Product Developer & Designer - Gear

Employment Status: Full-time, benefits eligible
Location: On-site at Gymreapers HQ in Nampa, ID (20 minutes outside Boise)
Reports To: Director of Product

Position Overview

Gymreapers is hiring a Product Developer & Designer to own performance gear and accessories from first sketch to bulk production. You will design the product, build the tech pack, work the sample rounds with our factories, and carry it through to launch.

This is one role, not a hand-off between a designer and a developer. You will work daily with domestic and overseas vendors, our factory team, Sourcing, Merchandising, Creative and Engineering, to ship gear that lives up to our reputation for durability, performance and material integrity.

Expect a mix of categories: lifting belts, straps and wraps, grips, bags, recovery and training equipment, and branded packaging.

About Gymreapers

At Gymreapers, we make gear with a purpose and focus on material integrity. You get high-quality lifting gear that's made to outlast cheap look-a-likes.

We're reengineering people's workouts and improving the support needed to lift better, longer, and stronger. Improve performance, relieve pain, and add stability to your workout program with premium lifting belts, knee sleeves, wrist wraps, and more.

With our mantra, "NOTHING IS GIVEN," we embody a relentless pursuit of excellence, innovation, and community-building.

Our Core Values

- Grow or Die
- Customer Obsession
- Extreme Ownership
- Nothing is Given // Everything is Earned
- Be Humble
- 1% Better Everyday
- Live with Integrity
- Sacrifice

Key Responsibilities

Design and Concept

- Turn market, competitor and athlete insight into concepts, sketches and design direction across belts, straps, wraps, grips, bags, recovery and training equipment.
- Design for performance, durability, fit, aesthetics and brand alignment, and identify innovation opportunities in new and existing categories.
- Take part in product ideation and roadmap development, and support category expansion.
- Run competitive teardowns to find design gaps and failure points.

Technical Development

- Build and maintain production-ready tech packs: construction details, points of measure, BOMs, materials, hardware, branding placement, packaging and compliance requirements.
- Create CAD files, technical drawings and pattern-ready files that communicate dimensions, tolerances and construction intent.
- Select materials and hardware (webbing, nylon, neoprene, foam, leather, plastics, metals, buckles, trims) with cost and manufacturability in mind.
- Apply design-for-manufacturing and design-for-assembly thinking to protect cost, quality and scalability.

Vendor and Factory Partnership

- Manage day-to-day development and sampling for assigned projects with domestic and overseas vendors and our factory, including sample rounds, fit sessions and prototype reviews.
- Give clear, specific sample feedback and keep revisions moving toward approval.
- Negotiate cost, MOQs and timelines directly with factories, with an eye on margin and target IMU.
- Approve pre-production submissions (materials, components, molds, tooling, packaging) and support bulk production approval.

Quality, Testing and Compliance

- Plan and review wear, load and functional testing, and set performance and durability benchmarks.
- Enforce quality standards on samples and production units, and work with vendors to resolve construction or workmanship issues.
- Manage testing requirements with vendors, and assess risk on new materials, constructions, tooling and suppliers.

Packaging and Launch Readiness

- Develop packaging that balances protection, cost, retail readiness and brand presentation.
- Support launch readiness with Merchandising, Marketing and Creative, including packaging reviews and sample approvals.

Calendar and Systems

- Own the calendar from concept to production handoff: milestones, prototype rounds, material lead times and approvals.
- Flag delays and risks early, and keep launch schedules current across multiple projects and seasons.
- Keep SKUs, costing, specs, revisions and approvals accurate in our PLM and Jira, and keep vendor files organized in shared folders.

Qualifications and Skills

Required

- 3+ years in product development and design for performance gear, sporting goods, accessories, bags, tactical gear or consumer products (hard goods, softgoods or both).
- Has personally owned both the design and the development of products brought to market, with a portfolio or track record from concept sketch to production.
- Production-ready tech pack skills, with solid knowledge of materials, hardware and construction methods, including sewn-product construction.
- Hands-on experience running sample rounds and working directly with overseas factories on cost, MOQs and timelines.
- Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and in Excel for BOMs and cost breakdowns.
- Experience owning a development calendar and managing multiple projects across multiple seasons.
- Strong organization, follow-through and communication, with a habit of flagging risks early.
- A genuine passion for strength, fitness and performance gear.

Nice to Have

- CAD or 3D tools (Fusion 360, SolidWorks, Rhino, Blender or CLO3D).
- Experience with 3D-printed prototypes, tooling and molds.
- PLM, BOM and cost-sheet experience.
- Familiarity with product compliance and testing and packaging development.

Benefits and Perks

- Competitive pay
- Company paid holidays
- Paid Time Off (PTO)
- Gymreapers on-site gym
- Newly renovated HQ
- 401(k) with up to a 4% employer match
- Life Flight Program, voluntary
- Employee Assistance Program
- 50% employee discount
- 100% employer paid medical, dental and vision
- 100% employer paid short-term and long-term disability, and life insurance for both employee and spouse/dependents
- Health Savings Account (HSA) employee option

Gymreapers LLC is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national or ethnic origin, disability, as well as any other characteristic protected by federal, provincial, or local law.