Historic Places Adviser

We are the public body that looks after England’s historic environment. We champion historic places, helping people understand, value and care for them.

Historic England have a fantastic opportunity for you to join us as a Historic Places Adviser.

This is a Full Time, Permanent Contract.

The location of this role is Cambridge where we offer hybrid working; you will be based in the Cambridge office and from home.

We offer a wide benefits package including a competitive pension scheme starting at 28.97% employer contributions, a generous 28 days holiday, corporate discounts, free entry into English Heritage sites across the country, and development opportunities to ensure you achieve your goals.

To view our full range of benefits please follow the link here.

What you will be doing

You will work with local and strategic authorities, communities, businesses, and other key stakeholders to lead on the development of strategies for the growth and enhancement of historic places and public spaces so that the benefits from the historic environment are maximised.

Liaising with internal and external stakeholders, you will develop partnerships and funding strategies for ‘preserving or enhancing the character or appearance’ of historic places, including conservation areas at risk.

You will provide Historic England’s input to Neighbourhood Plans in targeted places and work with Development Advice team colleagues on place-based casework, as well as contribute to national and local advice documents published by Historic England.

What we are looking for

1. A degree or equivalent experience in planning, urban design or a relevant discipline.
2. Evidenced experience of managing positive change in places.
3. Experience of working constructively with local authorities, community organisations, and developers.
4. An understanding of the National Planning Policy Framework and its application to the historic environment.
5. Specialist knowledge of applying urban design principles to area-based strategies.

Please note that:

• The role requires regular travel to sites not served by public transport.
• The role may require visiting/inspecting sites which is likely to require climbing scaffolding and negotiating confined spaces (e.g., Church roofs, etc.).
• The role will require occasional attendance at community meetings which are usually held in the evenings or on weekends.

We are an equal opportunity employer which values diversity and inclusion. If you have a disability or neurodiversity, we would be happy to discuss reasonable adjustments to the job with you. Having just won the Gold Award from MIND, we also recognise the importance of a healthy work-life balance.

We are an inclusive employer and believe that flexible working options are for everyone. We want to make sure our working arrangements don’t prevent anyone from joining us because of their personal circumstances. We also want to provide you with the best balance in your home and work life that we can.

We are open to considering options including job sharing, part-time working, compressed hours working, and different working locations, including hybrid working. Please visit our jobs pages or contact us to find out more.

Why work for Historic England

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity for everyone. Diversity helps us to perform better and attract more people to support our work. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds.

We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic candidates and candidates with disabilities as they are underrepresented within Historic England at this level.