Customer Support Associate (E-Commerce) - Full Time

Important: Any applications suspected to have used ChatGPT or other AI tools to write your answers will be automatically rejected. We encourage the use of AI at work to make us more efficient but for this job application we want to see your own written answers, not AI-written answers.

About Us

We are MadFun, a UK e-commerce group selling trampolines, above-ground swimming pools, climbing frames, scooters, and other premium play equipment across three websites: madfun.co.uk, trampolines.co.uk, and sunshinepools.co.uk.

We sell products that get families outside and off screens. Our customers are usually buying high-value equipment for their children, often as a surprise or a birthday present, and they care about it arriving on time and in one piece. That matters, and it shapes how we work.

We are a small, close-knit team running a business that is growing quickly. That means real responsibility from day one, and real visibility on what you contribute.

About the Role

We are hiring two full-time Customer Support Associates to rebuild and strengthen our Sales and Customer Support team. You will work directly alongside our Customer Support Manager, and with each other.

This is a hands-on team role focused on delivering excellent customer support and getting things done properly. It is not a management role, but every person on this team is expected to be a leader in their own right. You will be trusted to make decisions, take end-to-end ownership of issues, and see them through to resolution.

We are looking for people who step up rather than step back, and who never use hierarchy or job title as a reason to avoid responsibility. "That's not my job" will not be accepted here as an excuse.

Because we are hiring two people at the same time, you will be joining alongside someone else at the same stage. There is a real opportunity here to shape how this team works rather than inherit someone else's way of doing things.

Our Core Values

We hire, review, and promote against four core values. These core values are what sets our culture and is the behaviour we expect from day 1 for all our employees. If you do not relate to these core values, this will not be the right company for you.

Initiative and creativity in problem solving. You look for the answer before you look for a manager. When the obvious route is blocked, you find another one.

Do what you say you will do. If you promise a customer a callback on Thursday, they get a callback on Thursday. If you tell a colleague you have handled something, it is handled.

Collaborative, helpful, and supportive. We back each other up, especially when it is busy. Nobody sits on their hands while someone else drowns.

Passionate and tenacious about our products and our customers. You care about getting it right, and you stay with a problem until it is properly solved rather than just closed.

If those four things describe how you already work, you will fit in well here. If they sound like hard work, this is not the place for you.

Key Responsibilities

• Handling customer enquiries via phone, email, and web chat with professionalism and care
• Managing delivery, damage, and warranty queries through to resolution
• Processing orders and payments accurately and securely
• Owning customer issues and resolving them without unnecessary escalation
• Working confidently across a helpdesk system to log, track, and resolve enquiries
• Using AI tools sensibly to work faster and respond better, without losing the human touch
• Liaising with couriers, warehouses, suppliers, and the rest of the team
• Handling pre-sales enquiries and converting them, since a good answer on the phone often is the start of a sale
• Maintaining accurate records across internal systems, including clear notes on orders
• Updating website product information when required, on Shopify
• Responding to customer reviews and feedback where needed
• Contributing to process improvements and operational efficiency across all three websites

The Reality of the Role

This is a hands-on, fast-paced role in a busy e-commerce environment. You will be dealing with a high volume of customer enquiries daily, including delivery, warranty, and complaint cases.

Our business is seasonal. Trampolines and swimming pools sell the most from spring through to late summer, and that is when the phones do not stop. Peak trading is genuinely demanding, and the quieter months are when we improve things, tidy processes, and get ahead. You need to be someone who thrives in the first environment and uses the second well.

You will be expected to:

• Make decisions quickly and confidently
• Handle difficult customer situations calmly and resolve them where possible
• Pull your weight and support the wider team throughout the day
• Balance your own workload while staying ready to help when others need it
• Pick up new software and systems quickly, with little hand-holding

This is not a role where you sit back and wait to be told what to do. You will be in the deep end from day one and expected to learn on the job as things come up. We do not have a formal training programme, so please take that into account before applying. If you do not want to get stuck in on day one, this is not the right company for you.

About You

You are calm under pressure, commercially aware, and comfortable taking ownership of decisions or, at the very least, proposing solutions worth considering.

You have enough experience to know what excellent customer service looks like, and you take pride in delivering it. You are proactive, dependable, and confident enough to act without waiting for permission on every detail. You are genuinely comfortable with technology: you pick up new systems quickly, you already use AI tools in your work or your personal life, and you have worked with a helpdesk or ticketing system before. You are still ambitious and open to learning, and you enjoy being part of a team that holds a high standard.

What we are looking for:

• 3+ years experience in a fast-moving customer service or sales support role
• Direct experience in a product-based e-commerce business (this one matters to us, and general website or back-office support is not the same thing)
• Hands-on experience with a helpdesk or ticketing system, for example Zendesk, Gorgias, Freshdesk, or Zoho Desk
• Practical experience using AI tools such as ChatGPT or Claude as part of your day-to-day work, and a genuine interest in using them well
• Genuinely tech-savvy, with the confidence to work across multiple systems at once
• Quick to learn new software with minimal hand-holding
• Clear, confident written and verbal communication
• Professional telephone manner and strong customer judgement
• High attention to detail and strong organisational skills
• Confidence to take ownership and make decisions independently
• Comfortable occasionally lifting or moving boxes, for example returned products coming back to the office
• Willing and able to contribute across the business where needed, including marketing and operations
• Able to commute reliably to Sevenoaks five days a week

A bonus, but not required: experience with Shopify, experience selling large or bulky items, or a background in outdoor, garden, leisure, or family products.

What Success Looks Like

In your first 30 days: you are answering customer enquiries independently across phone, email, and chat, you know our product range, and you are asking sharp questions rather than waiting to be shown.

By month 3: you are owning cases end to end, including the awkward ones, and are trusted to handle a busy day with minimal supervision.

By month 6: you have improved at least one thing about how we work, and you are the person a colleague comes to when they are stuck.

Ongoing: customers' issues are resolved quickly and confidently, you take ownership rather than passing problems on, you stay calm during peak trading, and you improve processes rather than work around them.

This Role Is Not for You If

• You prefer a highly structured, script-driven environment where decisions are always escalated rather than owned
• You are uncomfortable taking responsibility for outcomes or seeing issues through to resolution
• You struggle to stay calm, organised, or solution-focused during busy or unpredictable periods
• You expect clear boundaries around "that's not my job" rather than stepping in when the team needs support
• You are slow to pick up new technology, or you are not comfortable using software and AI tools daily
• You rely heavily on escalation to a manager rather than making decisions yourself
• You need constant supervision or reassurance to stay on track
• You avoid difficult conversations with customers or colleagues
• You are uncomfortable dealing with high volumes of customer queries daily
• You are not open to feedback or adjusting how you work as the business evolves
• The commute to Sevenoaks does not realistically work for you every day

What We Can Offer

• A stable, office-based role in a growing online business with three established brands
• Direct exposure to senior decision-making and operations, working closely with the Managing Director and Operations Manager
• Genuine progression opportunities, including into a supervisor or management role as the team grows
• A supportive but high-standard working environment
• A brand new office in Sevenoaks from October
• Long-term career development for the right person

Benefits: casual dress, company pension, employee discount, free on-site parking, health and wellbeing programme, profit sharing, sick pay

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: £27,000.00-£32,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Company pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee discount
• Free parking
• Health & wellbeing programme
• On-site parking
• Profit sharing
• Sick pay

Application question(s):

• How do you currently use AI tools in your work, if at all?
• This role has no formal training; you'll be expected to learn on the job from day one. Are you comfortable with that?
• Tell us about a time you solved a customer problem without escalating it to a manager.
• What experience do you have working for a busy, online, product-based e-commerce business?
• Why are you looking to leave your current role?
• Why do you want to work for MadFun? What specifically appealed to you about this job?
• This role is based in Sevenoaks (TN13 2BL). Can you reliably commute five days a week? If yes, how long will your commute be from your home?

Experience:

• customer service: 3 years (required)

Work Location: In person