Job Description

Duramen Designs | Cardiff, Newcastle NSW

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Full-time | Salary negotiable based on experience

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Sales & Office Manager

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Duramen Designs | Cardiff, Newcastle NSW

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Full-time | Salary negotiable based on experience

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Take ownership of our customer enquiries, sales pipeline and office coordination while helping drive the continued growth of Duramen Designs.

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Duramen Designs is a custom furniture and joinery business based in Cardiff, Newcastle.

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We design and manufacture custom vanities, furniture, tables, cabinetry and architectural timber pieces for homeowners, builders, designers and trade customers.

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We're looking for an extremely organised, confident and proactive person to take ownership of the customer, sales and administrative side of our business.

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This is not purely an administration position.

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We're looking for someone who enjoys talking to people, keeps things moving and doesn't need to constantly be told what to do next.

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The right person will become an important part of Duramen Designs – managing recent enquiries, nurturing leads, coordinating jobs, keeping our systems up to date and actively looking for new opportunities.

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What the role is really about

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We receive regular enquiries from customers wanting custom pieces made.

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An initial enquiry might simply be:

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"Hi, I'd like a quote for a dining table."

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Before we can actually quote it, we need to know the size, timber, design, finish, reference images, delivery location and other relevant details.

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Your job is to own that process.

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Speak with the customer. Understand what they're trying to achieve. Ask the right questions. Gather the information we need. Organise it properly and get the job ready to quote.

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For custom work, you'll then hand a complete brief to the owner so it can simply be priced.

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For products with established pricing already programmed into our system, you'll be able to prepare and send quotes yourself.

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From there, you continue to own the opportunity.

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Send the quote. Follow it up. Answer questions. Keep the customer engaged. Help get the job across the line.

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We want every genuine enquiry looked after properly and no good opportunity disappearing simply because we're busy.

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Customer enquiries & sales

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You will be responsible for:

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- Managing incoming emails and new customer enquiries
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- Answering incoming sales calls
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- Speaking with customers about what they're looking to have made
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- Gathering dimensions, specifications, reference images, material selections and other information required for quoting
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- Preparing complete quote briefs for custom work
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- Preparing and sending straightforward quotes using established pricing
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- Managing our pipeline of active enquiries and quotes
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- Following up outstanding quotes
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- Nurturing potential customers from initial enquiry through to acceptance
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- Contacting leads generated through our showroom
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- Re‐engaging previous enquiries and customers
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- Following up deposits and job acceptance where required
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- Making sure customers don't fall through the cracks
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We don't want a "quote sent – job done" approach.

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If a customer hasn't responded, follow them up.

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Find out where they're at, answer their questions and see what we can do to move the project forward.

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Business development

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Generating new work is also an important part of this position.

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When the immediate workload is under control, we want someone who naturally thinks:

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"Where can we find the next opportunity?"

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That could involve:

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- Reaching out to builders and construction companies
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- Developing relationships with interior designers and architects
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- Contacting bathroom companies and other complementary businesses
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- Building relationships with potential trade and referral partners
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- Reconnecting with previous customers
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- Identifying upcoming projects we could be involved with
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- Finding new ways to promote our products and services
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- Developing new sales opportunities and relationships
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You won't be expected to spend every day cold calling.

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But you will be expected to have the initiative to create opportunities rather than simply waiting for enquiries to arrive.

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Bringing in current work is part of the position, with additional incentives available for exceptional new opportunities and business generated.

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Job coordination & scheduling

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Once work is accepted, you'll help make sure it moves smoothly through the business.

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This will include:

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- Making sure accepted jobs have all required customer information
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- Coordinating the handover of jobs into production
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- Scheduling upcoming work
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- Booking site measures and customer meetings
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- Coordinating deliveries and installations
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- Keeping customers informed where required
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- Chasing outstanding selections, dimensions or information
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- Updating job information when changes are made
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- Working alongside our workshop manager and production team
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- Maintaining visibility over upcoming work and deadlines
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Our workshop manager will remain responsible for the day-to-day management of production and current jobs.

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Your role is to make sure the customer, information and scheduling side is organised around it.

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Own our systems

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We're currently implementing a centralised system for our enquiries, quoting, job information, scheduling and workflow.

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You'll become one of the key people responsible for keeping this system accurate.

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That means making sure:

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- New enquiries are entered
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- Customer information is complete
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- Quote status is current
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- Follow-ups aren't missed
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- Accepted jobs are correctly handed over
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- Outstanding information is chased
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- Site measures and appointments are scheduled
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- Job changes are documented
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- Production and delivery dates are kept current
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- Completed jobs are properly closed out
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We want the whole team to be able to look at our system and understand where a job is at without having to chase someone for an answer.

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Protecting people's time

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One of the most important parts of this position is being able to take ownership and solve things yourself.

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Our owner works across quoting, design, purchasing, customers, production and the overall running of the businesses.

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Our workshop manager needs to focus on keeping work moving through production.

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We want this position to remove unnecessary back-and-forth from both.

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Before escalating something, ask yourself:

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"Can I handle this?"

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If you can – handle it.

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If you need input from someone else – gather everything they need first so they can make the decision quickly.

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We're looking for someone who becomes a solution rather than another layer of management.

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General office & supplier coordination

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There will naturally also be general administrative work involved, including:

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- Maintaining customer and job records
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- Sending documentation and information
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- General email and phone correspondence
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- Following up suppliers and orders where required
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- Confirming material availability and delivery dates
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- Sending purchase information supplied by the production team
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- Keeping records and internal information organised
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- Helping improve our office processes as the business grows
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You don't need to know furniture or joinery

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Experience within furniture, joinery, cabinetry, interiors or construction would be helpful, but it isn't essential.

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We can teach you our products.

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You don't need to know how to build or price a custom vanity or dining table.

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What matters is being able to learn what information is required and making sure we have it.

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If a quote requires dimensions, timber selection, a reference photo, delivery location and basin specifications, your job is to make sure all five are there before it reaches the person pricing it.

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We're much more interested in finding someone who can communicate, organise, learn, follow through and take ownership.

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Who we're looking for

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We're looking for someone who is:

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- Extremely organised
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- Confident and natural on the phone
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- Warm, personable and professional with customers
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- A strong communicator
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- Comfortable asking questions and getting the information they need
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- Proactive and self‐motivated
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- Persistent without being pushy
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- Commercially minded
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- Interested in sales and business development
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- Comfortable reaching out to potential customers
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- Good at building relationships
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- Able to manage multiple enquiries and tasks at once
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- Confident with computers and learning new systems
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- Able to prioritise what's important
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- Someone who notices something hasn't been done and takes care of it
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- Someone who genuinely enjoys making things happen
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Most importantly, we don't want someone who needs to constantly ask what they should do next.

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There will always be something to move forward.

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Seven new enquiries? Contact them.

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Quotes haven't been answered? Follow them up.

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Jobs are missing information? Chase it.

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Next week's schedule needs confirming? Organise it.

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Everything is under control? Find a builder, designer or potential partner we should be talking to.

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That mindset is more important to us than having experience in our particular industry.

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Why we're creating this position

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Duramen Designs has grown significantly, and there are now too many opportunities, conversations and moving pieces for the owner to personally manage every interaction.

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This position is being created to change that.

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We want someone who can take genuine ownership of the customer, sales and office side of Duramen Designs.

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The goal is for our owner to spend less time chasing information, organising appointments, following up conversations and handling routine administration – and more time focusing on the parts of the business where his involvement adds the most value.

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For the right person, that means genuine responsibility and autonomy.

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Opportunity to grow

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This isn't a position with a rigid ceiling.

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Duramen Designs is an established business with plenty of opportunity to continue growing, and we want the person in this role to grow with it.

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As the business develops, this position could naturally move further into sales, business development, customer management, operations or broader business management depending on your strengths.

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If you find better ways for us to operate, we want to hear them.

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If you create opportunities, we want you to pursue them.

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If you demonstrate that you can take on more responsibility, we'll give it to you.

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We're happy to pay according to experience and, more importantly, the value the right person can bring to the business.

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If you're highly organised, great with people, commercially minded and the sort of person who sees what needs doing and gets it done, we'd love to hear from you.

📌 Sales & Office Manager (New South Wales)
🏢 Duramen Designs
📍 New South Wales