Product & Furniture Designer / 3D CAD Designer
Location: Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire
Hours: 37.5 hours per week
Monday to Thursday: 8:30am to 5:00pm
Friday: 8:30am to 2:30pm
About Spaceright Europe & Millhouse
Spaceright Europe and Millhouse are leading UK manufacturers of educational furniture and learning environment solutions. With over 100 years of manufacturing heritage and more than 35 years of expertise in the early years sector, we design and manufacture innovative, high-quality products that support learning, development and wellbeing in schools and nurseries throughout the UK and around the world.
Millhouse has earned a reputation as a market leader in early years product innovation, creating furniture, outdoor learning equipment, soft play and textile products that inspire children, support educators and stand up to the demands of busy nursery environments. New product development is a key pillar of our growth strategy, making this an exciting opportunity to join a business where your ideas can quickly become real products used by customers worldwide.
Based at our Woodhall Spa site near Lincoln, you will join our friendly and highly experienced design team, working on a diverse range of indoor furniture, outdoor learning equipment, soft play and textile products.
The Opportunity
We are looking for a Product, Industrial or Furniture Designer with a passion for turning ideas into commercially successful products.
The primary focus of this role will be the development of our rapidly expanding Millhouse Outdoor range, which includes outdoor play equipment, storage solutions and learning environments for nurseries and schools. Experience of designing products manufactured from timber and panel-based materials would therefore be a distinct advantage.
This role would suit a recent graduate or someone with a few years of industry experience who is looking to develop their design career within a manufacturing environment. You will gain hands-on experience throughout the entire product development process, from initial concept sketches and 3D CAD models through to production launch, working across furniture, outdoor play, soft play and textile product categories.
Unlike many design roles, our development cycles are measured in weeks rather than months, meaning you will quickly see your work brought to life and used by customers.
This role offers an excellent opportunity for a graduate or early-career designer to gain hands-on experience across the complete product development process within a growing UK manufacturer.
Key Responsibilities
- Support the development of new furniture, outdoor play, soft play and textile products from concept through to manufacture.
- Create and develop 3D CAD models using SolidWorks.
- Produce engineering drawings, Bills of Materials (BoMs) and manufacturing documentation.
- Assist with product costing activities as experience develops.
- Generate product specification sheets, assembly instructions and user guides.
- Research and source new materials, components and manufacturing solutions.
- Liaise with suppliers regarding product and component development.
- Support product testing, design reviews and continuous product improvement.
- Provide technical support and product knowledge to colleagues across the business.
- Work closely with production, procurement, marketing and sales teams to successfully launch new products.
Whilst the primary focus will be the Millhouse indoor and outdoor ranges, candidates with mechanical engineering design experience may also have opportunities to support the wider Spaceright product portfolio.
What We're Looking For
Essential
- Degree in Product Design, Industrial Design, Furniture Design or a related discipline.
- Strong interest in product design and manufacturing processes.
- Experience using 2D and 3D CAD software.
- Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects.
- Strong attention to detail.
- Self-motivated with the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Positive, practical and hands-on approach.
Desirable
- Experience using SolidWorks.
- Experience designing products for outdoor use.
- Knowledge of timber, sheet material and furniture manufacturing processes.
- Knowledge of furniture, upholstery, soft play or textile product design.
- Experience with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
- Understanding of manufacturing processes such as CNC machining, sewn textile products, upholstery, fabricated components or assembly operations.
What's In It For You?
- Join a respected and rapidly growing UK manufacturer.
- Work on innovative products that genuinely make a difference to children's learning environments.
- See your ideas progress from concept to production quickly.
- Ongoing training, mentoring and professional development.
- Exposure to a wide variety of design and manufacturing projects.
- Friendly and supportive team environment.
- Competitive holiday entitlement.
- Company pension scheme.
Why Join Us?
This is an opportunity to become part of a highly creative and ambitious design team where innovation is valued, ideas are encouraged and personal development is actively supported. If you are passionate about design, enjoy solving problems and want to see your ideas become real products, we'd love to hear from you.
[email protected]
Application question(s):
- A portfolio of work demonstrating your 3D design capability is essential and needs to be linked / attached to your application or emailed separately to [email protected]
Education:
Work Location: In person
