Salary Range: $21.00 per hour
NOTE: The hourly rate is a fixed entry rate for this position and applies to all new hires. While our system may display a pay range, this role’s starting rate is non-negotiable. Future pay increases are determined by performance, growth, and time in role, in accordance with our compensation policy.
Job Title:
Design Specialist / Senior Design Specialist
Department:
Retail Design
Job Type:
Full-Time (FT), Hourly (L1)
As a member of the Design team at Wayfair, you are more than a salesperson; you are a trusted design partner and a passionate home expert who helps customers discover the right products to bring their spaces to life. You create an engaging, inspiring in-store, virtual, and in-home design experience centered around our assortment, guiding customers through everything from furniture selections to full-room transformations with confidence and enthusiasm.
You combine a genuine passion for home design with strong interior design expertise, trend awareness, and a results-driven mindset to actively sell across categories. Whether helping a customer select the perfect color palette, build out a 3D room visualization, or execute a complete spatial overhaul, you focus on connecting their aesthetic and functional needs to the right solutions. Through thoughtful consultations and proactive selling, you turn inspiration into action—ensuring every custom design plan fits their space, style, and budget.
You leverage digital design software, mood boards, and your technical expertise to drive both individual sales and overall store performance. In doing so, you not only deliver exceptional service but also contribute to building long-term customer relationships and establishing Wayfair as a trusted premium destination for comprehensive home and design solutions.
Wayfair’s retail business is in an exciting phase of growth, with new store openings and an evolving in-store experience that brings our digital-first brand to life. This role offers a unique opportunity to be part of building something new and shaping how customers shop for home in a physical and consultative environment. Our Specialists play a critical role in defining what great looks like as we scale, making this an ideal opportunity for those who are energized by selling, passionate about interior design, and motivated to grow in a dynamic, fast-paced setting.
I genuinely enjoy being around customers and creating positive, memorable interactions. I bring energy to every design consultation and make clients feel welcome, comfortable, and excited to explore their home ideas.
I help customers turn overwhelming home layout and styling decisions into clear, confident choices. I start by asking the right questions and truly listening, so I understand not just their preferred aesthetic, but how they actually live in their space.
I simplify the complex, breaking down spatial restrictions, textile options, and color theory into practical, easy decisions. And if I don’t have an immediate answer regarding a product specification, I take ownership and find it quickly.
I focus on what’s right for the customer, connecting products seamlessly across categories to create custom design solutions that feel complete, intentional, and curated. I am highly confident in asking for the sale on premium, high-consideration project plans.
I stay hands-on and proactive from start to finish, utilizing every technical tool available to move projects forward. My goal is simple: every client leaves feeling confident, cared for, and inspired by their future home transformation.
Key Metric per Role
Metric / Goal
Sales Per Hour Goal :
Protection Attachment:
Assembly Attachment:
Lead with Connection: Build authentic relationships by greeting, listening, and leading design consultations that feel like natural conversations to understand each client's unique style, lifecycle needs, and project goals.
Guide the Transformation: Support customers through the full design and shopping journey—from initial creative inspiration to final purchase—reducing friction and creating structural clarity.
Always Be Designing (and Selling): Approach every design layout as an opportunity to drive business. Actively seek out leads, follow up on pipelines, build out comprehensive quotes, and confidently close the sale on shoppable project plans.
Rapport Building & Follow-Through: Build deep trust that extends beyond a single transaction, serving as a long-term dedicated design partner across a customer's entire home timeline.
Turn Vision Into Reality: Apply advanced knowledge of color theory, spatial planning, textiles, and trend-savvy styling to create stunning, functional spaces tailored to the customer.
Inspire with Tech + Tools: Build out immersive 2D/3D room views, detailed mood boards, and professional presentations using specialized design software(spoak) to help clients visualize their investments.
Think in Solutions, Not Items: Connect furniture, decor, and structural pieces seamlessly across diverse categories to deliver complete, cohesive, and intentional design solutions.
Leverage Endless Aisle: Masterfully use Wayfair’s digital tools, proprietary software, and retail POS systems to access and utilize the full extended catalog far beyond what is physically displayed on the showroom floor.
Build & Compare Options: Create complex custom quotes, research alternatives, and help customers evaluate aesthetic and structural trade-offs to make confident purchasing decisions.
Take Initiative to Find Answers: Partner with teammates, vendor partners, and visual merchandising assets to solve intricate design and product matching needs when answers are not immediately available.
Support Store Operations: Maintain a professional hustle mindset, pitching in on floor sets, helping with product replenishment, and assisting with customer service tasks (carry-outs, returns, or cancellations) when needed.
Maintain an Inspiring Environment: Ensure design galleries, work spaces, and visual displays remain clean, meticulously organized, and visually compelling for store traffic.
Contribute to Team Success: Support full store recovery, sharing your best interior design hacks, styling tips, and trends with the broader team to elevate collective store performance.
Empathetic Problem Solver: Recognizes when customers feel overwhelmed by vast home options and layout challenges, responding with patience, clarity, and structural expertise.
Action-Oriented Partner: Takes intuitive initiative—both physically on the floor and digitally within design software—to proactively help customers move their projects forward.
Trusted Advisor: Acts strictly in the client's best interest, ensuring premium long-term satisfaction and design integrity—not just immediate transaction value.
Outgoing & Engaging: Brings positive, vibrant energy to the sales floor, creating a welcoming, approachable environment for creative collaboration.
Consultative Design Selling: Proven ability to guide clients confidently through complex layout, budgeting, and styling decisions with clear empathy and authority.
Solutions-Oriented Mindset: Thrives in a fast-paced environment, prioritizing like a pro to proactively seek answers, alternative products, and the best holistic outcome for the space.
Digital Fluency: Highly comfortable navigating multiple technical design programs and inventory systems simultaneously to enhance the customer consultation experience.
Analytical & Spatial Thinking: Expertly compares technical options, manages complex project quotes, manages dimensions, and simplifies decision-making for clients.
Cross-Category Knowledge: Demonstrates and continuously builds deep product expertise across a wide variety of furniture styles, materials, metrics, and home applications.
This job description is intended to outline the general responsibilities and qualifications of the role. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or be assigned at any time with or without notice. The essential functions of this job must be performed with or without reasonable accommodation.
Below sets out the minimum requirements required to perform the essential functions listed above, with or without reasonable accommodation.
Requirement
Specification
Frequency
Supervisory Requirements
Supervisory Requirements
Supervisory Requirements
Supervisory Responsibility
No
N/A
Work Environment
Work Environment
Work Environment
Work near moving mechanical parts
No
Minimal
Work in high, precarious places
No
Minimal
Physical/Mental Requirements
Physical/Mental Requirements
Physical/Mental Requirements
Standing
Full Day (Frequent standing, walking)
Regular Basis
Lifting
up to 50 lbs
Regular Basis
Educational/Qualification Requirements
Educational/Qualification Requirements
Educational/Qualification Requirements
Sales Chops (Experience)
2+ years of sales experience, ideally with higher price-point products or in a design-related retail environment
Design Know-How
At least 1 year of experience in interior, architectural, or graphic design
Language Skill Requirements
Language Skill Requirements
Language Skill Requirements
Can read and understand english
Strong communication and relationship-building skills
Reasoning Skill Requirements
Reasoning Skill Requirements
Reasoning Skill Requirements
Tech Savviness (Comfortable using design tools, POS systems, and platforms like Salesforce)
A Hustle Mindset (Thrive in fast-paced settings and know how to prioritize)
Flexibility (Open availability, including evenings, weekends, and holidays)
Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities
Wayfair is fully committed to providing equal opportunities for all individuals, including individuals with disabilities. As part of this commitment, Wayfair will make reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of qualified individuals with disabilities, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on business operations. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, please let us know by completing our Accomodations for Applicants form.
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About Wayfair Inc.
Wayfair is one of the world’s largest online destinations for the home. Whether you work in our global headquarters in Boston, or in our warehouses or offices throughout the world, we’re reinventing the way people shop for their homes. Through our commitment to industry-leading technology and creative problem-solving, we are confident that Wayfair will be home to the most rewarding work of your career. If you’re looking for rapid growth, constant learning, and dynamic challenges, then you’ll find that amazing career opportunities are knocking.
No matter who you are, Wayfair is a place you can call home. We’re a community of innovators, risk-takers, and trailblazers who celebrate our differences, and know that our unique perspectives make us stronger, smarter, and well-positioned for success. We value and rely on the collective voices of our employees, customers, community, and suppliers to help guide us as we build a better Wayfair – and world – for all. Every voice, every perspective matters. That’s why we’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship status, marital status, disability, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected characteristic.
Your personal data is processed in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Notice (https://www.wayfair.com/careers/privacy). If you have any questions or wish to exercise your rights under applicable privacy and data protection laws, please contact us at [email protected].
