Receptionist

Herefordshire Council; Hereford; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 26,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

LGPS membership

Career progression

31 days annual leave

Flexible working

Employee assistance programme

Job summary

Herefordshire Council is seeking a professional, friendly Receptionist to join our Facilities Management team based at Plough Lane, Hereford. You will be the first point of contact for visitors, customers and colleagues, delivering a welcoming experience and handling a range of reception and administrative tasks.

In this permanent role, you will manage visitor access, support meetings, maintain records and assist with booking and payments for council facilities.

Qualifications

• Experience in a reception or customer-facing environment.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Act as first point of contact for visitors and staff, directing to services.
• Manage visitor access and issue passes; provide guest Wi-Fi access.
• Handle telephone enquiries and relay messages.
• Support meeting attendees and provide assistance to visitors.
• Maintain accurate records and electronic visitor information systems.
• Receive and distribute documents, parcels and deliveries.
• Promote and help book council facilities and process payments when required.
• Provide flexible support across Facilities Management as needed.
• Offer guidance on council services and how to access them.

Skills

Reception experience

Customer service

IT literacy

Telephone handling

Teamwork

Tools

Microsoft Office

Visitor management system

Job description

Job Title: ReceptionistHours: 37
Salary: HC04 £25,185 - £25,989 per annum
Contract: Permanent
Location: HerefordClosing date: 31/08/2026

The Role

Herefordshire Council is seeking a professional, friendly and customer-focused Receptionist to join our Facilities Management team based at Plough Lane.

As the first point of contact for visitors, customers and colleagues, you will play a vital role in creating a positive experience for everyone accessing our corporate buildings and services. This is a varied role combining reception duties, visitor management, customer service, administrative support and facilities coordination to help ensure the smooth and safe operation of council buildings.

If you enjoy working with people, providing excellent customer service and being at the heart of a busy workplace, we'd love to hear from you.

What will you be doing?

As a Receptionist, you will be responsible for delivering a range of reception and administrative activities that support the successful operation of council facilities and services. Your duties will include:

• Acting as the first point of contact for visitors, welcoming them in a professional and friendly manner and directing them to relevant services or contacts.
• Managing visitor access, issuing visitor and security passes and providing access to the guest Wi‑Fi system.
• Handling telephone enquiries, taking and relaying messages.
• Supporting meeting attendees and ensuring visitors receive appropriate assistance and guidance.
• Maintaining accurate records and updating electronic visitor information systems.
• Receiving and distributing documents, parcels, deliveries and tenders.
• Supporting the promotion and booking of council facilities, including maintaining booking records and processing payments where required.
• Assisting colleagues across Facilities Management and providing flexible support to meet business needs.
• Providing advice and guidance on council services and how they can be accessed.

About You

To be successful in this role, you will have:

• Previous experience working in a reception or customer-facing environment.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to interact confidently and professionally with a wide range of people.
• Experience handling customer enquiries and providing helpful advice and guidance.
• Strong IT skills, with experience using Microsoft Office applications and maintaining electronic records and spreadsheets.
• Experience of telephone systems and handling calls efficiently.
• A dependable, flexible and positive approach to work.
• The ability to work both independently and as part of a supportive team.
• Willingness to undertake additional responsibilities such as First Aider or Fire Warden training.

We Offer

A competitive salary, holiday entitlement, and access to our contributory pension and staff benefits scheme, which includes:

• Salary range of £25,185- £25,989
• Enrolment in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• Career progression: clear pathways to progress
• Annual Leave: 31 days’ annual leave (pro rata) plus bank holidays. You can also purchase an additional 10 days per annum during the request period
• Flexible working: including the potential for job-sharing, part-time hours and agile working.
• Employee Assistance Programme: 24/7 access to support and counselling
• Payment of professional membership fees (based on role requirements)
• Pick your perks – our benefits include access to a range of retail, leisure, holiday and health benefits. This includes savings, cash back and discounts.

Why Choose Us?

We're proud and excited to unveil our new recruitment video, a celebration of Herefordshire's people, places, and purpose. Set in the heart of England and filled with pride, compassion and possibility, the video brings to life what it means to work somewhere you truly belong.

At Herefordshire Council, every role matters and every person makes a real difference for our communities. We’re a team where people feel valued, supported and empowered to grow together.

Herefordshire is big hearted, welcoming and friendly. We have strong and independent communities and idyllic countryside, situated in the South West Midlands and bordering Wales. The county sits between Worcestershire and the Malvern Hills to the east, and Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons) in Wales to the west.

Historically Herefordshire has been the gateway to the Marches. We embrace partnership working. We are a member of the Marches Forward Partnership, which is a cross border collaboration between Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Powys and Shropshire who are collectively working to secure funding to invest in the region.

The council priorities over the next four years are set out in the Council Plan, with four main areas;

People: We will enable residents to realise their potential, to be healthy and to be part of great communities who support each other. We want all children to have the best start in life.

Place: We will protect and enhance our environment and ensure that Herefordshire is a great place to live. We will support the right housing in the right place, we will support access to green spaces and we will do everything we can to recover the health of our rivers.

Growth: We will create the conditions to deliver sustainable growth across the county; attracting inward investment, building business confidence, creating jobs, enabling housing development along with providing the right infrastructure.

Transformation: We will be an efficient council that embraces best practice, delivers innovation through technology and demonstrates value for money.

Don’t meet all parts of the job description?

Herefordshire Council is committed to strengthening a diverse and inclusive work environment which reflects the communities of Herefordshire. If you are looking at the next stage of your career and have a broad base of fieldwork experience, we can provide supportive and welcoming opportunities to help you develop your professional, management & supervisory skills.

Reasonable Adjustments

Our recruitment process runs in partnership with Hoople Resourcing. If you require any reasonable adjustments or alternative methods for the online application process, please contact the resourcing team by email: [e-mail].

Creating an inclusive workplace

We encourage our employees to feel empowered and to use their voices to help embrace diversity, promote inclusivity and shape our organisation. We have eight employee network groups, collectives of colleagues who often share identities, life experiences or cultures and offer support and community. They also play an important role in strengthening the voices of employees at Herefordshire Council. Embedded in the Council's values is a commitment to listen to people's views and needs.

For more information on our Employee Network Groups please view our dedicated recruitment website: www.spiritofherefordshire.com.

Commitments, Covenants and Statutory Obligations

The following candidates will be interviewed if they meet the essential criteria for the post they are applying for:

• Those who indicate that they have a disability. This is part of our commitment to the “Disability Confident” scheme.
• Those who indicate in their application that they are an Armed Forces Veteran or Reservist. This is part of our pledge to support the Armed Forces Covenant.
• Those who indicate in their application that they are a Herefordshire care leaver. This is part of our commitment to supporting young people leaving our care.

We take our commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults seriously and expect all of our staff, visitors and volunteers to share in this commitment.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children & young people and vulnerable adults. If you are offered this position, it will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check.