Principal Product Developer (Backyard Living, Style & Home)
$64,000–$106,000 year
On-siteToronto, Ontario, Canada
Job Summary
Conduct full product lifecycle management for Backyard Living assortments, translating category strategy and customer insights into cohesive, trend-forward collections. Lead concept creation, technical package development, and sample review while collaborating with cross-functional teams and manufacturing partners to ensure design intent and quality expectations are met. Communicate product vision through sketches, photorealistic renderings, and specifications, balancing style, performance, cost, and speed-to-market. Perform hands-on product review, benchmarking, and assembly to validate engineering and quality standards. Gather post-launch feedback to drive continuous improvement and ensure compliance with industry regulations.
Required Qualifications
- Undergraduate degree in Industrial Design or a related field
- Minimum 5 years of experience in a product development role
- Strong expertise in Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop)
- Additional experience in 3D modeling (SolidWorks)
- Proven ability to balance creativity with commercial thinking and executional excellence
- A passion for furniture design, décor, and outdoor living design, with a strong point of view on trends, colour, materials, and finishes
- Strong collaboration and influencing skills across cross-functional teams
- Expertise in product development processes, materials, and construction
- A customer-first mindset, with the ability to translate insights into impactful product solutions
- Familiarity with common manufacturing techniques, including injection and compression molding, high-frequency welding, cut-and-sew, screen printing, embroidery, etc.
- Willingness and capability for hands-on work, such as assembling, disassembling, moving, and lifting furniture and gazebos for the purpose of product review, benchmarking, and sample management
- Proactive and passionate approach to driving fresh, innovative thinking from product concept to final execution
- The ability to keep ego in check, while collaborating with our dynamic cross-functional teams to achieve business goals
- Strong presentation and speaking skills—able to present and sell to all levels of the organization, as well as to the customer, while communicating a clear and inspiring vision
- The ability to precisely communicate and negotiate time frames verbally and in writing
- Demonstrated collaboration, interpersonal influence, and teamwork skills (maintains effective communication and working relationships)
- Results-oriented while exhibiting great energy and resourcefulness
- Self-starter who brings passion, enthusiasm and focus to each project
- Exceptional project planning, organizational, and time management skills, with a high level of initiative and attention to detail
- Strong analytical skills and data-driven thinking
- Team player – you like working with people and people like working with you; you do what needs to be done to strive for a common goal
- Able to manage deadlines, be flexible with change, and drive timely resolution
- Ability to travel domestically and internationally to trade shows for market research and to various manufacturing partners to participate in on-site engineering builds
- Location: Toronto, Ontario (Hybrid: In-office 4 days a week)
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