Happy Worker is looking for a full-time Toy/Product Designer and Developer (aka “Happy Designer of Great Toys-To-Be"). This new teammate’s main mission is to collaboratively design and art direct our toys, so that each new toy is our best ever!
Happy Worker has been creating toys and collectibles since 2003. We exist to create happy fans and happy clients. Our small team is passionate about great work, getting all the little details right, and delivering happiness. For more about us, please visit www.happyworker.com.
We’re looking for a very special kind of person. Someone who lives to tackle any and all challenges with oodles of optimism and cheerful can-do-ing. Self-motivated, passionate about toys and design, they get all the little details right while getting things done fast. They’re well suited to working with other perfectionists, receiving regular constructive criticism, and constantly tweaking to make things better. Ultimately they are a born happy worker with a professional-yet-fun attitude!
Your Mission
Happy Worker is a small entrepreneurial team... there’s more to do than we have time for :). The new teammate will help us bring more toys to life and spread more happiness!
- Design Direction (~60%): Working primarily from existing assets, characters, and control artwork, lead and collaborate with freelance sculptors, modelers, painters, and engineers. Art direct freelance artists and our in-house team to design and prototype new toys and collectibles. Through renders, photographs and in-person reviews, evaluate and refine works in progress, with an exacting eye for fine details.
- Toy/Product Design (~20%): Design new toy and collectible concepts, from initial rough sketches to exciting 2D designs and mockups. Create 3D digital models. Resolve design, technical and business challenges.
- Product Development and Project Management (~20%): Provide design oversight throughout all stages of development and production. Support day-to-day product development activities - design reqs, cost estimating, concepts, prototyping, engineering, budgeting, timelines and deliverables. Like all members of our team, you will create, proof, and edit a plethora of documents, including toy specs/requirements, product blueprints, production guides, checklists, schedules… plus all sorts of other things.
***Important: Keeping projects on-schedule often requires work during evenings and weekends. - Best Toy Ever: Ensure each new toy and collectible we make is our best toy ever.
- An Integral Team Member: Be a key part of a small, very busy, hard-working, and energetic team. Work collaboratively with teammates in our cozy Toronto HQ (production/manufacturing, design, and client happiness) and our teammates, partners, freelance artists, and factories around the world.
- Multitasking: Manage numerous design projects with a sense of urgency, carefully prioritizing workflow to meet targets and schedules.
- Communicating: Clearly and accurately communicate with local teammates in Toronto and overseas partners in Asia, troubleshooting any and all challenges. Meet with clients and factory partners.
- Learning and Innovating: Research and recommend materials and methods for new toys. Improve our design and development process, templates, and standards.
- Geek and Market Trends: Provide insight on art/design/development trends, geek culture, toys, and the collectible industry.
- Creative Community: Help nurture our happy creative community— Happy Worker’s network of freelance designers, sculptors, modelers, painters, pattern makers, etc.
- Traveling to China: Some periodic travel to China to work directly with our factory partners if/as needed.
- Cheerful Customer Service: Help our client happiness team respond to toy-making inquiries by understanding project goals, participating in e-mails/phone calls, laying out project options/specifications, creating budget estimates, and preparing toy-making schedules.
- Web, Blog, and Social Media: Help design and create exciting share-worthy content for our website, blog, and other social media.
- General Office Stuff & Various Odd Tasks: Help pitch in for anything and everything.
- Constant Bettering and Going Above and Beyond: Make everything that we do better!
- Happiness: Bring fun and happiness to all that you do!
EXPERIENCE + TALENTS
- Talented Designer and Creative: Excellent traditional and digital portfolio demonstrating strong sketching ability, design and technical skills; experienced at working in a wide range of creative projects/assignments; strong expertise with Adobe Creative Suite and with one or more flavors of 3D modeling/digital sculpting/CAD software; demonstrates good process techniques and ability to assimilate constructive criticism.
- Toy and/or Product Design Experience: Experience designing in a production-oriented environment, preferably with toys, collectibles, or aesthetic, high detail consumer products; knowledgeable with the prototyping and model making process, designing to cost, and designing for manufacturability while pushing conventional limits.
- Geek Culture, Gaming, Toys, and Collectibles: A passionate toy and design fan, with an understanding of and appreciation for geek culture, gaming, comics, toys, and collectibles.
- Well Rounded, Versatile Work Experience: If you decide to apply, we’d appreciate seeing a resume that lists all of your previous work experiences – not just the recent positions or the ones you feel relate most to this role.\
- Knowledgeable with Materials and Production Methods: For example, 3D printing, injection molding and plastics, rotational casting, resin molding and casting, fabric cutting and printing, sewing, painting techniques including washes, dry brushes and airbrushing; short-run prototyping, offset and digital printing, vacuum forming, blow molding, etc.
- Detail-Driven Perfectionist: Great memory for details.
- Master Organizer: Great at setting and managing priorities, task lists and schedules.
- Great Communicator: Excellent verbal and written communicator; able to write detailed but easy to understand emails/documents; a great listener; able to get a point across clearly when working with people with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
- Expert Problem Solver: Able to find solutions to challenges, exhibiting good judgment and making the impossible happen.
- Good with Numbers: Knows how to calculate things like volume, scale adjustments, imperial to metric conversions, and costs-per-unit.
- Tech Savviness: If you decide to apply, mention in your cover letter which software you know and love.
- Schooling: A post-secondary degree or diploma in something related to product design or industrial design; *always* learning new things outside of school and work.
- Comfort in Fast-Paced Environments: If you decide to apply, please take a moment in your cover letter to tell us about your busiest work experience.
- Other Unique Talents: Extreme ironing? Duct tape artistry? Hikaru dorodango? If you decide to apply, let us know what other specific talents or know-how you’d bring to Happy Worker. Anything goes!\
- Something we want to know: Please let us know your favorite toy and favorite snack.
NICE-TO-HAVE (BUT NOT REQUIRED) EXPERIENCE + TALENTS
- Knowledgeable with Overseas, “Made in China,” Manufacturing: Experience setting production requirements and managing engineers remotely, negotiating, and an understanding of Chinese business culture; relevant experience with project management, operations, and logistics.
- Understanding of QA & QC Testing: Some exposure to QC testing, sampling, AQLs, and industry best practices in QA.
- Informed about Social and Regulatory Compliance: Some exposure to lab testing and toy and product safety regulations (Health Canada, CPSC/CPSIA, ASTM F963, EN:71).
MORE ABOUT THE ROLE
- Employment Type: This is a full time, permanent position.
- Location: Toronto, Ontario. The Happy Worker HQ is downtown, at Richmond and Spadina. Our office is small, open-concept, and a little crazy.
- Start Date: The successful new team member may begin immediately, or within a couple weeks of being hired.
- Salary/Compensation: $40K to $60K, varies on experience; growth opportunities and benefits will be provided after one year.
- Office Hours: 9am – 6pm (sometimes later) Monday to Friday. Providing happy service to our clients/partners and keeping projects on-schedule often means some evening and weekend work.
- Your Team Leader: The new teammate will report to Kris Schantz, our co-founder and creative director.
ABOUT HAPPY WORKER
- What We Do: Happy Worker designs and manufactures toys and collectibles together with many of the world’s greatest gaming, entertainment, and corporate brands.
- Culture: Hardworking, communicative, reliable, fun, honest, reflective, self-critical, entrepreneurial, and family-like.
- What Motivates Us: Making our next toy our best toy ever; spreading happiness to our clients, their fans, and everyone else we come in contact with.
- Team Size: We currently have 6 full time staff in Toronto, and a bunch of contract and freelance teammates in other locations. We will grow our in-office team to 8 to 10 members in 2015.
APPLYING TO BECOME A HAPPY WORKER
To apply for this happy mission, please send an e-mail with your portfolio, resume, and cover letter to [email protected] with the subject line: “I’d like to be a Happy Toy Designer!” Please also include links to or sneak peeks at anything else you're really proud of. Pretty please ensure email is less than 10 MB.
In your cover letter, please answer the following 3 bonus questions:
- Where do you see yourself in 2-3 years?
- Outside of school and work time, how do you learn new things, and improve your skills and knowledge?
- Tell us about what drives you creatively, and how you scratch your artistic itches both at work and on the side at home on personal art/design projects.