NPD (New Product Development) Lead-Product & Design

Role: NPD (New Product Development) Lead – Product & Design
Team: New Product Development
Reporting To: Founder
Location: Gurgaon (Hybrid)
About Nurturing Green
Nurturing Green is India's leading gardening lifestyle brand, making plants and gardening products accessible to millions of customers through Retail, E-commerce and Quick Commerce.
Featured on Shark Tank India Season 4, we are present across Amazon, Flipkart, Blink it, Zepto, Instamart, BigBasket, Myntra and multiple offline retail formats, with an aggressive vision to become India's most loved gardening brand.
We believe great products are born where design, functionality, and storytelling come together. We're looking for a design-first creative leader who can shape the next generation of Nurturing Green products and create collections that customers love.
Role Overview
We are looking for an NPD Lead who combines strong creative thinking with hands-on product development, category knowledge and execution capabilities.
The role will own the product journey from concept to sampling, refinement, costing, packaging, production readiness and launch, while also driving the visual communication of products across catalogues, e-commerce and marketing touchpoints.
Working closely with the Founder, Product/Design, Purchase, Merchandising, Warehouse, Sales and Marketing teams, the NPD Lead will ensure products are creatively strong, commercially viable and operationally ready for scale.
Key Responsibilities
1. Product Development & NPD
Identify new product opportunities through consumer insights, market trends, category gaps and business requirements.
Translate ideas and trends into commercially relevant product concepts and collections.
Develop concepts, sketches, mood boards, specifications, prototypes and samples.
Build cohesive collections across plants, planters, home décor, gifting, lifestyle and related categories.
Own the NPD process from concept → sourcing → sampling → iteration → costing → final approval → production readiness → launch.
Maintain product specifications, BOMs, dimensions, material details and NPD documentation.
Manage sampling cycles and resolve design, functionality, quality and production issues.
2. Category, Material & Manufacturing Knowledge
Develop strong knowledge of relevant product categories, materials and manufacturing processes.
Evaluate materials, construction methods, finishes and production techniques based on design, cost and feasibility.
Work with vendors and manufacturers to identify practical and commercially viable solutions.
3. Vendor, Sourcing & Cross-functional Coordination
Work closely with Purchase, Merchandising and vendors throughout the development cycle.
Brief vendors on product concepts, specifications, materials, finishes and packaging requirements.
Evaluate samples and drive revisions until products meet the required design and quality standards.
Coordinate with Purchase, Warehouse, Sales,and Operations to ensure smooth product development and launch.
Proactively manage timelines, dependencies, and development challenges.
4. Packaging Design & Product Communication
Lead the design and development of product packaging, labels, inserts, tags, sleeves, boxes and other product communication elements.
Ensure packaging balances brand presentation, functionality, product protection, cost and production feasibility.
Lead or guide the development of product catalogues, product presentations, e-commerce creatives, Quick Commerce creatives and marketing graphics for new products and collections.
Ensure product features, specifications, USPs and visual communication are accurate and consistent across customer-facing touchpoints.
5. Team Management
Lead and mentor Junior Product Designers and other NPD resources.
Set clear briefs, timelines, and development expectations.
Conduct regular product and design reviews.
Core Requirements
5–8 years of experience in Product Design, Product Development, NPD, Category Development, or a similar role within consumer/lifestyle brands.
Strong experience taking products from concept through sampling and production.
Strong portfolio demonstrating product thinking, product development, and collection building.
Hands-on experience with vendors, manufacturers, and sampling cycles.
Strong understanding of materials, manufacturing processes, construction, finishes, and product costing.
Experience in categories such as home décor, lifestyle, gifting, ceramics, hardgoods, furniture, accessories, handicrafts, gardening products or similar consumer products.
Good understanding of packaging design and development, including production-ready artwork, materials,timelines, finishes, and vendor coordination.
Experience with catalogues, product presentations, e-commerce creatives or marketing graphics is preferred.
Strong creative and aesthetic sensibility with the ability to translate trends into commercially relevant products.
Ability to manage multiple NPD projects and timelines independently.
Graduate/Postgraduate from NID, NIFT, Srishti, Pearl Academy, MIT Institute of Design or equivalent design/product development institutes preferred.
Candidates from pure fashion/apparel design backgrounds are not preferred unless they have significant hardgoods/lifestyle product development experience.
Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, particularly Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign; Canva and AI-assisted design workflows are preferred.
What Success Looks Like
Develop differentiated and commercially relevant product collections.
Move products efficiently from concept to production and launch.
Build strong vendors and manufacturing relationships.
Maintain high standards of product quality, design, and functionality.
Deliver products within expected cost and timeline parameters.
Ensure packaging and product communication effectively support the product proposition.
Enable smooth collaboration across NPD, Design, Purchase, Merchandising, Warehouse, Sales, Marketing and Operations.
Strengthen Nurturing Green's product portfolio through a balance of creativity, category knowledge, functionality, manufacturability and commercial viability.
The Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate sits at the intersection of Creative + Product + Operations.
They should be able to identify an opportunity, understand the category, conceptualize a product, develop and sample it, work with vendors, evaluate costing and feasibility, solve production challenges, develop packaging and product communication, and coordinate internal teams through launch.
They should be equally comfortable discussing design concepts, materials, samples, costing, packaging, specifications, vendor feasibility and launch requirements.

Work arrangement
No