HR officer, 12m FTC

Salary: Circa £30k dependent on experience (+ bonus + benefits)

Location: Didcot, South Oxfordshire

Support the people behind one of the UK’s largest book distribution operations, working across recruitment, employee relations and HR projects.

We, Hachette UK Distribution, are the leading book distribution company in the UK. We are one of the most advanced distribution centres in Europe, with leading-edge automation and modern systems which will ensure world-class service to customers and publisher clients. We ship in excess of 60 million books globally each year and supply one out of every four books to the UK trade. Our mission is to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity.

Hachette UK Distribution is part of the Hachette UK publishing group.

What you'll be doing

• As HR Officer for Hachette UK Distribution, you will work closely with the HR Business Partners and HR Assistant to drive and deliver our people objectives.
• You will support the team with all aspects of the employee lifecycle and will support and manage a variety of employee relations cases.
• You may also support our key people projects for 2026 and will work closely with employees and managers to provide HR guidance and advice.

At Hachette UK Distribution, we are proud of our culture and our people who make an invaluable contribution every day. We are looking for a proactive, team focussed HR Officer who is keen to work with the business, can demonstrate our strategic pillars of growth mindset, owner mentality and understanding consumers, alongside contributing to an inclusive and collaborative work environment.

Who we are looking for

Personal Attributes/Skills

• Excellent communication skills - can communicate in a logical way, to listen and to clearly present information to others.
• Able to adapt approach and style to the situation.
• Ability to multi-task and prioritise a variety of activities.
• Can generate ideas and solutions offering a range of options.
• Is comfortable to deal with sensitive issues and to maintain confidentiality at all times.
• Demonstrates a high level of initiative and autonomy, with the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Keenness to build positive relationships with all colleagues through understanding the business.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Team player with a positive, ‘can do’ attitude.
• Takes pride in providing first-class partnering to managers and employees across our business.

Experience/Knowledge

• Proven experience of managing employee relations cases end to end, escalating more complex cases where needed.
• Proven experience of coordinating aspects of the employee lifecycle including recruitment, onboarding, absence and performance management.
• Sound understanding of Human Resources practice and a good grasp of employment law and forthcoming changes.
• High level of competency in the use of MS Office packages.

What we offer

Our people are our greatest asset and our benefits reflect this. Therefore, we offer an extensive list of benefits that include:

• 34 days annual holiday including Bank Holidays
• Pension Plan and Life Assurance schemes
• Company enhanced family policy including maternity, paternity and shared parental
• Reward programme giving discounts, savings and cash back at numerous retailers
• 2 Community Days per year
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Eye care vouchers
• Generous discounts on books we publish
• Mental Health First Aiders / Champions and an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• Wide-ranging training library
• Development Programmes including Mentoring
• Staff Events
• Many employee networks to join
• Free onsite parking

The role will be based at our Didcot site with a blend of in-office (3 days) and homeworking (2 days) per week. This role supports our 24/5 operations team and flexibility will be required depending on business need.

Our commitment

Hachette employs people on the basis of their abilities. We aim to attract and develop talent from a base as broad as the world of readers we want to reach, with a wide and representative range of age, faith, disability, race, gender, sexuality and socio-economic, regional and cultural backgrounds.

If you are shortlisted and need us to make any adjustments to help you attend your interview, please let us know.

We will notify all candidates of the outcome of their application.

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.

Please make sure that you state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access.