Client Experience Manager
Full Time Mon-Fri 40 hrs | Hybrid 1 day WFH, predominantly studio-based | London E1
Salary £38,000 - £42,000 pa
Renovating a home is never just a transaction. For most of our clients, it's the biggest financial decision they'll make, and one of the most personal. We're trusted with something that matters enormously to them, and we take that seriously.
We want every client to wake up loving the home we helped them renovate. But, just as much, we want them looking back and genuinely having enjoyed how they got there. That second part, the getting there, is what this role is all about.
Who We Are
Pencil and Brick is an architecture and construction practice specialising in the renovation and extension of private homes.
We bring architecture, construction and client experience together under one roof, so the people designing, pricing and building a project work as one team.
Our clients are homeowners. They are trusting us with somewhere incredibly personal to them, often investing a significant amount of money to reshape, improve or extend the home they live in.
That is why great relationships matter just as much to us as great buildings.
We believe in building trust, taking ownership, paying attention to the details and continually looking for better ways of working.
We don't hire job titles. We build Bricks.
Our Values
Want to know more about us? See how we created our own values in a workshop at pencilandbrick.co.uk/our-ethos/.
The Role
The Client Experience Manager role sits right at the heart of Pencil and Brick.
This role is approximately a 70/30 split, with around 70% focused on Client Experience and being our clients advocate, and 30% supporting the day-to-day running of our studio and team.
The most important part of the role is being the advocate for our homeowners throughout their journey with us.
Our clients are handing over their home, their money and, for a period of time, a huge amount of control to us.
We need someone who understands the weight of that.
Someone with the maturity, judgement and empathy to understand what may be sitting behind a client's question or concern, and who can become a trusted and reassuring presence throughout what can be a long, exciting and sometimes overwhelming process.
You'll work closely with our Head of Brand and Client Experience and alongside our Design and Build teams, making sure our clients feel informed, understood and properly looked after.
Alongside that, you'll help keep our studio running smoothly and support the team with the practical day-to-day things that make everybody else's job easier.
Client Experience / client advocate
Internally, we think of this role as our client's advocate, because that is what we want this person to become for our homeowners.
Your job is to understand not only what is happening on the project, but how the homeowner is experiencing it.
You'll build trusted relationships over an extended period and become a consistent person our clients know they can come to.
You'll be involved in things like:
- Being a consistent point of contact through design, build and into aftercare.
- Getting to know each client and understanding what matters to them personally.
- Keeping close to live projects so clients know what's happening and what to expect next.
- Recognising when confidence may be dipping before it turns into a problem.
- Helping clients navigate decisions, delays, uncertainty and the inevitable ups and downs of a significant home project.
- Working alongside Design and Build to keep communication clear, honest and joined up.
- Managing expectations, including when the answer isn't necessarily the one the client was hoping for.
- Making sure the right information reaches the right client at the right time.
- Spotting opportunities to improve the client journey and bringing your own ideas forward.
You won't be the architect or the builder.
Your expertise will be the homeowner and their experience.
Studio Support
Alongside the Client Experience Manager role, you'll help to support the day-to-day running of the studio and create an environment where our team can do their best work.
You'll be involved in things like:
- Keeping the studio organised, welcoming and properly equipped.
- Managing supplies, refreshments, stationery and general replenishments.
- Supporting purchasing and project-related tasks when needed.
- Coordinating suppliers and practical services.
- Supporting recruitment, interviews and new-starter onboarding.
- Helping the team with day-to-day practical needs.
- Keeping internal systems, documentation and processes organised.
- Being the person who notices when something needs doing and takes ownership of getting it sorted.
- Looking for better and smarter ways of doing things as we grow.
It's a hands-on part of the role.
Sometimes you'll be helping us improve a process. Sometimes you'll be sorting something practical in the studio.
It's all part of owning it.
About You
We're looking for someone who brings real maturity, perspective and depth to relationships with people.
You'll have experience building trusted relationships with people making important decisions, ideally where there has been significant financial, personal or emotional weight attached to those decisions.
We're less interested in how many years you've spent simply “dealing with clients” and much more interested in the depth of the relationships you've been trusted to manage.
You'll:
- Build credibility and trust quickly.
- Have strong emotional intelligence and good judgement.
- Be able to put yourself in somebody else's shoes, even when their circumstances are different from your own.
- Understand that a client concern may be about more than the thing they are actually asking about.
- Be calm and reassuring without overpromising.
- Be confident dealing with discerning clients who expect a high level of service.
- Be comfortable managing expectations and having difficult conversations when necessary.
- Have the judgement to know when to take ownership and when something needs escalating.
- Be practical, resourceful and organised.
- Naturally take ownership without waiting to be asked.
- Notice details and follow things through.
- Be comfortable moving between meaningful client conversations and the everyday practicalities of supporting a studio.
- Be tech-savvy and confident learning new systems.
- Want to grow alongside an ambitious business.
Experience in property, high-end residential, architecture, construction, interior design, private-client services, relocation, wealth, hospitality or another environment involving significant personal client relationships would be an advantage.
But we're open-minded about where you've gained your experience.
What matters most is the maturity, judgement, perspective and empathy you bring with you.
Why Pencil and Brick?
Because you'll never be “just” our Client Experience Manager or Studio Support.
You'll have a genuine opportunity to shape how our clients experience one of the biggest projects they may ever undertake, while also becoming an important part of how our studio works behind the scenes.
Your ideas will be listened to.
You'll be trusted to make decisions.
You'll be encouraged to spot things that could be better and do something about them.
If you understand that looking after a homeowner isn't simply about providing good service, it's about earning trust, understanding people and being there when it really matters, we'd love to hear from you.
Pay: £38,000.00-£42,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Additional leave
- Company events
- Company pension
- Cycle to work scheme
- Discounted or free food
- Employee discount
- Financial planning services
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Referral programme
- Sick pay
- Store discount
- Work from home
Application question(s):
- 1. Are you confident building trusted relationships with clients who are making significant personal or financial decisions about their homes?
- 2. Are you comfortable handling sensitive or difficult client conversations and managing their expectations?
- 3. Are you happy in a hands-on role that combines client responsibility with the practical day-to-day running of and supporting a studio team?
Work Location: In person