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Senior Director of Design & Advanced Development

CA - San Francisco

About Us 

SharkNinja is a global product design and technology company, with a diversified portfolio of 5-star rated lifestyle solutions that positively impact people’s lives in homes around the world. Powered by two trusted, global brands, Shark and Ninja, the company has a proven track record of bringing disruptive innovation to market, and developing one consumer product after another has allowed SharkNinja to enter multiple product categories, driving significant growth and market share gains. Headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts with more than 3,600+ associates, the company’s products are sold at key retailers, online and offline, and through distributors around the world.  

 

At SharkNinja, we are redefining how products improve everyday life—and our Senior Director of Design & Advanced Development sits at the very heart of that ambition. We’re seeking a creative leader and future thinker to head up our global Front-End Innovation team: a passionate, hands-on group of design storytellers, engineers, and inventors who bring breakthrough product ideas to life. 

This isn’t just a design leadership role—it’s about leading the spark behind SharkNinja’s next generation of iconic products. You'll be the creative catalyst shaping what’s next, helping teams turn blue-sky thinking into tangible, consumer-loved innovations that define categories. Your team will shape the early concept architecture that eventually fuels mass production through our NPD (New Product Development) pipeline. 

The ideal candidate is a designer at heart, with deep engineering and design credentials, a natural flair for storytelling, and a relentless passion for solving consumer problems in inventive, inspiring ways. 

What You’ll Do 

  • Lead SharkNinja’s Front-End Innovation team, responsible for driving concept creation, design storytelling, and early platform exploration across all product categories. 
  • Inspire a team of Industrial Designers and Product Design Engineers to generate physical and visual prototypes that sell ideas and excite cross-functional partners and senior executives. 
  • Be a design storyteller—capable of pitching future-focused concepts in a way that connects emotionally and drives alignment across the business. 
  • Champion a studio culture that blends hands-on making, iterative sketching, advanced prototyping, and bold thinking grounded in technical feasibility. 
  • Partner with Mechanical Engineering, R&D, Product Development, and Product Marketing to ensure early concepts are rooted in a strong, scalable product strategy. 
  • Integrate deep knowledge of materials, manufacturing methods (e.g., plastic injection molding, die casting, sheet metal), and DFM/DFA to ensure ideas are not just exciting—but achievable. 
  • Bring context and imagination to every phase of development, combining user insights, trend forecasting, and emerging technologies to shape future design visions. 
  • Cultivate a high-energy environment where curiosity, creativity, and invention are celebrated and continuously pushed forward. 
  • Maintain a consumer-obsessed mindset, with a focus on developing products that change behaviors, exceed expectations, and lead markets. 

What You’ll Bring 

  • A degree in Product Design Engineering, Industrial Design, or a related field that blends design and engineering. A PDE background is highly valued for its unique balance of technical rigor and creative thinking. 
  • 10+ years of experience in product design and innovation, ideally in high-volume consumer goods environments. 
  • A rich portfolio of category-defining consumer products that demonstrate design excellence, storytelling, and successful commercialization. 
  • Proven leadership in building and developing creative teams—mentoring talent, championing new voices, and fostering collaboration across disciplines. 
  • An ability to lead with vision and conviction while remaining hands-on, detail-oriented, and deeply engaged in the creative process. 
  • A natural presenter and communicator, with the charisma and clarity to sell ideas across all levels of the organization—from engineers to executives. 
  • Strong technical foundation in high-volume manufacturing and an appreciation for the intersection of creativity and feasibility. 
  • A love for "making"—whether sketching, building, modeling, or hacking together ideas to inspire others. 
  • Bold thinking, grounded in insight, empathy, and a deep understanding of consumer behavior. 
  • A proficiency in SolidWorks or Creo, KeyShot, and Adobe Suite. 

Why This Role Matters 

This role is more than just product design—it's about shaping our future. You will lead a team of makers, storytellers, and engineers to uncover what’s next, spark new possibilities, and turn compelling ideas into category-changing products. If you’re obsessed with invention, fueled by creativity, and ready to lead a team that lives at the edge of what's possible—this is your moment. 

Salary and Other Compensation: The annual salary range for this position is displayed below. Factors which may affect starting pay within this range may include geography/market, skills, education, experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

Pay Range

$264,510 - $323,290 USD

Our Culture

At SharkNinja, we don’t just raise the bar—we push past it every single day.  Our Outrageously Extraordinary mindset drives us to tackle the impossible, push boundaries, and deliver results that others only dream of. If you thrive on breaking out of your swim lane, you’ll be right at home.

What We Offer

We offer competitive health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, employee stock purchase options, wellness programs, SharkNinja product discounts, and more. We empower your personal and professional growth with high impact Learning Programs featuring bold voices redefining what’s possible. When you join, you’re not just part of a company—you’re part of an outrageously extraordinary community. Together, we won’t just launch products—we’ll disrupt entire markets.  

At SharkNinja, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are vital to our global success. Valuing each unique voice and blending all of our diverse skills strengthens SharkNinja’s innovation every day. We support ALL associates in bringing their authentic selves to work, making an impact, and having the opportunity for career acceleration. With help from our leadership, associates, and our community, we aim to have equity be a key component of the SharkNinja DNA. 

Learn more about us:  
Life At SharkNinja  
Outrageously Extraordinary 

 
SharkNinja's Candidate Privacy Notice can be found here: https://www.sharkninja.com/candidate-privacy-notice/ 

For candidates based in China, please visit: https://sharkninja.com/candidate-privacy-notice/china/

For candidates based in Vietnam, please visit: https://www.sharkninja.com/candidate-privacy-notice/vietnam/

 

We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other class protected by legislation, and local law. SharkNinja will consider reasonable accommodations consistent with legislation, and local law. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact SharkNinja People & Culture at accommodations@sharkninja.com

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U.S. Standard Demographic Questions

SharkNinja, Welcoming Everyone 

 At SharkNinja, we take pride in our uniqueness. Our innovation extends beyond our products to the way we work, embracing diversity as a cornerstone of our success. We recognize that our differences make us stronger, more creative, and better at what we do. Our workforce should reflect the diversity of our customer base, which is why our recruitment commitment is to truly be an exemplary, equal opportunity employer, fostering a welcoming and inclusive workplace. 

We are looking for you as a valued candidate, to help us achieve our commitment by participating in this short questionnaire.  You can choose if you want to complete the questions, if you do your answers will help us to ensure our hiring practices are inclusive, and in return we commit to treating the information you provide with respect by applying technical measures to your response to remove it from your candidate record. 

How will we use the data? 

None of the hiring team will have access to your responses, therefore the information you provide will NOT be used as part of your application process. 

The data will be used to report on our recruitment process and its success in supporting Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion. 

You can review our privacy statement at this link: Candidate Privacy Notice. 

You can exercise your Data Subject Rights at any point during or after our recruitment process. For more information, please visit our Candidate Privacy Notice here 

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