The position, newly created for Porcini, is his third time establishing a chief design officer role at a major company—following 3M and PepsiCo. It’s also the first time that Samsung has hired a foreign design lead.

It’s a bold move at a time when Samsung’s business is facing “crisis”-level headwinds. The company just lost its co-CEO Jong-Hee to cardiac arrest. Meanwhile, it’s shed marketshare in semiconductors to competitors, all while China is becoming better and better at building almost everything. And Samsung’s Mexico-based production (which represents a significant part of the business) faces 25% tariffs under the Trump