receptionist.
A Receptionist is the first point of contact at the workplace — greeting visitors, managing phones, and supporting the front-of-house experience. They set the tone for everyone walking in or calling.
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Role: Receptionist Reports to: Office Manager
A Receptionist is the first point of contact at the workplace — greeting visitors, managing phones, and supporting the front-of-house experience. They set the tone for everyone walking in or calling.
- Greet visitors and direct them to the appropriate person
- Manage incoming phone calls and direct or take messages
- Maintain the visitor log and security sign-in process
What's inside the document.
One-paragraph plain-English explanation of the role's outcome and scope.
6 responsibilities phrased the way the work is actually done.
4 qualifications a candidate must have to perform on day 30.
3 qualifications that would make a candidate excellent in year two.
5 skill chips you can copy directly into your ATS.
Office Manager
A complete document set.
- Word document (.docx) — fully editable
- PDF — signature-ready
- Google Docs — one-click copy to your Drive
- 12 months of updates to this document
- Commercial-use licence for internal and client work
The work, not the title.
- Greet visitors and direct them to the appropriate person
- Manage incoming phone calls and direct or take messages
- Maintain the visitor log and security sign-in process
- Handle incoming and outgoing mail and courier deliveries
- Support office administration, scheduling, and ad-hoc requests
- Maintain the reception area and meeting-room readiness
Required — and what would make a candidate excellent.
- Excellent verbal communication and a welcoming demeanour
- Proficiency in productivity tools (email, calendar, video conferencing)
- Strong organisational skills and multi-tasking
- Discretion with visitor and employee information
- Prior reception or front-of-house experience
- Multilingual capability
- Familiarity with visitor-management or security systems
Eight steps from download to publish.
- 01Open the Receptionist job description in Word or your one-click Google Docs copy.
- 02Replace placeholders for company name, reporting line, and location with your specifics.
- 03Tighten the summary to one paragraph that names the team's outcome, not just the role.
- 04Edit the responsibilities to match the actual scope of the seat — aim for 6 to 8 items, not 12.
- 05Separate required qualifications from preferred. Required is what a candidate must have to do the work on day 30; preferred is what would make them excellent in year two.
- 06Add salary range guidance using BLS, Payscale, or your own band data — do not copy generic figures.
- 07Have the hiring manager and one peer read it. Cut anything that wouldn't survive a candidate question.
- 08Publish to your ATS, intranet, and external careers page.
The right document at the right moment.
Use this Receptionist job description any time you are opening or reopening a seat at this level. The entry band sets the calibration — copy the document, tighten it to your specific scope, and circulate to the hiring panel before the first interview.
The reporting line (Office Manager) and skills list are starting points. Override either if your org structure or stack differs from the norm — the template is a draft, not a contract.
Honest answers before you download.
- What's in this Receptionist job description template?
- A one-paragraph role summary, 6 responsibilities phrased the way the work is actually done, 4 required qualifications, 3 preferred qualifications, a skills chip list, and a reporting line. All editable in Word and Google Docs.
- Is this Receptionist JD legally reviewed?
- The structure and language follow current US and AU hiring practice. The document is a professionally drafted starting point — adapt it for your jurisdiction, and have employment counsel review any clauses you add before publishing.
- Should I include salary in a Receptionist job description?
- In jurisdictions with pay-transparency law (e.g. NY, CA, CO, WA, and AU under fair-work changes), include a salary range. Elsewhere, a range still raises application quality and shortens screening — but pull numbers from a current source, not a template.
- Can I use this for client hiring work?
- Yes — the commercial licence covers fee-paying client engagements you control. You can also reuse the document inside your own organisation indefinitely. You may not resell the documents themselves.
Other documents in this neighbourhood.
Administrative Assistant
An Administrative Assistant supports a team or department with calendar management, document preparation, coordination, and the daily operations that keep work moving..
Office Manager
An Office Manager runs the day-to-day operations of a physical office — facilities, supplies, vendor relationships, and the support that keeps the workplace functioning..
This Receptionist job description is a professionally drafted starting point for your hiring process and is not legal advice. Hiring practice varies by jurisdiction (e.g. pay-transparency laws differ across US states and AU jurisdictions). Adapt this document for your specific location and have employment counsel review any clauses you add before publishing. Full disclaimer.