Sales and Design Consultant (part-time)

Ernesta; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 27,552 - 41,328; Part time

Job summary

Ernesta is seeking a part-time Design Assistant to join the Retail team in our upcoming Chicago showroom (Southport Corridor). You will educate customers on rug selection, provide design guidance, and ensure a delightful shopping experience across channels. The role blends sales and interior-design support with hands-on customer care.

You will work weekends; strong communication, curiosity, and high integrity are required. CAD/3D visualization skills and familiarity with 2D/3D tools are a plus.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in a consumer-facing role.
• Must be able to work Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays.
• Excellent communication and listening skills; self-motivated and empathetic.
• Proficient with online tools and 2D/3D software; Zoom and Google Suite.

Responsibilities

• Set the industry standard for customer experience and sales.
• Drive sales through customer follow-up and outreach.
• Deliver design and product expertise to customers.
• Maintain a clean, on-brand showroom that delights customers at every touchpoint.
• Provide high-quality, personalized experiences across channels (in person, chat, text, email, video, phone).
• Advise on floor plan layout, material selection, and rug measurements.
• Resolve order-related inquiries and provide order tracking and delivery support.
• Surprise and delight customers with memorable experiences.
• Learn and apply CAD/Adobe/3D tools to help customers visualize spaces.
• Maintain feedback loops to improve internal processes.

Skills

Customer service

Sales

Communication

Time management

Education

BA or related field

Tools

CAD modeling

Adobe

3D rendering

Zoom

Google Suite

Job description

Ernesta is on a mission to bring gorgeous, design-focused custom rugs to homes and places of gathering through an enjoyable, frictionless, and affordable experience. At the same price as a store-bought standard-sized rug, a custom-cut rug from Ernesta will not only be a better fit, but also a better buying experience. We believe that high-quality custom design shouldn't be out of reach for consumers and aim to address this need in the multi-billion dollar global rug industry.

Driven by our collective mission, our team is hungry, hardworking, and highly ambitious. We’re problem solvers, innovators, design enthusiasts, and executors. We are relentlessly focused on creating and delivering beautiful and delightfully simple solutions and experiences for our customers. Together, we are excited and humbled by the opportunity to expand the market for custom rugs and allow more people to live in elevated design settings. Put simply, we believe more soft surfaces mean happier homes.

About the Role

Ernesta is looking for an experienced part‑time Sales and Design Consultant (who we call a Design Assistant) to join the Retail team in our soon to be opened showroom located in the Southport Corridor. You will be a key hire to help build an enjoyable, frictionless, and industry‑defining rug buying experience. This is an opportunity to join a small but visionary team - a high impact role pioneering a new age of customer experience. As a Design Assistant you will wear two hats. First, you will educate and advise customers on rug selection, material selection, and spatial planning. Second, you will be a customer champion – delighting customers and assisting with inquiries, concerns, and matters related to orders, delivery, and more. In each interaction, you will take pride in building strong relationships with customers and ensuring their happiness and loyalty at every touchpoint.

What You’ll Do

• Set the industry standard for customer experience and sales
• Drive sales through customer followup and outreach
• Deliver exceptional design and product expertise to customers
• Maintain a clean, organized, and on‑brand showroom that delights customers at every touchpoint
• Provide customers a high quality and personalized experience through multiple channels - in person, chat, text, email, video, phone.
• Advise customers on floor plan layout, material selection, and custom rug measurements
• Provide a fantastic experience to our customers by responding to inquiries and resolving order‑related matters such as order tracking, product inquiries, delivery logistics, and more.
• Surprise and delight customers - exceed their expectations - create memorable experiences
• Learn innovative technologies to help customers visualize their space i.e CAD modeling, adobe, 3D rendering, etc.
• Maintain feedback loops to improve internal processes

Qualifications Include

• 2+ years of experience in a consumer-facing role. 2+ years of direct consumer sales and/or account management experience is required.
• Must be able to work Saturdays, Sunday, Mondays and Tuesdays.
• Delights in communicating and building trust with customers, self motivated, curious, empathetic, and great at listening
• Solutions oriented with sound judgment, business sense, and high integrity. Willingness to provide creative solutions and wear many hats.
• High level of proficiency working online across multiple software tools, 2D/3D tools, Zoom, Google suit, etc.
• Great time management and organizational skills with high level of accountability
• Ability to establish and improve processes. Excited to establish and build feedback loops within the organization and across business units.
• This role is located in our Retail Showroom and will require a flexible schedule, including weekend and holiday hours.

Nice to Have

• Experience with design tools and spatial planning
• BA or experience working in a creative field, interior design, art history, architecture, etc.

Ernesta is committed to inclusion. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

The anticipated starting base pay for this role is between $20 - $30 per hour. This range represents the low and high end of the anticipated pay range for this role. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as: experience, education, and skills.