Work Experience Lead & Programme Coordinator

Are you passionate about nurturing talent and creating opportunities for the next generation of publishing professionals? 

Our Learning and Development team is on the hunt for an enthusiastic Work Experience Lead & Programme Coordinator. Imagine coordinating 200-250 two-week, paid placements each year, partnering with innovative teams across our business to create unforgettable learning experiences. You'll also be at the heart of our most celebrated initiatives, from The Scheme Traineeship to the Editorial Development Programme and the Creative Leadership Programme, ensuring every detail runs seamlessly. Plus, you'll collaborate with our Recruitment team to elevate our Summer Internship programme, refining induction and training plans to perfection.

Key responsibilities:

Work experience

• Oversee the annual project plan for Work Experience, including advertising, coordinating host availability, collecting participant information, and updating the work experience portal.

• Keep host teams, the HR team, and our external portal developer informed and aligned.

• Partner with our Recruitment team to advertise the programme externally and build partnerships, while maintaining engaging internal communications.

• Collaborate with hosts and trainers to deliver stellar learning experience, gathering feedback to continually improve what we do.

• Coordinate with Facilities and Technology teams to ensure health and safety procedures and accessibility needs are met.

• Facilitate fortnightly participant inductions and monthly department panel talks, and partner with the Recruitment team to organise Interview & CV workshops.

• Maintain accurate HR and payroll systems, documents, and records, ensuring compliance with GDPR and internal data protection.

• Work with our external portal developer to scope and implement ongoing developments to the work experience portal.

• Support budgetary planning and tracking to ensure financial efficiency.

• Assist in the creation and delivery of a new virtual work experience offering launching in 2025.

Programme coordination

• Schedule and co-facilitate new joiner inductions, managing attendance and regularly reviewing content.

• Provide administrative and logistical support for development programmes, including venue coordination and feedback gathering.

• Schedule training and support hosting managers throughout the programme.

What you will bring:

• Relevant admin and coordination experience.

• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written.

• Comfortable to facilitate sessions for different audiences.

• Sound judgement and problem-solving skills.

• Strong attention to detail.

• A customer service focus, always looking for ways to create great experiences and build strong relationships.

• A flexible approach, willing to support the L&D team across various projects as needed.

• Creative thinking and pragmatism, able to translate ideas into practical recommendations and solutions.

• A proactive approach, capable of moving ideas and plans forward while spotting potential obstacles before they become problems.

• Knowledge of MS Office suite.

• Knowledge of, and an active interest in, diversity and inclusion.

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. 

Our approach to hybrid working

While our offices are places for you to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, having flexibility about where you work is just as important for doing your best work and for your wellbeing. So, we don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to how we work across Penguin Random House UK.

For this role, there are regular meetings and activities that you will need to attend in person mainly at our offices in London. Outside of these moments, you can choose to work remotely. We are happy to discuss this arranging further with you during the recruitment process.

Application instructions 

Please apply with your CV and cover letter outlining why you are the right candidate for the role by 11:59pm on Sunday 24th November.

• 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. 

• 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 between 500 and 1000 words. 

• 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. 

What you can expect from us:

Salary: circa £30,000 dependent 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: 275379