Nathan James is looking for a Product Developer Engineer, Furniture to join our Product Engineering team to help us expand our product assortment and improve the product life cycle in order to provide customers with the best possible product experience in support of our mission.

People-first company, design-first home.

We are a design-first, home furnishing company focusing on the habits of urban dwellers and first time home buyers. We pride ourselves on the best in class customer happiness, providing the highest possible quality products that are affordable for the majority and assembly that isn't dreadful.

As a people-first company, we understood from day one the importance of being fully distributed. We encourage everyone to work in whichever manner that helps them perform their best.

A person who will be happy, fulfilled, and successful in this role and as a remote team member at Nathan James is someone who values life and identity outside of work. 

The role will be reporting to the Head of Product Development and work closely with both the product design and contract manufacturing teams. The overarching areas of responsibility for this role include, supporting concept development, sample development, product management and product improvements.

You will be responsible for assisting the Product Development Team in product development, including the development of new concepts while also troubleshooting any issues that may arise throughout the entire process. You will help implement new product innovations focusing on semi-knockdown furniture construction techniques solving for easy assembly and efficient packaging. You will help review product samples, both new samples for future consideration and existing live product samples, to get a hands-on experience of our customer’s product experience. You will work alongside our international contract manufacturing team, our boots on the ground, to help iron out any issues or potential areas of improvement in the most effective and efficient way possible. You will work alongside the Product Development team to assist with product records setup &  upkeep as well as assist our Customer Happiness team in addressing customer issues and/or product inquiries. 

Having the past experience of developing or engineering knock-down furniture is music to our ears, however any sort of furniture industry background or experiences will not be overlooked – this will naturally help put you ahead of the curve when it comes to completing your daily tasks. 

During training, you will be expected to be proactive and learn quickly. Once fully up-to-speed, you will be expected to work and accomplish daily tasks autonomously – you will get all the support and guidance you need along the way!    

We have a rhythm to our work and a very low turnover rate — we have yet to have a single team member opt out. Your voice matters to us. We make change from fresh perspectives and appreciate new viewpoints, so you should feel comfortable speaking up about your values and goals.

We’re ready for the ongoing work that goes into building an inclusive, supportive place for you to do the best work of your career. Our values, workplace and our benefits are designed to support a sustainable, healthy relationship with your work. Our operating values provide the framework we use in building a healthy, resilient organization.

You can expect a mindful onboarding process with ramp-up and time to learn. You can expect a team that listens, and to be heard. You can expect to give and provide direct feedback. You can expect to work with good people. You can expect to be counted on. You can expect to do your best work and build a career here. 

We are looking for natural problem-solvers and those that enjoy troubleshooting any issues that arise. You should have a passion for seeking out issues or areas for improvement and strive to find and implement the most efficient and effective solutions. Strong critical thinking and communication skills, both written & visual, will play a key role in addressing and resolving these matters. You also value first principle thinking and can think outside of the box when a problem arises.

We are looking for those that take great pride in their attention to detail, from an aesthetic point of view & a technical point of view, as these will come into play when reviewing sample inspection reports, other sample progress resources, or new product renderings prior to a product going live.

We would like to see 2-3 years of experience in a similar furniture or product engineering role and ideally a degree in any related field (product engineering, industrial design, product design, etc…) but most importantly, we care about what you are capable of and how well you can execute the tasks at hand. 

For this role, we require that your normal workday has at least 4 hours of overlap with the Chicago workday (currently UTC-6) without impinging on your personal/family life.

This is a remote role since we are a remote company! You’re free to work where you work best, anywhere in the world: home office, coworking space, or coffee shops. That hinges on effective writing, self-discipline, and comfort with open communication.

Our benefits are all aimed at supporting a life well lived both at work and away from work.

We’re all about reasonable working hours, sharing, ample vacation time, wellness, education, comfort, and giving back. We offer competitive salaries, for a similar role in the country you will be working from.

Please submit an application here that speaks directly to this position. There are no right answers or cookie-cutter expectations. A cover letter and portfolio or collection or work samples are not required, but those that clearly demonstrate how Nathan James would be a great fit for you and how you would be a great fit for us, will be given full attention and are highly appreciated. 

We expect to take two weeks to review all applications. You’ll hear from us about advancement to a work sample review. You’ll get a chance to see the types of challenges you would be solving in this role. Then on to an interview.  Our interviews are all remote by Whereby video chat (no software needed), with your future colleagues, on your schedule.

We appreciate your consideration of having Nathan James be part of your career.

Our open conversation starts with this post. We look forward to hearing from you.
Check us out on LinkedIn here!