Receptionist (12 month FTC)

Closing date: 29th May 2025

Salary: £27,000 (+bonus +benefits)

Location: The role will be based at our London office, Carmelite House.

Provide top-quality reception service at Carmelite House in London.

Hachette UK is a creative powerhouse and the UK's second largest book publishing group. Our mission is to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity. We're made up of 11 autonomous publishing divisions and over 60 imprints with a rich and diverse history and an incredible range of authors. We're also the market leader in e-books and publish a range of bestsellers in audio format, the fastest growing part of our business.

It's an exciting time to join our business because the publishing market continues to grow and thrive. The UK remains the largest exporter of physical books in the world and book adaptations for film and TV are the foundation of the UK's creative industries.

What you'll be doing

• Provide a high-quality reception service at Carmelite House.
• Warmly greet staff and visitors to Carmelite House upon arrival and departure.
• Work closely with FOH security officer.
• Contact the visitor’s host, inform them of visitor’s arrival and invite visitors to sit in the waiting area. Follow up where required.
• Follow process for security pass requests for new starters and replacement passes; print security passes ready to be collected.
• Issue and manage the distribution and return of day passes for staff and visitors upon request, ensuring the pass log is updated. Follow up with and cancel any unreturned passes.
• Ensure all questions and queries are responded to and resolved quickly, efficiently and professionally. Where necessary, escalate to the Building Manager.
• Monitor Condeco for visitor bookings, ensuring visitors are ‘arrived’ ‘collected’ and ‘departed’, and log any visitors on Condeco who haven’t been booked in advance.
• Monitor the starters and leavers spreadsheet and update Integra accordingly.
• Use SAP to raise Purchase Orders when requested.
• Review and respond to all emails within one hour, escalating to the wider facilities team where necessary.
• Ensure SOPS for reception services are current, accurate and reviewed regularly.
• Keep the reception desk clear, tidy and clean ensuring any keys, passes or sensitive information is secured and kept out of sight.
• Ensure appropriate lunch break cover has been arranged with the wider Facilities team, and the reception desk is always manned whilst the building is operational. To monitor standards within the reception area and escalate any issues of cleanliness or poor-quality service delivery to the cleaning team.
• Re-direct couriers or contractors that should be received at the rear loading bay entrance.
• Assist the wider Facilities team with general administration tasks as required.
• Understand and be confident in receptionist’s role in fire evacuation EOP.

The above list is not exclusive or exhaustive and the job holder may be required to undertake such other tasks as may reasonably be required.

Who we are looking for

• You have good IT skills including Microsoft Office.
• You are polite, courteous and have a personable manner
• You work well under pressure.
• Working style that encourages teamwork both within the role and across business functions
• Collaborative working spirit that enhances and builds effective working relationships both internally and externally
• The ability to multi-task effectively and prioritise workload
• A “can do” attitude using own initiative, innovative and self-motivated
• You have excellent written and spoken communication skills.
• You have a good customer focus.
• Proficient in use of word, excel and outlook.
• Experience in previous front of house role

What we offer

Our staff are our greatest asset, and our benefits reflect this:

• 28 annual leave days per year, increases to 29 days after 2 years' service and goes up to 30 days after 5 years' (+ bank holidays)
• Private medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Generous pension schemes
• Rent deposit loans
• 2 community days per year
• Summer hours (finishing at 1pm on Fridays during the summer months)
• Retail discounts through Hachette rewards
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Eye care vouchers
• Wide-ranging training library
• Development programmes (including mentoring)
• Up to 70% off book purchases
• A charity bookshelf
• 12 Staff-led employee networks that are voluntary, including Gender Balance, Thrive, Pride, All Together, Wellbeing and religious networks
• Season ticket loans
• And much more!

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 for interview, please let us know.

The Book Trade Charity offers financial support to people looking to enter the book trade but who may struggle to afford the costs of attending interviews and undertaking junior roles. For more information visit www.booktradeentrysupport.org

Please state in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.