Senior Interior Designer

Senior Interior Designer #1058880 (Contract)

Location:

Troy, Michigan

We are looking for an energetic, organized, experienced Senior Contract Interior Designer to join our team. This is a six‑month contract position with an immediate start, scoped to support our interior accessory portfolio across upcoming program milestones, production readiness, and the delivery of 70+ interior accessories for production. Any continuation beyond the initial term is not guaranteed and would be subject to business need, performance, and budget at that time.

The Senior Contract Interior Designer will help design and develop the interior products within our interior accessory portfolio in line with our design DNA. On day one, you will take ownership of accessories such as the center console, SUV kit interior, frunk ecosystem, floor mats, and appearance trim, with seating and other accessory programs ramping shortly. The ideal candidate is a self‑starter who can own projects independently, move fast with minimal ramp‑up, and execute at a level meaningfully above the average designer.

• Take ownership of assigned interior and accessory projects and drive them from concept through production‑ready design with minimal supervision.
• Design and create a wide variety of interior and accessory proposals based on project definitions and requests from individual stakeholders, including sketches, digital models, visual illustrations, physical prototypes, animations, etc.
• Deliver production‑ready surface models with the support of the digital surfacing team, make appearance decisions, material callouts in collaboration with the CMF team, and packaging coordination to support interior engineering through development of the accessory portfolio.
• Conduct ergonomic studies and develop a deep understanding of packaging constraints to inform form, fit, and function decisions.
• Drive rapid 3D prototyping cycles in close partnership with the digital modeling and physical modeling/fabrication teams—moving from sketch to digital surface to milled or printed prototype quickly, then iterating based on what the physical part reveals.
• Partner with CMF on material selection and manage iterative supplier feedback loops, including close design involvement with seating supplier programs.
• Performs closed‑loop validation of interior design with product development teams and key partners.
• Create research‑driven, data‑informed designs that meet users' needs and their motivations.
• Visually define ideas, design decisions, and appearance recommendations to senior‑level stakeholders.
• Partner closely with accessory product managers to align design direction with product requirements, customer use cases, and program priorities, and to keep design execution synced with the accessory roadmap.
• Utilize software skills in the latest versions of automotive design and 2D/3D development tools, such as Adobe Creative Suite, Alias, Blender, etc.
• Maintain execution quality and speed against aggressive, often‑shifting milestones across multiple concurrent accessory programs, and operate effectively in an ambiguous environment where requirements, constraints, and priorities evolve as programs mature.

• Bachelor's degree in automotive or industrial design, or comparable degree.
• 5‑7+ years of professional work experience as an automotive designer, industrial designer, or similar transportation and vehicle‑related role.
• Demonstrated ability to own projects independently and move from brief to production‑ready design with minimal ramp‑up.
• Proven ability to thrive in a fast‑paced, ambiguous startup environment—comfortable making design decisions with incomplete information and adjusting course as programs evolve.
• Excellent command of visual communication and evaluation along with thorough knowledge of 2D illustration and 3D development tools.
• Ability to write verbal descriptions of automotive design.
• Familiarity with rapid prototyping tools (milling, 3D printing, etc.).
• Passion for emerging technologies related to vehicle design.
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, and analytical skills.
• Proficient in both writing and speaking…