Manager Product Design - Action Figures

Company Description

CREATIVITY IS OUR SUPERPOWER. It’s our heritage and it’s also our future. Because we don’t just make toys. We create innovative products and experiences that inspire fans, entertain audiences and develop children through play. Mattel is at its best when every member of our team feels respected, included, and heard—when everyone can show up as themselves and do their best work every day. We value and share an infinite range of ideas and voices that evolve and broaden our perspectives with a reach that extends into all our brands, partners, and suppliers.

The Team:
The Action Figure design team is a group of passionate and motivated designers with the goal of inspiring and unlocking the imagination of kids and fans alike.  We are looking for enthusiastic, innovative storytellers to build out Action Figure product lines.  Our products range from world-building playsets, action figures, vehicles and role play items.  We work with equally passionate cross function teams that spans the globe with our international partners, making our design led toy company of Mattel one of the best in the industry.  Are you ready to inspire our next generation of action figure enthusiasts?     

Job Description

The Opportunity: 
The Product Design Manager will lead and inspire a group of designers, creating innovative products that are rooted in trends, kid insights and fun play.  Collectible segments are designed to appeal the most ardent of fans with a focus on authenticity and quality.  The Product Design Manager will execute and help create product design visions, strengthen the voice of our designers and will be ready for any hands-on managing that is required to keep the business moving.  You will guide, nurture and grow your design team to empower the future leaders within the organization.

What Your Impact Will Be: 

The Business

• You have a thorough understanding of toy product design-development processes
  • From ideation sketches, illustrations, rough models, to final modeling and production
  • Have your finger on the pulse for the latest in toy trends, materials, content and innovation
  • Have a clear understanding of the Toy industry, with familiarity of toys both past and present in the action figure and role play categories.
• You are a strategic design thinker:
  • Able to contribute and execute on product design visions
  • Brings fresh POV with innovative design concepts
  • Understands systems of play within various scales and segments of action figures
  • Understand the stories, essence and lifestyle of the characters we want to bring to life in toys
  • Build strategy around a toy line across a variety of price points and play styles
  • Solid understanding of how to design for the target consumer, influenced by kid usability and parent expectations and needs and/or that of the adult collector
  • Can take in feedback and commentary on projects and revise where necessary
• You are a visual designer
  • Able to create visual design language in a product that is suitable for action figure audiences
  • Set the visual stage in color, shape and story every season by presenting and applying trends
  • Understanding of how play and design work together in product to tell a story
• An excellent communicator:
  • Able to present to an audience of varying sizes both clearly and confidently
  • Can take concepts and distill them into a clear, understandable narrative to garner buy-in throughout the organization through a variety of medium
• Collaborator:
  • Work with outside licensors to build the best product.  To be able to be a problem solver, partner and toy advocate.  To share communication in both directions to ensure alignment across all parties.
  • Working with Mattel’s Consumer Insights team to identify opportunities, consumer needs, parent, and kid purchase behaviors
  • Partner with Mattel’s cross-function team of experts in Marketing, Packaging, Engineering and Product Management.  
• You are nimble:
  • Able to pivot and revise on projects and strategy where business necessitates
  • Occasionally participate in design efforts outside of your area of expertise, and as your own skillset dictates
• Multi-tasker:
  • On projects with varying complexity through maximization of your design team and internal / external resources of Mattel (Internal cross function team, International Mattel partners, outside vendors)
  • Can jump in on any given situation as a hands-on manager to assist your design team

The Team

• You are a design leader
  • You manage a team of designers and empower them to grow and foster