Rochus "Rocky" Jacob is a German industrial designer who studied at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach am Main. He worked at IDEO and HTC and ran his own design studio, with clients including Microsoft, Dell, Nike and Siemens.
He then became the first industrial designer at Nest Labs in Palo Alto, hired by its co-founders Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers. As head of industrial design he built the company's design team through the launch of its smart thermostat and smoke alarm, and through Nest's acquisition by Google, now Alphabet, in 2014.
In June 2017, soon after LVMH bought the company, Rimowa hired him as chief product officer, a role reported at first as chief designer. He was responsible for product strategy, design, engineering, research and development and marketing, and returned to Germany to work at the Cologne headquarters. He reported to Alexandre Arnault, then joint chief executive, who wanted to speed up innovation, including connected "intelligent" luggage such as Rimowa's electronic tag case. His appointment came the same month as that of Hector Muelas as chief brand officer, as the new owners rebuilt the brand ahead of its 2018 relaunch.
He left Rimowa in August 2018 and joined Lyft as a design director in December 2018. He later joined the founding team of Chewie Labs, renamed Mill Industries in 2023, a start-up founded by Rogers and Harry Tannenbaum that makes a kitchen appliance turning food scraps into chicken feed.
Correction: earlier Casadi records gave his name as Jacob Rochus and said he was still Rimowa's chief designer. His leaving date and Lyft role come from his own professional profile. Casadi has not verified his date of birth.