The Company

Usborne is an independent, family business, creating books which spark curiosity in children of all ages. These range from books for babies such as the bestselling That’s not my… series of touchy-feely books, to YA fiction from acclaimed authors such as Holly Bourne and Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé – with everything from Magic Painting to Politics for Beginners in between.

Whilst the company is now a market-leader in children’s publishing and one of the best-known brands in children’s books, the company retains a friendly and familial feel. If you want to work somewhere close-knit enough for people to know your name, which has a first-class reputation around the world, Usborne is the place for you.

The Team

The Usborne HR and Payroll team is a close working, busy team of 3 who support our global staff base of close to 300 staff across 4 office bases. We take ownership for all of the HR, Recruitment and Payroll activities across the company and are responsible for ensuring staff and their managers are well supported to do their best work.  

The Role

With a good working knowledge of HR policies and implementation, you will assist the HR team on everything HR, from recruitment and onboarding to first line advice to staff on matters such family leave, benefits or the HR system. You will relish the opportunity to provide guidance to staff and managers alike, effectively and proactively but with care and compassion. You’ll have every opportunity to develop your HR skills and knowledge and to make use of your excellent time- management and prioritisation skills.

The key activities:

• Managing enquiries and taking ownership for resolving simple HR matters for staff and Managers and working to resolve /escalate more complex matters

• Actively assisting on recruitment activities from management of the Applied recruitment software to maintaining communications with applicants and hiring managers from answering queries to organising and scheduling interviews.

• Preparing employment documentation whether offer letters, contracts or references.

• Maintaining and managing our HRIS and other benefits systems with accurate information.

• Working with the HR Director to maintain regular communication to staff on current matters of interest and education.

• Providing assistance to the Payroll Manager running reports and cross-checking data in relation to pay matters and during annual/regular benefits reviews e.g. pension contributions

• Key role in helping to co-ordinate our annual Usborne Academy week and other Access Aspiration events.

Skills

• Minimum 18 months experience in a relevant HR assistant or HR administration role

• Demonstrate excellent communication skills, tact, diplomacy and a commitment to effective staff support

• Experience working with confidential sensitive data

• The ability to take initiative, be resourceful, think laterally and solve problems.

• Good office skills including all Microsoft Outlook programmes and Excel in particular, experience working with HRIS

• Good attention to detail and accuracy

• Ability to multi-task, work flexibly and self-manage

• An HR Qualification or be working towards HR qualifications

Location and Benefits

We offer a 35-hour working week from our Farringdon office in London, where after a successful induction period we offer a hybrid working model of 3 days in the office and 2 days working from home which we feel optimises our opportunities for collaboration and contact with our colleagues.

In addition to our transparent salary grading structure, for this role we also offer a range of excellent benefits including:

• 25 days paid holiday entitlement rising with service to 30 days

• Healthcare cash back scheme

• Generous Pension Scheme

• Employee Assistance Programme

• 50% Discount on Company Books 

• Life assurance

We particularly encourage applications from Black and minority ethnic candidates who are currently under-represented in publishing.