Design Consultant

At Rhodes, our core purpose is to enhance the lives of our customers and team through building communities. We specialize in developing master planned communities and construction of high quality, energy efficient homes across the Rio Grande Valley. Rhodes has been recognized among the fastest growing private companies in the US by Inc. 5000 and is on a mission to expand its footprint into more communities across South Texas. Since 2019, Esperanza Homes, a Rhodes Company, has ranked nationally on Builder Magazine’s Top 200 Builders List and is on an aggressive growth trajectory to make the Top 100 Builders list while serving more communities across South Texas.

Rhodes was founded in the early 1990’s as a land acquisition and holding company. In 2006, the company shifted gears and ventured into residential/commercial land development and home building with the formation of Esperanza Homes. Rhodes Enterprises has grown to one of the largest developers of residential, commercial, and master planned communities in the Rio Grande Valley. For more than a decade, we have grown to serve the communities of Mission, Donna, McAllen, Edinburg, San Juan, Weslaco, Harlingen, and Brownsville. We are passionate about our customers, building exceptional homes, our team, and the communities where we live, work and serve.

Rhodes is a certified Great Place to Work, when you choose to work with us, you are part of a passionate and high performing Team! You will work alongside team members who set and reach ambitious goals every day and are excited to continue to grow and build communities.

Benefits of being a part of our Team include:

• Competitive Compensation including Bonus & Profit-Sharing Programs
• Health Care - Medical/Dental/Vision/Prescription Drug Coverage Along with Robust Supplemental Plan Options
• Employer Paid Health Reimbursement Account for Medically Enrolled Staff
• 401(k) with Company Matching Contributions
• Disability Programs
• Employee & Dependent Life Insurance
• Vacation & Company Holidays
• Employee Home Purchase Rebate Program
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Reward and Recognition Programs

Role Mission: As a Design Consultant working in the Esperanza Homes division, you will deliver outstanding customer service and satisfaction while offering elegantly timeless as well as fashion-forward selections. Consultants must remain current on design trends and should be able to articulate the importance of these trends to buyers. The Design Team maintains a focus on delivering value to the customer through appropriate selections while driving company profitability through the sale of options and upgrades. You are part of the Operations team and have an exciting opportunity to support the accomplishment of our organizational purpose to create beautifully engaging communities.

Measured Performance Goals:

• $ Design Studio Total Revenue
• Average EPO Errors - Design
• Customer Satisfaction % - Design
• Average # of Variances – Operations
• Average Cycle Time – Operations

Accountabilities:

Customer Experience:

• Lead customers through the Design process in a professional manner and per deadlines.
• Create a comfortable and exciting environment for Design Selections & Final Design Meeting with customers.
• Resolves reselection issues and responds to questions that arise in relation to options during construction by communicating to customer through phone, email, or text.
• Educate Operations team, Sales team, & customers on included features & available options during the Design Process.
• Prepare for meetings by reviewing customer budget prior to meeting and keep customer within their budget for the Design Selections Meeting.
• Guide the decision-making process, communicating benefits of options through product knowledge and expertise.
• Displays strong knowledge of Esperanza Homes Design Options, Homebuyer Process, & overall Design Experience.
• Exhibits tact, consideration, and patience in difficult situations.
• Maintains a professional image as the face of Esperanza Homes to homebuyers.
• Review customer surveys and provide feedback on the experience through internal comments & customer follow-up.

Design Functions:

• Drives option revenue & profit through regular reviews of option pricing, availability, & sales trends.
• Design SPEC homes to be within specified budget and with most sellable design items.
• Approaches sudden, unexpected challenges effectively with confidence.
• Strong work ethic, takes initiative, learns, and applies new information quickly.
• Recommend Design Studio additions and review with Manager.
• Remain current on design trends and identify any updates that align with our process and overall team and company’s goals.

Administrative Functions:

• Present at Design Studio during business hours Monday through Friday.
• Timely delivery, per Pre-Construction Schedule, of Design Selection information for on-time starts for sold, inventory and model homes.
• Contributes to the construction process by ensuring all necessary selections are chosen, plans labeled accurately, & timely reselections.
• Responsible for maintaining Design Studio organization & displays, ensuring all samples are in proper location prior & following meeting and overall Design Studio appearance.
• Create addendums and documents for SPEC homes from color templates and matrices based on initial addendums and documents supplied by Vice President - Operations.
• Communicate any issues from Design Selection Meetings & Final Design meetings with Manager & Sales.
• Complete & file all necessary documents for Design Selection Meetings & Final Design Meetings.
• Attend weekly Tactical Meetings with Design team.
• Personable, adaptable, approachable, and friendly, while maintaining a strong sales orientation.

Interdepartmental Communication:

• Communicates any plan, pricing, or option inconsistencies to Operations Management.
• Facilitates clear inter-department communication.
• Interacts and communicates clearly with coworkers, clients, and vendors in a courteous, friendly manner.
• Strong active listening skills.

Embodies Rhodes Core Values:

• Act with Integrity, No Exceptions
• Honor our Team
• Never Be Satisfied – continuously looks for ways to improve every aspect of our business
• Best in Class Customer Experience -provide a best-in-class customer experience – every time, with every customer
• Community Leadership – takes pride in actively engaging in the communities we serve, making them better for our future

Lives the Values of the Rhodes Team:

• Believes and is committed to our mission to enhance the lives of our customers and our team through building communities
• Is driven by outcomes and results, and wants to be held accountable for them
• Has a propensity for action, willing to make mistakes by doing in order to learn and improve quickly
• Thrives in an entrepreneurial, high-growth environment; is comfortable with ambiguity and change
• Seeks and responds well to feedback, which is shared often and freely across all levels of the organization
• Works through silos and forges strong cross-departmental relationships in order to achieve outcomes

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• None

Qualifications, Knowledge & Skills:

• Knowledge of homebuilding.
• Sales skills
• Excellent organization skills
• Design knowledge – homebuilding & interior design.
• Solid understanding of core design principles and color concepts and proven ability to apply.
• Computer-savvy (Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, DocuSign, ECI – MarkSystems,).
• Ability and desire to learn & grow through technology, processes, & collaboration.

FLSA Status: Exempt

Essential Functions (Mental/Physical/Environmental Requirements):

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a team member with or without reasonable accommodations, to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

• Report to Office daily and adhere to schedule
• Ability to oversee direct reports daily and provide guidance as needed
• Ability to access, input, and retrieve information from a computer and/or electronic device
• Ability to have face to face conversations with customers, co-workers and manager
• Ability to sit or stand for long periods of time and move around work environment as needed
• Ability to operate a motor vehicle
• Comply with company policies and procedure
• Must be able to able to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time
• The ability to frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds