I am working with an international law firm and they are looking for a Reception Manager to manage their two receptions, 20 plus meeting rooms and 13 receptionists. This role is working 35 hours per week and five days in the London office and the hours would range between 7am-8pm on a rota basis. The salary is up to £65,000 with excellent benefits.

Type: Full-time office based, Monday - Friday

Purpose of the role:

To curate an exceptional client experience at our global HQ, raising the bar to deliver a best-in-class, 5-star service client journey from end-to-end.

To be responsible for the strategic planning, operational and contract management of the client-facing facilities and function for the London office. Developing and implementing best practice policies and procedures across the front of house, ensuring that all teams are performing consistently and with optimum impact.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Responsible for delivering an exceptional client experience by setting best-in-class standards that produce a 5-star service for the London office and global HQ.
• Accountable for the strategic and operational management of the entire client-facing function - including meeting and events, AV and client meeting room tech, catering and hospitality (fine dining and meeting room service), reception and concierge services.
• Responsibility for auditing standards/procedures relating to all areas of the front of house to ensure that the overall delivery and experience is consistently outstanding for all clients and visitors.
• Maintain well-connected, strong relations with key partners involved in setting the firm’s client strategy as well as the senior management of the London office.
• Building a network of relationships with partners/colleagues to understand and meet the expectations and needs of the firm’s key and high-value clients through the client experience and in support of winning and retaining their business.
• Act as the direct internal/external client and tenant liaison for any issues regarding services. Providing timely responses and appropriate solutions to maintain an elevated level of customer service.
• Strategically organise and plan resource and usage of the client meeting space, ensuring the smooth running of events/seminars, and providing exceptional customer service.
• Direct line management responsibility, including annual and half year appraisal process, one to one monthly meetings and training and development needs.
• Effective planning and management of team resource, including recruitment, training, and development.
• Administrative control of key documents, such as policy and procedure documents. Completing annual reviews of these documents, including version control.
• Data collection and analysis of key metrics, including periodical and ad-hoc reporting as required.
• Implementing changes and defining best practice as appropriate with a view to standardising services across the UK.
• Continually seeking to improve efficiencies and reduce costs where appropriate.
• Collaborating closely with key suppliers to review operational performance, reporting as well as seeking continual improvements.
• Researching key market suppliers in relation to new business requirements.
• Developing business cases for projects as well as leading on tenders and procurement requirements for all areas of Client Services.
• Assessing supplier proposals, analysing commercial data, and making recommendations on contract awards.
• Preparing and maintaining monthly and annual budgetary figures and reporting to Head of Facilities discrepancies or changes, as necessary.
• Reconciling and verifying invoicing across supplier base.
• Working closely with the Facilities Management team to monitor the working environment to adhere to relevant health and safety standards, including correctly recording and reporting hazards/accidents.
• Leading and collaborating national and local projects where required.
• Planning regular management meetings as well as driving actions to completion.
• Attending management meetings to represent the team with other department/teams as required.
• Other duties as reasonably required by line manager or senior leadership team.

Candidate Overview:

We are looking for candidates who ideally hold the following skills and experience:

Relevant Experience:

• At least 5-10 years management level experience in a similar 5-star client/customer-service/hospitality role, including team management responsibilities.
• Experience in managing service providers and contractors.
• Experience of using a bookings system, preferably Condeco.

Key Skills:

• Demonstrable strong leadership capabilities and skills.
• Able to motivate and lead a high-performing team, bring out their best abilities and team collaboration.
• Effective people management skills, able to demonstrate ability to manage difficult conversation and manage a large team.
• Ability to manage conflicting demands and/or challenge pressures for resources.
• Excellent communication and people skills with the ability to deal with staff at all levels, including delivering presentations to groups/stakeholders.
• Strong analytical skills and business acumen, commercially driven.
• Strong negotiation skills and ability to manage difficult discussions with suppliers/service providers effectively.
• Able to work collaboratively and not afraid to challenge assumptions.
• Proven organisational skills, with a diligent and methodical approach to all aspects of work with a keen eye for detail.
• Ability to identify any Health & Safety risks.

Qualifications:

• Educated to degree/diploma level or equivalent* (Alternatively, relevant experience of over 10 years at management level will be considered).
• IOSH Managing safely desirable.