Architect or Building Surveyor

Summary

Are you passionate about the conservation of heritage buildings in Wales? We have an exciting new opportunity for an Architect / Building Surveyor to become part of our team, who are dedicated to the preservation of some of the most renowned historic houses and castles in Wales.

In collaboration with fellow Architects and Building Surveyors, you’ll engage with other professionals and conservation experts to offer support and specialised knowledge across various facets of building operations, conservation efforts, defect analysis, and project execution. Your contributions will play a vital role in ensuring that our properties meet sustainable standards for building conservation and restoration.

We’re looking for someone technically proficient in conservation, maintenance, and current building regulations to ensure effective delivery of projects.

This role can either be based in South Wales or North Wales and there are requirements to be able to travel across the region.

If you’re looking for variety and innovative challenges, you’ll find a professional environment that suits you well here.

What it's like to work here
You’ll join our National Trust Cymru Consultancy Team - an in-house team of multidisciplinary experts who together form a great repository of skills, talents, and experience. The team's diverse skills and high level of expertise enable our properties and places to benefit from a wide variety of creative ideas and innovative solutions. This deep knowledge supports our dual purpose of preserving the nation's unique heritage and landscapes while ensuring these places are welcoming for everyone.

As this role covers parts of either North or South Wales, your contractual place of work will be the nearest National Trust consultancy office to your home. These offices are Tredegar (Newport), Llandeilo, Erddig, Dinas, or Penrhyn (Bangor). Our hybrid working policy means you can balance office and home working with site visits and meetings at other National Trust places. We’ll talk about this in more detail at interview, but you should expect to be at a National Trust site for 40–60% of your working week.

This role looks after some rural properties, some with very limited access via public transport. You'll be required to travel to different locations across the portfolio, sometimes at short notice; please keep this in mind when applying.

What you’ll be doing
You’ll be a key part of our buildings team, which includes facilities managers, surveyors, planners, project and contract managers, along with various other experts. In this position, you will be one of the specialists dedicated to caring for our unique properties, working closely with our property teams to support our active portfolios. Your internal clients are usually National Trust General Managers and Facilities Managers at local sites.

You’ll have a strong interest in the historic buildings and environment of Wales, focusing on their sustainable use, repair, and conservation. You’ll be skilled at planning ahead and managing budgets, creating accurate and reliable plans for the future - taking work from inception to delivery.

You’ll mainly work across 3 property portfolios in Wales, working alongside other consultants and property teams, in addition to being supported by the wider building surveyor community in Wales.

Your expertise in conservation will be essential as you oversee our important properties and structures. Your work will be focused on a variety of small, medium, and larger-scale project work (this can be conservation or compliance related). You’ll also provide expert advice and delivery of building work to the highest conservation standards.

Who we’re looking for
We’d love to hear from you if you have:

• A Chartered level membership of Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Chartered Institute of Buildings (CIOB) or Architects Registration Board (ARB).
• Knowledge and enthusiasm for building conservation, defect diagnosis, maintenance, and repair; ability to review and inspect the condition of buildings and produce a comprehensive report on the findings and potential repairs.
• Proven experience in preparing specifications, work schedules, and managing contracts.
• The ability to think strategically to identify future needs and priorities and produce considered and measured prioritised plans for work and projects to maximise restricted resources.
• Experience leading project teams and positively interacting with external stakeholders, such as Conservation Officers, CADW, and regulatory agencies.
• Proficiency briefing and overseeing consultants, acting as a client-side advisor and technical expert, including working with Building Surveyors and Architects.

Please refer to the full role profile via the apply link of this advertisement. For the title of Building Surveyor, please also consider the role of Architect, as they are essentially the same.