Associate Design Director (Luggage)

Join Away, a leading travel brand, as an Associate Design Director for our luggage category. In this role, you will define the future of our core luggage category through innovative industrial design, material R&D, and forward-thinking product strategy. You will lead the end-to-end execution of luggage design, drive category innovation, and manage a high-performing design team. This position offers equity options, paid time off, health insurance, and travel perks.

• Lead the end-to-end execution of luggage design, ensuring every product delivers on Away’s commitment to elevated travel experiences, functional performance, and our iconic brand aesthetic.
• Drive category innovation by exploring new construction methods and sustainable materials, while modernizing internal processes by integrating AI-enabled design tools and workflow automation.
• Build, manage, and mentor a high-performing design team, providing tactical creative direction and cultivating a culture of technical excellence.
• You have a strong ability to balance creative ambition with commercial viability and engineering constraints, ensuring your team’s outputs align with category health and business metrics
• You’re agile, and motivated by a fast-paced and ever changing environment
• You have direct experience working closely with overseas factories and suppliers, ensuring design intent and quality standards are maintained from prototyping through production
• You are genuinely motivated by mentoring designers and transforming the travel experience through thoughtful, functional, and innovative design
• You’re exceptional sketching and 3D visualization skills, with the ability to clearly translate complex design concepts to cross-functional partners and present project directions to senior leadership
• You can to travel domestically and internationally (up to 20%) to collaborate with global manufacturing partners and attend industry events
• You’re passionate about transforming travel for all (but that’s a given!)
• You’re creative and innovative; you love to build great new things that are fresh and unique while staying on brand
• You have at least 7 years of industrial design experience (luggage, technical soft goods, or hard goods) with a proven track record of supervising/mentoring design talent and supporting successful product launches
• You’re highly proficient in Fusion 360, KeyShot, and Adobe Creative Suite, with the ability to guide and upskill direct reports in these tools
• You’re comfortable working in a design studio setting, which includes extended periods of stationary work at a computer and hands-on interaction with physical prototypes, material samples, and luggage hardware
• Excited to join the team, but not sure you meet all of the qualifications? Please apply, we’d still love to hear from you
• You possess an advanced understanding of complex product construction, material R&D, and manufacturing processes, with an interest or experience in leveraging emerging technologies (like AI tools) to optimize team workflows