Mechanical Engineer (Remote Eligible, Contract)

IDEO Play Lab is seeking a designer with advanced prototyping and mechanical design skills for contract work (remote eligible).

IDEO’s Play Lab is looking for a talented designer to help our toy invention team. IDEO’s Play Lab creates innovative, fun, and engaging products and experiences with a focus on toys for kids. Our skilled team of designers and engineers dream up and bring toy concepts to life through prototyping. We’d love your help as a contractor, building one-off mechanical prototypes to impress our toy manufacturer clients. Show us your passion for toys and abilities to design and prototype them.

This role is remote - you may be anywhere in the US or Canada. You may also collaborate with team members in: Cambridge, New York, San Francisco.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Check out some of our inventions and our instagram page:

Why is this role important for IDEO’s work?

We believe in the power of play to connect, inspire, and impact people at a deep emotional level. Play has the power to inspire curiosity, enhance learning, and motivate positive behavior change.The IDEO Play Lab has brought toys and play experiences to kids around the world through partnership with Mattel, Hasbro, Fisher Price, Spinmaster, & Moose. We hone in on our expertise in play, play principles, game mechanics and storytelling, to create toys that spark joy, laughter, curiosity, lifelong memories, and so much more.

Once here you will:

Join an experienced, interdisciplinary team of designers, inventors, engineers, design researchers
Help work on new to-the-world toy ideas for kids ages 0-8 years old.
Tinker, explore, and validate toy concepts
Create high quality working prototypes
Solve complex mechanical challenges
Explore and push concepts further through sketching
Create engaging videos of prototypes and concepts
Grow your design skills
Have fun!

Relevant Experience and Mindsets:

A passion for toys and playful experiences
Experience in the toy and game industry
Understanding of how kids play
Ability to identify kid trends and translate them to toy concepts
Skills in sketching, hand prototyping, rapid prototyping, and CAD
Knowledge of advanced mechanical design and prototype building
Great communication and collaboration skills
Motivation, initiative, and attention to detail
An interest or knowledge of how things are made
A drive to improve your design and prototyping skills
Video making and editing skills

Application:

Submit a resume and a portfolio showing examples of your work and capabilities - Design projects, toy experience, mechanisms, electronics, sketching, personal projects, shop skills, etc.

Bonus:

Include your answer to the following question in your cover letter (yes, we absolutely read them!)

If you could redesign a toy, what would it be, why should it be redesigned, how might you make it better?

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Compensation:

IDEO is committed to paying its employees equitably, regardless of gender identity or race/ethnicity/cultural identity. We support the holistic well-being of our community by providing a thoughtfully designed benefits package.

The annualized pay range for this role is $70,000 - $125,000 USD. This range is influenced by a wide range of factors considered in compensation decisions at IDEO. This includes, but is not limited to: skills, industry knowledge, and experience. Final offers may vary from the amount listed based on contract duration, candidate experience & expertise, and other factors.

Commitment to Diversity

At IDEO, we are committed to the work of advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within our organization and in the world. Our purpose of having disproportionate, world-changing impact through design is directly connected to our ability to bring many different perspectives to the table. This applies to our candidates, the people we hire, the clients and customers we serve, and the communities we learn from in our research.

As a human-centered organization, we are committed to working with and designing for people of every race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, physical ability or attribute, religion, national origin, or political belief. We recognize that this commitment requires ongoing work and sustained attention, as well as adaptation to new insights and best practices. We keep our diversity data public for the sake of accountability and transparency. These commitments will also be part of your journey at IDEO, so please feel free to read more about them here.

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If you could redesign a toy, what would it be, why should it be redesigned, how might you make it better?

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Play Lab Mechanical Engineer (Contract)