What does a senior industrial designer do?
A senior industrial designer specializes in designing and developing ideas into manufactured products. Most of their responsibilities revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis to identify what the product will be and who will use it, conceptualize plans and designs, create sketches and blueprints, utilize software and other tools to come up with virtual models, and present prototypes to clients. They must also develop guidelines and specifications according to the project's requirements. Moreover, as a senior industrial engineer, they must lead and serve as a role model to junior designers, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Senior industrial designer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior industrial designer resumes:
- Manage timelines, client relations, design research, product conceptualization, modeling, prototyping, product liaisoning and more.
- Create product concepts and take them through SolidWorks 3D models and into production.
- Refine the initial concept into a functional high fidelity prototype capable of meeting design objectives verifiable through user testing.
- Design pet toys and pet products.
- Design & create models & drawings, processes & procedures for farm, ranch & pet products.
- Develop requirements, authoring functional specifications, support QA and lead teams that cross functional and organizational boundaries
Senior industrial designer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Senior Industrial Designers are proficient in Industrial Design, Solidworks, and CAD. They’re also known for soft skills such as Mechanical skills, Problem-solving skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Senior Industrial Designers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Industrial Design, 10%
Supervised junior level industrial designer.
- Solidworks, 8%
Created product concepts and took them through SolidWorks 3D models and into production.
- CAD, 8%
Involved in all phases of the design process, from brainstorming and conceptualization to DFM through CAD.
- KeyShot, 7%
Strengthened concept visualization, presentation and layout design through effective 3D rendering with Keyshot and Rhino3D.
- Design Solutions, 6%
Lead a team of designers through hands on work with clients to create design solutions tailored to their needs.
- Visualization, 5%
Implemented math modeling changes to several key vehicle components to allow accurate visualization and manufacturing of parts.
Most senior industrial designers use their skills in "industrial design," "solidworks," and "cad" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential senior industrial designer responsibilities here:
Mechanical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a senior industrial designer to have is mechanical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "industrial designers must understand how products are engineered, at least for the types of products that they design." Senior industrial designers often use mechanical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "analyzed human factors, created mechanical concepts, designed stretcher aesthetics and graphics. "
Problem-solving skills. Another essential skill to perform senior industrial designer duties is problem-solving skills. Senior industrial designers responsibilities require that "industrial designers determine the need, size, and cost of a product; anticipate production issues; develop alternatives; evaluate options; and implement solutions." Senior industrial designers also use problem-solving skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "designed and executed innovative new products, improved margin/function of existing product lines, and provided innovative marketing solutions. "
Analytical skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of senior industrial designers is analytical skills. This skill is critical to many everyday senior industrial designer duties, as "industrial designers use logic or reasoning skills to study consumers and recognize the need for new products." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "collaborated with engineering to design and build 3d cad database of transilluminated powered phlebectomy device for smith+nephew. "
Artistic ability. For certain senior industrial designer responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "artistic ability." The day-to-day duties of a senior industrial designer rely on this skill, as "industrial designers sketch their initial design ideas, which are used later to create prototypes." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what senior industrial designers do: "freelance business with a broad spectrum of artistic services including: industrial design. "
Computer skills. Another crucial skill for a senior industrial designer to carry out their responsibilities is "computer skills." A big part of what senior industrial designers relies on this skill, since "industrial designers use computer-aided design software to develop their designs and create prototypes." How this skill relates to senior industrial designer duties can be seen in an example from a senior industrial designer resume snippet: "developed future computer products for the consumer electronics market. "
Creativity. Another skill commonly found on senior industrial designer job descriptions is "creativity." It can come up quite often in senior industrial designer duties, since "industrial designers must be innovative in their designs and the ways in which they integrate existing technologies into their new product." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day senior industrial designer responsibilities: "lead all creative developments for oem clients. "
The three companies that hire the most senior industrial designers are:
- Deloitte9 senior industrial designers jobs
- Amazon3 senior industrial designers jobs
- Smith Seckman Reid3 senior industrial designers jobs
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Compare different senior industrial designers
Senior industrial designer vs. Inventor
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, senior industrial designer responsibilities require skills like "industrial design," "keyshot," "design solutions," and "visualization." Meanwhile a typical inventor has skills in areas such as "reverse engineering," "prototype," "revit," and "patent applications." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Inventors tend to reach similar levels of education than senior industrial designers. In fact, inventors are 1.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 5.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Senior industrial designer vs. Color expert
Each career also uses different skills, according to real senior industrial designer resumes. While senior industrial designer responsibilities can utilize skills like "industrial design," "solidworks," "cad," and "keyshot," color experts use skills like "color theory," "skin care," "product knowledge," and "store events."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Color experts tend to reach similar levels of education than senior industrial designers. In fact, they're 4.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 5.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior industrial designer vs. Color adviser
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, senior industrial designers are more likely to have skills like "industrial design," "solidworks," "cad," and "keyshot." But a color adviser is more likely to have skills like "color coordination," "color design," "color selection," and "color chips."
When it comes to education, color advisers tend to earn lower degree levels compared to senior industrial designers. In fact, they're 7.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior industrial designer vs. Product development designer
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior industrial designers and product development designers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior industrial designer might have more use for skills like "industrial design," "keyshot," "design solutions," and "visualization." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of product development designers require skills like "tech packs," "design software," "market trends," and "apparel. "
The health care industry tends to pay the highest salaries for product development designers, with average annual pay of $74,387. Comparatively, the highest senior industrial designer annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry.In general, product development designers hold similar degree levels compared to senior industrial designers. Product development designers are 4.3% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of senior industrial designer
Updated January 8, 2025
