Recruitment Advisor

Are you a proactive and inclusive recruitment professional who would love to work in a fast-paced creative environment? We are looking for a Recruitment Advisor to manage entry-level recruitment for Penguin. We are looking for a candidate to start as soon as possible.

This role reports to the Recruitment Manager and is part of a wider team of three Recruitment Partners, our Employer Brand Manager, Programmes and Outreach Advisor, and Recruitment Coordinator.

About Penguin

We’re the UK’s largest publisher; made up of some 2,000 people and publishing over 1,500 books each year. Our doors are open to all kinds of talent. In a constantly evolving industry, we work hard to stretch the definition of the word publisher. Here, you’ll work with a breadth of talent who all play their part to make each of our books a success. Together, we make books for everyone because a book can change anyone. 

The Role

As Recruitment Advisor you will find, inspire and hire the best entry-level talent for Penguin by delivering proactive and inclusive recruitment plans. Working across up to 15 roles at any one time, you’ll need to be curious to keep learning, working in close partnership with hiring managers to understand their hiring needs and how to meet them most effectively.

Teams you will work with include Editorial, Design, Publicity, Marketing, Sales, Contracts & Business Affairs, and HR. Penguin is an in-demand employer for entry level talent, and application numbers often reach over 500 for our most popular positions.

Key responsibilities:

• Lead job briefings and guide hiring managers throughout the recruitment lifecycle, seeking advice on any complex or challenging scenarios or questions.

• Act as the main point of contact for the hiring manager, candidates and other internal stakeholders such as HR Generalists, ensuring timely communication and feedback.

• Support hiring managers to ensure that recruitment processes are inclusive and fair, in accordance with our recruitment and promotion policy, including specific recruitment initiatives such as Disability Confident.

• Draft and post inclusive, inspiring and clear job adverts aligned with our employer brand.

• Conduct a first assessment of all applications received to provide the hiring manager with a longlist for review.

• Schedule virtual and in-person interviews with candidates, with support from the Recruitment Coordinator.

• Support managers to develop open and inclusive interview questions, and conduct interviews alongside the business where needed, and where capacity allows.

• Make offers of employment in accordance with our entry level pay approach.

• Collaborate with the wider HR and recruitment team where needed to deliver initiatives that benefit entry-level talent, such as engagement with work experience, programmes or internship talent and attendance at outreach events such as careers fairs or Penguin-led events on or offsite.

• Contribute to recruitment team best practice through effective engagement with recruitment colleagues and a continuous improvement approach.

• Accurately record recruitment data and use this data to build insight and improve our hiring approach and decisions. 

• Act as an ambassador for Penguin, offering a human, helpful and open approach and experience which serves to build trust and inspire candidates (both internal and external).

Candidate profile

• Experience of working in a recruitment agency or in-house recruitment environment.

• Knowledge of the end-to-end recruitment cycle.

• Proven stakeholder and candidate management experience.

• Understanding and knowledge of inclusive hiring practices.

• Demonstrable interest in the publishing industry; experience of recruitment in a creative industry is preferred.

• Proactive, with strong organisational and time management skills with the ability to work to tight deadlines and manage competing priorities at pace.

• Ability to quickly build mutually beneficial relationships and trust with hiring teams and the wider HR team, advising and challenging where needed.

• Solutions focussed and the ability to work proactively to pre-empt situations and complexities.

• Ambassador for excellent candidate experience and employer brand through professional recruitment practices.

• Effective communication skills, both written and verbal, including strong attention to detail. 

• Commercially-minded, with the curiosity to understand business priorities.

• Eager to learn, and apply learnings, about teams, roles, the business and inclusive hiring methods.

• Collaborative mind-set and a team player.

Application Instructions

Please apply with your CV and cover letter outlining why you are the right candidate for the role by midnight on Sunday 20th October.

We will not accept applications that do not include a cover letter – this is an important part of our assessment and is an opportunity for you to tell us more about your interest in the role, Penguin and your experience. Typically, we would expect a cover letter to be no more than one or two pages.

What you can expect from us:

Salary: £33,000 - £35,000 depending on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits. 

Our people are the heart of our business, and we work hard to support a culture of responsibility and recognition. Our benefits include:

• Financial – discounted shopping, season ticket loan, rental deposit loan

• Wellbeing – healthcare cash plan, employee assistance, gym loan

• Lifestyle – taste card, tech scheme, free and discounted books

For our full benefits list please visit: https://www.penguinrandomhousecareers.co.uk/what-we-offer/

The recruitment process: You can read about our recruitment process at https://www.penguinrandomhousecareers.co.uk/how-we-hire/

As a Disability Confident Committed organisation, we're part of the offer an interview scheme. This is where disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role can opt in to get to the next recruitment stage. There may be some situations where volume of applicants means we can't take all eligible candidates to interview.

We encourage you to tell us about any reasonable adjustments you may need by emailing PRHCareersUK@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk. Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable to for us to support your request.

Please note, we are not able to accept agency CVs for this role. Any CVs sent speculatively will not be eligible for a fee.

Company: Penguin Books Limited 

Country: United Kingdom 

State/Region: London 

City: London 

Postal Code: SW11 7BW 

Job ID: 274497