Strategy & Business Development Associate

Intermediate Industrial Designer – Trend-Driven Creator with Lifestyle Mindset

Our vision is to make a healthy and sustainable lifestyle the most attractive choice. We defy the status quo, misleading product, and nonsense rules! We truly believe in the power of ideas and are thirsty to realize the ones that could have impact. We're an eclectic bunch of creative minds, experts, builders, and improvers. Our perspectives, cultures, backgrounds, dreams, skills, and life paths may have nothing in common, but we gather behind a vision and sail together towards our ambitious goals.

As part of our product team, you will play a central role in spotting emerging trends, crafting fresh concepts, and bringing hype‑worthy products to life for our Gen Z audience. We’re not just looking for a designer—we’re looking for a creative trend‑hunter with a strong eye for CMF and product styling, a fast‑moving maker, and someone eager to shape a lifestyle brand from the ground up. You’ll be joining an interdisciplinary team that sparks bold ideas, tests them with real users, and turns them into market‑ready products. If you thrive in fast‑changing environments, love to experiment, and bring both style and grit to the table, this might be your next big challenge.

This role is located in Munich

Your Responsibilities

• Spot and translate emerging trends into fresh product ideas that resonate with Gen Z.
• Define and develop CMF directions—exploring colors, materials, finishes, and styles that set our products apart.
• Create and refine product concepts, from quick sketches to detailed 3D models and physical prototypes.
• Test and validate ideas with real users, gathering feedback to shape final designs.
• Style products holistically, ensuring a strong visual identity across materials, finishes, and packaging.
• Collaborate with engineers and suppliers to bring concepts into production‑ready solutions.
• Support marketing teams with visual assets and product storytelling that strengthen the lifestyle brand.
• Move fast: rapidly ideate, prototype, and iterate to bring hype‑worthy products to market quickly.

That’s you

• You hold a degree in Industrial Design or a related field.
• You bring 3+ years of relevant experience at an intermediate level.
• You have hands‑on experience in CMF development and have worked with both hard and soft goods (including textiles).
• You are an expert in CMF concept creation, with hands‑on experience across a wide range of materials — from hard goods to soft goods and textiles.
• You have a deep understanding of product engineering and Design for Manufacturing (DFM), and how CMF decisions influence feasibility, scalability, and cost.
• You have a proven track record in fast, precise color sampling and validation — balancing creative vision with practical execution.
• You have a strong grasp of branding and marketing, with the visual intuition to translate brand identity into tangible, on‑brand product experiences.
• You have a solid foundation in industrial design, including 3D modeling, visualization, and prototyping — turning ideas into beautiful, manufacturable realities.
• You have a strong sense of aesthetics and love crafting lifestyle‑driven products.
• You know how to build and grow a brand — and you’re excited to shape one that truly resonates with Gen Z.
• You’re curious and customer‑obsessed, eager to connect with users and learn from their feedback.
• You spot trends early and turn them into hype‑worthy products.
• You’re open‑minded, adaptable, and thrive when facing new challenges.
• You learn fast, take ownership, and move ideas into action quickly.
• You think holistically — connecting brand, product, and user stories.
• You’re a confident storyteller who can pitch ideas that inspire and drive impact.
• You’re a hands‑on team player — pragmatic, curious, and eager to build on great ideas together.

The benefits listed below are intended for full‑time employees. For other employment types, including working students and minijobbers, benefits may differ based on the terms of their contract and applicable regulations.

But what’s in for you?

30 days of vacation

discount on our products

employer‑funded pension & location related insurances (may vary per country)

purpose built office in MUC

workation options (availability may differ by role)

air up® have developed an innovative and world‑first drinking system. Through scent alone, the air up® bottle brings flavour to simple tap water and can be enjoyed without any single‑use plastic bottles, sugar, or additives. air up is a young, fast‑growing company filled with ambitious and creative minds from various backgrounds.

air up® is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to maintaining an equal opportunity environment for all persons free of discriminatory behaviour. We will not discriminate and will take affirmative action measures to ensure against discrimination in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the bases of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

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