Opportunities in Colchester, United Kingdom

Full job description

We’re looking for a warm, organised and helpful Receptionist to join Penguin Random House UK at our Frating site. As one of the first people colleagues, visitors and contractors meet, you’ll play an important part in creating a welcoming, professional reception and helping the site run smoothly day to day.

About the team

Based at our Frating site, you’ll work closely with colleagues across the building, as well as our Security Gatehouse, cleaning contractor and other on-site teams. This is a varied, people-focused role where no two days are quite the same.

The role

You’ll be the first point of contact for visitors and colleagues, providing helpful information about the company and the site while keeping Reception welcoming, tidy and well organised. You’ll also support a range of practical and administrative tasks, from coordinating meeting rooms and couriers to sharing site communications.

This is a part-time role working 20 hours per week, over three days per week, at our Frating location.

Key responsibilities:

• Greeting visitors, including VIPs, and ensuring appropriate health and safety and security procedures are followed, including checking contractors are authorised to work on site.
• Complete daily meeting room checks, ensuring all rooms are clean, tidy and suitably prepared for use
• Managing and scheduling on-site meeting rooms when requested.
• Helping to keep Reception tidy and arranging book displays.
• Liaising with the Security Gatehouse and using the tannoy system when required.
• Sending site communications, including parking updates, traffic alerts and lost property messages.
• Checking the Reception letterbox and dealing with post as appropriate.
• Booking taxis and liaising with colleagues about travel arrangements.
• Receiving courier deliveries and liaising with colleagues where necessary.
• Liaising with the cleaning contractor when required, for example in response to spillages.
• Acting as a first point of contact for colleagues and visitors, providing information about Penguin Random House and the Frating site.
• Ensuring Reception is appropriately covered during working hours and providing flexibility to support holiday or sickness cover where possible, which may sometimes be at short notice.
• Laminating signage and supporting other day-to-day Reception administration as needed.

What you’ll bring

Essential criteria:

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with a friendly and professional approach.

• Good organisational skills and the ability to manage a varied workload.

• A reliable, proactive approach and confidence using your initiative.

• Good attention to detail and a commitment to keeping Reception welcoming and organised.

• Confidence communicating with colleagues, visitors, contractors and other stakeholders.

• Comfort using everyday office systems and email, with the ability to learn new processes quickly.

• Ability to work the advertised Wednesday, Thursday and Friday hours at our Frating site.

Disability Confident

If you have opted into our disability confident scheme, the above are the essential criteria you must meet to be considered for our interview scheme. Please note, there may be occasions where the volume of applicants means we can’t take all eligible candidates to interview.

Application instructions

Please apply with your CV and cover letter outlining why you are the right candidate for the role by 11:59pm on 13th September 2026

• Please ensure you include a cover letter, as it is a crucial part of our assessment process. The cover letter offers an opportunity to show how your experience and interests align with the role requirements. Typically, we expect the cover letter to be no more than one or two pages in length.
• Please note we are looking for someone to join the team as soon as possible, but we are also happy to accommodate a reasonable notice period for the right candidate.
• We anticipate a two-stage interview process which will include a virtual first-stage interview and in-person second stage interview. We are happy to discuss this further with you throughout the recruitment process.

Here at Penguin, we believe in the power of authenticity and human creativity. When you apply for a position, we want to encourage you to showcase your unique voice. Throughout our recruitment process, please share your own thoughts, experiences, and skills. This helps us get a true sense of who you are and what you might bring to our team.

We celebrate creativity and diverse perspectives, so please be yourself! While we recognise AI tools can be helpful, we recommend using them thoughtfully to ensure your responses reflect you.

Salary

£16,074.54 plus benefits.

Hybrid working

While our offices across the UK are places to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, we recognise that flexibility around where you work is just as important. However, due to the nature of this role, we do require the successful candidate to work from our Frating-based office on all of their working days.

Additional information

Disclosure requirements pertaining to the collection of your personal data:

Responsible for processing the information provided in your application is the company specified in the job advertisement, with its registered office as indicated. The company processes your data for the purpose of establishing an employment relationship on the basis of Art. 6 (1) b GDPR / Section 26 (1) sentence 1 BDSG.

The retention period for your data is determined by the statutory time limits applicable in the respective country, beginning upon completion of the recruitment process. You can find these here.

You can contact the company’s Data Protection Officer at the above-mentioned postal address.

Further information on data protection and your rights can be found here.

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