Overview
JPA helps organisations to reinvent their workspace. We guide clients on a journey from initial design to implementation and maintenance, a full life cycle that builds a sustainable approach to ensure fit for purpose and inspiring workspaces.
We have an exciting opportunity to join our team. This is a crucial role as it helps to turn the client's requirements and thoughts into physical furniture options.
For fifty years, JPA Workspaces has equipped Britain’s hospitals, universities, colleges, and workplaces. We work with a number of key suppliers but remain agnostic, allowing for the right solution for the client rather than shoehorning product. We also find ourselves uniquely positioned to help clients reuse existing (perhaps with refurbishment or reupholstery), source second-life, or look at new. Sometimes this is for the NHS in staff rooms, sometimes this is in modern workplace environments. The exciting part is that each day is different.
The ideal candidate has commercial furniture knowledge and is able assist sales to select the right options to meet the needs of the client. Negotiate with suppliers to maximise margin opportunity and assist projects to ensure a smooth delivery.
What this role is about?
* Owning the commercial heartbeat of each project: supporting the account manager with your knowledge to support in driving specification choices, supplier negotiation, accurate quotes, and vigilant margin control.
* Translating client briefs into functional, design-led, cost-effective FF&E schedules.
* Promoting the sustainability objectives of the business
* Creating and demonstrating measurable client value
* Running the end-to-end project workflow (quote → order → delivery → install → snag/aftercare) with calm, detail-driven execution.
* Being the bridge: clear comms to clients and internal teams, preventing errors and delays before they happen.
* Uplifting team performance by checking/supporting the quality of quotes and orders entered by the support team.
* Working with other members of the team to deliver outstanding customer service
Key responsibilities
* Margin Maximisation – Optimise GP on every project through strategic product selection, value engineering, supplier negotiation, and disciplined cost planning.
* Quoting & Commercial Control – Build accurate quotations and FF&E schedules; ensure pricing integrity, terms, and delivery assumptions are correct and profitable.
* Order Processing (Sage 200) – Raise/validate self-generated POs, align lead times, track acknowledgements, and ensure orders reflect agreed specs, finishes, and budgets and assist the team in producing the above as and when needed
* Supplier Management – Negotiate pricing and lead times; escalate issues early; maintain alternative options to safeguard margin and programme.
* Client Coordination – Act as a trusted point of contact for finishes, samples, showroom visits, approvals, and progress updates; set expectations clearly.
* Programme & Logistics – Coordinate with ops to lock delivery windows, access, install resources, method statements, and H&S requirements.
* Installation & Quality – Assist with install readiness, attend (as needed), lead snagging, and close actions swiftly to protect client satisfaction and margin.
* Data Accuracy & Governance – Audit quotes and sales orders from the support team; correct errors, margin leaks, and inconsistencies before they become costly.
* Risk & Change Control – Track scope changes, re-quote promptly, obtain approvals, and protect margin with proper variation management.
* Reporting & Handover – Work with Operations & Sales Support Co-ordinator to keep (HubSpot/Sage/trackers) current; report margin status, risks, and dates; provide clean handovers to ops and accounts.
* Aftercare – Assist the project and sales team in supporting with post-install issues and warranty items professionally, securing positive references and repeat business.
* Continuous Improvement – Suggest smarter specs, preferred lines, and process tweaks that increase speed, accuracy, and gross profit.
* Accurate and daily data updating in company systems to feed into reporting
Required skills & experience
* Commercial FF&E/Workplace experience (3–5+ years) with a proven record of margin optimisation.
* Strong supplier negotiation and value-engineering instincts; knows when to swap, bundle, or re-spec to protect GP.
* High accuracy in quoting, ordering, and documentation; comfortable policing data quality.
* Client-facing confidence with clear, timely communication and expectation management.
* Excellent multi-project coordination under time pressure; calm, organised, proactive.
* Design-literate with practical judgement understands aesthetics, durability, compliance, and total cost.
* Familiarity with healthcare/education/corporate project nuances is a plus (lead times, standards, install constraints).
* Some knowledge of ISO9001, ISO14001, FSC, SKA, BREEAM, CHAS, NetZero, preferable
Seniority level
* Mid-Senior level
Employment type
* Full-time
Industries
* Furniture and Home Furnishings Manufacturing
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