Working with us

Plymouth Marine Laboratory Receptionist

Hours: Part Time, 29 hours per week

Salary: £19406 per annum (£12.87/hour)

Plymouth Marine Laboratory is seeking a part-time Receptionist to deliver a professional, welcoming, and efficient service for both visitors and staff. This role also includes administrative support to operations and science departments, such as, booking hire cars, ordering lab coats, and managing PML stationary, and logging carbon emissions data from utilities and waste.

This part-time role is offered on a job share basis, covering 29 hours per week. The standard working hours are as follows:

Monday to Thursday: 08:00 – 13:00

Friday: 08:00 – 18:00

The successful candidate will also be asked to provide cover during the other receptionist’s annual leave. During these periods, additional hours will be required from 13:00 – 18:00, Monday to Thursday.

Key Deliverables

• Welcome and assist all visitors and staff professionally, ensuring a positive first impression and compliance with sign-in, security, and GDPR procedures.
• Manage the reception area, keeping it clean, organised, and functioning as a helpful front-of-house space.
• Handle all incoming and outgoing calls, providing clear, polite, and efficient communication.
• Coordinate visitor support, including directions, taxi bookings, and general assistance.
• Provide general administrative support to departments including filing, photocopying, and ad hoc tasks.
• Manage hire car bookings, documentation, and liaise with providers for queries or disputes.
• Oversee post and deliveries, including sorting mail, booking couriers, and handling urgent or sensitive packages appropriately.
• Monitor and maintain office supplies, including stationery, lab coats, franking machine, and printer paper.
• Support operational systems, such as lone worker tracking, room signage updates, and carbon data input.
• Assist with events and seasonal admin, such as badge creation, guest list management, and signage for conferences.

Person Specification

• Professional, friendly, and welcoming attitude
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively in person, over the phone, and in written correspondence.
• Experience in a front-of-house or receptionist role
• Organised and able to manage multiple tasks simultaneously
• Strong attention to detail, especially when inputting data
• Confident using Microsoft Office (Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel) and comfortable learning and using online systems (e.g. courier bookings, data logging, lone worker monitoring)
• GCSEs (or equivalent) in English and Maths grade C/4 or above
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Understanding of UK GDPR legislation

Applicant Information

To Apply please email a CV and covering letter to careers@pml.ac.uk

Closing Date  1700 on Friday 5^th September

Interviews will be held on Tuesday 16^th September.

You can find out more about working at PML here and view our company benefits here.

For more information about living and working in Plymouth please click here.

If you have any questions about this position please email careers@pml.ac.uk.

PML is a Disability Confident employer, and we have recently attained the Investors in Diversity Silver accreditation. We are committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive culture, where all can succeed based on merit, and will provide any reasonable adjustments required to enable this.

To support staff from all backgrounds, we offer a range of family friendly and inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements and staff engagement forums.