Full job descriptionOur sales manager is great at selling and less great at paperwork. That’s where you come in.


Who we areUniversal Science has been making custom parts from high-tech materials for over 24 years, mostly for customers in electronics and electric vehicles. We also run Materials Direct, an online platform where customers upload a drawing, get an instant price and have their part made within 24 hours and shipped anywhere in the world. We’re small enough that you’ll know everyone, and growing fast enough that there’s always something new going on.


The jobYou’ll look after orders from the first enquiry to delivery, and beyond. You’ll handle the commercial admin for the sales manager, deal with customer enquiries and quotes, and raise sales and purchase orders in Sage 50. You’ll keep sales and production talking to each other, so what we promise customers is what production can actually deliver, and you’ll keep customers posted on where their order is. When a delivery goes sideways or a customer needs help after it arrives, you’re the one who sorts it. Some days are calm. Some aren’t.


Who we’re looking for*You’re really organised. We don’t mean you own a nice notebook. We mean you know where every order is and what’s due next, even on a Monday morning when everything’s kicking off at once.
*Busy days don’t rattle you. The phone’s ringing, production has a question and a customer wants an answer yesterday, and you stay calm, work out what comes first and get on with it.
*You’re good with numbers. You’ll be working out prices, quantities and totals on the spot, so you’ll need to be quick at mental maths and not reach for a calculator every five minutes.
*You’ll ideally have around two years using Sage 50 Accounts Professional for quotes, sales orders and purchase orders, plus some experience buying materials and arranging deliveries. You’ll be confident in Outlook, Excel and Word, and you’ll have GCSE English and Maths or equivalent.
*It would be a real bonus if you’ve used HubSpot, WooCommerce or WordPress, worked in engineering or manufacturing, can read an engineering drawing or know your way around ISO 9001. If you tick some of these boxes but not all, please still apply. We can teach you a system. It’s much harder to teach someone to be organised.


Your hours8am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, and 8am to 12pm on Friday. You’ll get a 30-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks a day.


What you getA salary of £35,000, plus a discretionary bonus when the company does well. You’ll get 22 days’ holiday plus bank holidays, with three of those kept for the Christmas shutdown. Our pension puts in 1% more than the legal minimum, and you’ll get proper training and development. There’s also a cycle to work scheme, free parking, and free tea and coffee. Our Employee of the Year wins a trip abroad, which beats a box of Celebrations.