Kitchen Sales Designer
Job description
Original text imported from Reed
Join Howdens where our trade depots are recruiting Kitchen Sales Designers who thrive in a fast-paced sales environment. We’re looking for commercially minded individuals who can build strong relationships, influence buying decisions and exceed sales targets.
We can offer you a successful career as a Kitchen Sales Designer, and you don’t need previous design experience. We’ll provide you with comprehensive design and sales training to create exceptional kitchens for our trade customers and their clients.
What we can offer you:
- Competitive salary, brilliant bonuses and outstanding depot incentives
- Full CAD, product and sales training via our Ready to Trade Programme
- Competitive Pension Plan up to 12% company contribution
- Up to 32 days annual leave per year including bank holidays, rising with service
- Generous staff discount on Howdens products
- Buy-as-you-earn share scheme
- 40 hour working week working every other Saturday morning.
- No Sunday or Bank Holiday working
- Career progression opportunities into sales management roles
- Virtual GP access and wellbeing support for you and your family
What we are looking for:
- Results driven with experience of reaching sales targets and KPI
- Ability to build trusted relationships with our trade customers and their client
- Excellent communication skills, able to convey your ideas clearly and effectively
- Full UK Driving license with access to your own vehicle for home visits
- Strong attention to detail and an eye for design
- CAD skills are preferred, but not essential as you will receive training
What you will be doing:
- Driving sales performance and profit by achieving your depot targets
- Building strong customer relationships through professional design support
- Delivering exceptional customer service throughout the project
- Conducting home visits to measure, assess and understand your client’s needs
- Negotiating prices confidently while protecting margin and design integrity
- Planning and creating inspirational and practical designs utilising your strong product knowledge to advise customers and resolve queries throughout the process
About Us:
Howdens Joinery is the UK’s number one trade kitchen supplier providing thousands of products across kitchens, joinery, and hardware. We have over 950 depots throughout the UK and Europe, making us the first choice for more than 460,000 loyal trade professionals. With an ambitious and credible growth plan, we continue to build on our £2.4 billion turnover.
How to apply:
If Howdens sounds like the kind of place where you can build and develop your career as a Kitchen Sales Designer, then we are keen to hear from you.
Howdens is founded on the principle of being Worthwhile for ALL concerned. We’re working hard to ensure we provide an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcome. We will do everything we can to support you during your application. If you need us to make any adjustments to our recruitment process, please email with the job title and location, and we will be happy to help you.
#LI-LO1 #CVL INDKSD #Reed
Key skills
AI-extracted from the job advert
Application advice
5 AI-generated recommendations to maximise your chances.
⭐ Open your CV with a Personal Statement that explicitly references sales target achievement and KPI delivery, as the advert lists these as primary requirements under 'What we are looking for'.
📊 Quantify your sales results wherever possible — for example: 'Exceeded monthly sales target by 22% for 6 consecutive months, generating £85,000 in additional depot revenue'.
🎯 Highlight any experience conducting home visits, measuring spaces, or advising customers on product choices, as the advert specifically lists home visits as a core daily duty.
🛠️ Mention any CAD or kitchen design software experience (even basic) in your skills section — the advert lists it as preferred and it will differentiate you from candidates with no design exposure.
🤝 Emphasise trade or B2B customer relationship experience in your work history, as the role centres on building trusted relationships with trade professionals rather than retail consumers.
Suggested CV bullets
3 bullets our AI drafted for this specific advert, mirroring its ATS keywords.
Add these 3 bullets under your most recent experience:
- •Exceeded monthly trade sales targets by an average of 18% over 12 months, contributing £72,000 above depot forecast through proactive customer follow-up and upselling joinery add-ons.
- •Conducted 40+ home visits per quarter to measure, assess and design bespoke kitchen layouts, achieving a 91% conversion rate from initial consultation to confirmed order.
- •Negotiated pricing with 30+ trade account customers monthly, maintaining an average gross margin of 34% while retaining 95% of the existing client base during a competitor price war.
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Letter preview — tailored to Howdens Joinery
Dear Hiring Manager,
Howdens Joinery's reputation as the UK's number one trade kitchen supplier — backed by a £2.4 billion turnover and 950+ depots — is precisely why the Kitchen Sales Designer role in Clacton-on-Sea caught my attention. My background in trade sales and customer relationship management, combined with a consistent record of exceeding KPIs, aligns directly with what you are seeking in this position.
My background in sales-focused customer-facing roles has equipped me with the negotiation skills and commercial awareness needed to protect margin while delivering design solutions that genuinely satisfy trade customers and their clients. I am confident in conducting home visits, translating client briefs into practical plans, and managing multiple projects through to completion. I look forward to building on this through Howdens' Ready to Trade Programme and CAD training.
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Interview questions
10 questions generated from this advert.
Technical
- ›How would you use CAD software to present a kitchen design to a trade customer who has specific spatial constraints?
- ›Walk me through how you would conduct a home visit — from initial measurement to producing a final design proposal.
- ›How do you use product knowledge to upsell or cross-sell joinery and hardware alongside a kitchen order?
- ›Describe your approach to protecting margin when a customer pushes back on pricing during negotiation.
- ›How would you manage a design project where the client's brief changes after the initial plan has been submitted?
Behavioural
- ›Tell me about a time you exceeded a sales target — what actions did you take to get there?
- ›Describe a situation where you had to build trust quickly with a new trade customer. What was your approach?
- ›Give an example of when you resolved a customer complaint during a project without compromising the sale.
- ›Tell me about a time you managed multiple customer projects simultaneously — how did you prioritise?
- ›Describe a situation where you had to adapt your communication style to suit a particular customer's needs.
STAR answer examples
Model answers using the Situation-Task-Action-Result framework. Adapt to your own experience.
Tell me about a time you exceeded a sales target — what actions did you take to get there?
Describe a situation where you had to build trust quickly with a new trade customer. What was your approach?