Estimator

Pearson Whiffin Recruitment Ltd; Whetsted; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days of annual leave including bank

Bank holidays included

Full-time, permanent position

Friendly and supportive environment

Opportunity to shape processes andteam

Job summary

Kent-based manufacturing business is seeking a Customer Excellence Manager to own the customer journey from enquiry through to quotation handover. You will lead the estimating support team, manage enquiries, and ensure timely, accurate quotations while maintaining strong customer communication.

The role emphasizes improving processes, coaching a team, and delivering exceptional customer experience across Sales, Estimating and engineering functions.

Qualifications

• Experience in customer service management or sales support leadership roles.
• Proven ability to lead teams and improve processes in a fast-paced environment.
• Understanding of estimating and quotation workflows is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Owns the customer journey from enquiry to quotation handover.
• Manages estimating enquiries, logging, prioritising and allocation.
• Monitors quotation deadlines, team workloads and progress.
• Ensures accurate, professional quotations within agreed timescales.
• Develops and coaches the customer excellence and estimating support team.

Skills

Customer service management

Leadership

People management

Organisational skills

Communication skills

CRM experience

ERP/MRP systems

Excel

Tools

CRM

ERP/MRP

MS Excel

Job description

Customer Excellence Manager

Location: Paddock Wood, Kent

Salary: £40,000-£55,000, negotiable depending on experience

Hours: 7:00am-4:30pm

Full-Time | Permanent

The Company

An exciting opportunity has become available to join a successful and established Kent-based manufacturing business.

The company has built an excellent reputation for quality, reliability and customer service. It offers a friendly, close-knit working environment with long-serving employees and a genuine commitment to looking after both its customers and its people.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a growing organisation where you can improve processes, develop a team and make a visible impact on the overall customer experience.

The Opportunity

As Customer Excellence Manager, you will take ownership of the customer journey from the initial enquiry through to the preparation, issue and handover of a quotation.

You won't necessarily be expected to produce all the technical estimates yourself. Instead, you will manage the customer-facing and workflow side of the estimating department, ensuring enquiries are allocated correctly, quotations are completed accurately and customers are kept fully informed.

Previous experience within an estimating or quotation-based environment would be highly desirable, as it will help you understand the information, processes and deadlines involved in producing accurate quotations.

This position would suit an experienced Customer Service Manager, Internal Sales Manager, Estimating Manager or Sales Support Manager who enjoys leading people, improving processes and delivering an exceptional customer experience.

What You'll Be Doing

Leading the customer experience throughout the enquiry and quotation process

Managing incoming estimating enquiries and ensuring they are logged, prioritised and allocated

Monitoring quotation deadlines, team workloads, delays and outstanding actions

Ensuring customers receive accurate and professional quotations within agreed timescales

Keeping customers updated and providing clear communication throughout the process

Working closely with Sales, Estimating, Engineering, Production, Purchasing and Commercial teams

Identifying potential delays and taking action before they affect the customer

Acting as the main escalation point for urgent enquiries, quotation delays and service concerns

Checking that quotations are clear, accurate and right first time before being issued

Managing and developing the customer excellence and estimating support team

Allocating daily workloads and creating clear accountability across the department

Conducting regular one-to-ones, performance reviews, coaching and training

Improving systems and processes to make the enquiry-to-quotation journey quicker and easier

Using customer feedback and performance data to identify areas for improvement

Reporting on response times, quotation turnaround, customer satisfaction and team performance

What We're Looking For

We are looking for a confident and highly organised manager with previous experience in customer service, internal sales, sales support, estimating coordination or a similar customer-facing management position.

Experience within estimating would be a major advantage, particularly within manufacturing, engineering, construction or another technical environment.

The successful person will ideally have:

• Previous experience managing a customer service, internal sales, estimating or sales support team
• A good understanding of estimating and quotation processes
• Strong people-management skills, including coaching, delegation and performance management
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• The confidence to manage customer expectations and resolve problems professionally
• Strong organisation, prioritisation and workload-planning abilities
• Experience working to service levels, deadlines and performance targets
• A proactive approach to improving systems and simplifying processes
• High attention to detail and a right-first-time mentality
• Good commercial awareness and an understanding of how service affects sales and customer retention
• Experience using CRM, ERP or MRP systems
• Competence with Microsoft Excel and general business systems

The Package

• Salary of £40,000-£55,000, negotiable depending on experience
• Working hours of 7:00am-4:30pm
• 28 days' annual leave including bank holidays
• Additional Christmas closure outside the standard holiday allowance
• Full-time, permanent position
• Minimal travel required
• Friendly and supportive working environment
• Opportunity to shape processes, develop a team and make a genuine difference