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Lead Industrial Designer

Hawthorne, California, United States

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats. 

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and London. For more information, please visit www.chaosinc.com.

Role Overview: 

CHAOS is seeking a Lead Industrial Designer to shape the physical and human-facing aspects of our next-generation dual-use systems – spanning mounted and dismounted sensor platforms, ground-based vehicles, and airborne effectors. 

In this role, you will define and drive industrial design vision across hardware and user-facing systems, balancing real-world operational constraints with a cohesive product identity. You will work closely with hardware, software, and user interface teams to ensure our products are not only high-performing, but intuitive, durable, and thoughtfully designed for the environments in which they operate. 

This role sits at the intersection of industrial design, human factors, and product strategy – bridging the gap between engineering-driven development and user-centered design. 

The ideal candidate is a hands-on, build-and-ship designer (not purely studio-based), with experience designing ruggedized products for demanding environments such as military, aerospace, or industrial applications.   

This is a full-time, on-site position in Los Angeles, CA, with ~20% travel for field testing and user interaction. 

 
Responsibilities: 

  • Define and drive the industrial design vision across a portfolio of dual-use products, ensuring alignment with brand, usability, and mission requirements 
  • Translate complex system requirements into intuitive physical form factors, layouts, and user interactions 
  • Design for real-world use cases, including deployment, transport, setup, maintenance, and operation in austere environments 
  • Collaborate with hardware, software, and UI teams to ensure a cohesive end-to-end user experience across physical and digital interfaces 
  • Develop concepts, mockups, and prototypes (low- to high-fidelity) to rapidly iterate on form, ergonomics, and usability 
  • Guide trade studies between performance, size, usability, and visual design, helping the organization make intentional design decisions 
  • Influence product architecture early to improve usability, serviceability, and operator efficiency 
  • Ensure designs account for ruggedization, environmental exposure, and manufacturability, in collaboration with mechanical engineering 
  • Provide design direction and critique across teams to maintain consistency and quality 
  • Participate in field testing and user engagement, incorporating feedback from operators into iterative design improvements 
  • Help evolve a design language that balances high-performance systems with a disciplined, mission-appropriate aesthetic 

 
What Success Looks Like: 

  • Products that are easier to deploy, operate, and maintain in the field 
  • Clear, intentional tradeoffs between performance and usability 
  • A recognizable and consistent design language aligned with brand image 
  • Strong alignment between engineering, product vision, and user needs 
  • Designs that balance visual quality with mission appropriateness — modern without being ornamental 

 

Minimum Requirements: 

  • Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design or related field 
  • 7+ years of experience in industrial design, with a focus on ruggedized, outdoor, or mission-critical products 
  • Demonstrated experience taking products from concept through production 
  • Strong portfolio showcasing shipped products (military, aerospace, industrial, automotive, or adjacent fields preferred) 
  • Experience designing for real-world use — including ergonomics, human factors, and operational workflows 
  • Ability to create and communicate design intent through sketches, renderings, prototypes, and storytelling 
  • Working knowledge of DFMA and manufacturing constraints, with the ability to collaborate effectively with mechanical engineers and manufacturing process engineers 
  • Understanding of environmental and durability considerations (e.g., weather exposure, handling, transport, field use) 
  • Strong cross-functional collaboration skills with engineering, product, and leadership teams 
  • Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance 

 

Preferred Requirements: 

  • Experience designing military or defense-adjacent systems, or products used in harsh environments 
  • Exposure to mounted/dismounted systems, sensor platforms, or vehicle-integrated products 
  • Familiarity with human-machine interface design across both physical and digital systems 
  • Experience working with rapid prototyping tools (3D printing, shop tools, etc.) 
  • Proficiency with common design tools (e.g., CAD, Adobe Suite, Figma), without requiring deep CAD ownership 
  • Experience conducting or supporting user research, field studies, or operator interviews 
  • Experience designing MIL-Spec products 
  • Active U.S. security clearance 


Why CHAOS?

  • Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
  • Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
  • Our Perks: Free daily lunch, ‘No meeting Fridays’, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
  • Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
  • Team Growth: 250 employees and counting across 5 global offices
$180k-240k

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. 

 

Recruiting Agencies: CHAOS Industries does not accept unsolicited resumes or outreach. Unsolicited submissions will not be reviewed or compensated.

 

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