
• Co-ordinate the research and development activities for the project
• Develop design concepts appropriate for the brand and market
• Set up and test prototypes
• Organise data retrieval and storage within an agreed and safe information governance framework
• Analyse the data using appropriate software and data analysis techniques
• Apply basic programming and AI knowledge to support product automation, data integration, and system analytics to support the implementation of network (IoT) communication capabilities
• Document research and project development
• Contribute to research reports and research articles
• Write reports, undertake specification literature reviews and prepare instructions for market use
• Present information as required on research progress and outcomes to project team
• Apply understanding of the commercial context, design requirements and technical challenges
• Plan experimental activities and evaluate outcomes in relation to project criteria
• Characterise materials and structural components, gaining approvals for recommendations from the project team
• Finalise new product design, approval, and implementation
• Conduct product life cycle analysis
• Undertake Design Review in compliance with relevant UK and international standards
• Work to implement selected design changes in manufacturing
• Work with Adam Equipment on the new product launch
• Actively participate as a member of a KTP project team
• Attend and contribute to relevant meetings
• Deal with problems which may affect the achievement of project objectives and deadlines
• Plan own day-to-day activity within the framework of the agreed project
• Comply with relevant legislative and other requirements (e.g., the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR; Health and Safety; UKVI; and Equality and Diversity) in all working practices
• Such other duties temporarily or on a continuing basis, as may reasonably be required by the project

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Education, Qualifications & Training
A Master’s Degree in Product Design / Industrial Design / Product Engineering

Knowledge & Experience
• Experience in using business process design tools (e.g. BPMS) in the context of manufacturing and industrial settings
• Experience of user-centric design practices
• Experience and understanding of sustainable design practices
• Proven track record of producing reports and research publications.
• Evidence of managing the delivery of a product design brief from concept development to manufacture.
• Experience of CAD led product design to both traditional and digital manufacture.
• Evidence of producing highly accurate technical work and high-quality documentation
• Experience of and/or familiarity with GUI for measurement devices, networking (preferably IoT and IIoT) solutions and data analytics, and integration of these into products
• Experience of project management for research and innovation projects
• Basic understanding of programming languages and AI for automation and data processing

Skills
• Ability to be self-motivated, self- directed and ambitious to carry out the project activities
• Excellent organisation skills
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to work on own initiative
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work under pressure and to deadlines
• Highly developed administrative abilities

Special Requirements
A willingness and ability to work at offsite locations and occasional travel in UK and internationally

What this role offers:
• In-house training & development support opportunities plus generous £2,000 personal development allowance per year
• contributory pension scheme
• a range of staff discounts with major retailers.
• 23 days of annual leave per annum (plus bank holidays)

To develop a new Design and Innovation strategy that will introduce a new culture of innovation and continuous improvement. The new focus on innovation will revolutionise the user experience of Adam Equipment products, moving these products in line with the Internet of Things (IoT) category.