Are you an experienced Personal Assistant? Would you like to be part of the most vibrant and successful publisher in the world? This fixed term contract role combines the two in our new role: PA to Managing Director (MD) of Penguin General.

The Opportunity

You will provide full PA support to the Managing Director, liaise regularly with senior management, dealing with confidential information and will be empowered to make decisions and communicate on behalf of the MD where appropriate.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Management of the MD’s complex diary and daily schedule whilst allowing time to prepare for meetings and attend to the day-to-day requirements of their role
• Prioritising, filing and responding to emails as appropriate, drawing attention to matters of importance
• Organising internal and external meetings across multiple sites and venues. This will include organising high profile events with external stakeholders
• Organising national and international travel
• Providing support in and for meetings, such as preparation of reports, agendas and taking minutes
• Building relationships internally and externally and acting as the face of Penguin General in the MD’s absence
• Processing expenses as required

About Penguin General

Penguin General is one of the eight publishing divisions that make up Penguin Random House UK. There are six imprints at Penguin General: Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Business, Penguin Life, Viking and Sandycove. The latter is based in Dublin.

General is made up of extremely talented colleagues, who set a high bar in terms of quality of output, and who take pride in their work and strive for both individual and collective success. We advocate a ‘learning mindset’ by which we mean being curious and humble. We strive to create a working culture that is progressive, energizing and fun, where colleagues are treated with respect, stretched to learn and grow, and can turn up to work as their authentic professional selves.

What you’ll bring

You’ll be calm and adaptable, trustworthy and discreet and, confident being the face of a division when the MD isn’t available.  

You’ll also have:

• Experience as a Personal Assistant to a Senior Manager or equivalent on a 1:2:1 support basis
• Excellent organisational skills
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to quickly build relationships both with internal & external stakeholders
• Advanced MS office skills particularly word, excel & PowerPoint

To be considered for this role, please apply with your CV and cover letter by midnight on Monday 1st April. Interviews will commence over Zoom on the w/c 8th April.

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.

Salary: £35,000 - £44,000 dependent on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits.  

Competitive benefits package: 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/

Hybrid working: While our offices are places to connect, collaborate and celebrate with colleagues, we recognise that flexibility about where you work is just as important for doing your best work and for your wellbeing. For this role, there are meetings and activities that you will need to attend in person at our offices in the Pimlico area and at nine elms. This is likely to be approximately 3 days per week but a degree of flexibility is required. 

Please note that over the course of 2024 all of our London-based teams will permanently relocate to our Embassy Gardens office in Nine Elms. We’ll be happy to answer any questions on this as part of the interview process.

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.

Company: The Random House Group Limited 

Country: United Kingdom 

State/Region: London 

City: London 

Postal Code: SW1V2SA 

Job ID: 269283