Summary

Historic England is the public organisation that brings new life to heritage to build a better future for every place and everyone.

Historic England has a fantastic opportunity for you to join us as one of our Senior Building Conservation Advisers.

There are two posts available. We envisage one full-time post and one part-time post working three days per week, but we are open to discussing how the available hours could be distributed between the successful candidates.

The location of this role is either Newcastle, York, Manchester, Birmingham, Swindon, Bristol, Portsmouth (Fort Cumberland) or Cambridge, inclusive with hybrid working.

Salary

National - £46,000

Greater London+ - £47,800

We offer a wide benefits package including a competitive defined benefit pension scheme to which we make 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

As a member of the Building and Landscape Conservation Team, you will provide specialist technical advice on conserving, repairing, maintaining and adapting a vast range of heritage assets, from the humblest vernacular structures to some of the most significant historic buildings and sites in the country, including those managed by English Heritage.

You will also help to develop and promote technical standards and guidance on appropriate methods of conserving the historic built environment. This will include commissioning and managing applied research projects, carrying out and organising specialist training, and producing and disseminating technical advice and guidance for a range of audiences, including conservation professionals and non-professionals. Through this work, you will help shape our future priorities and build the evidence needed to respond to the evolving needs of the historic built environment.

The work is highly varied, and no two days are the same. One day, you might be on site advising on a complex building conservation problem; the next, you might be working with scientists and other specialists to develop evidence that underpins our technical advice, meeting sector partners to identify future research priorities, or presenting our research and guidance at a conference.

We would particularly welcome applicants with expertise in one or more of the following areas: timber; mortars, plasters and renders; roofing; and building performance. Equally important will be your extensive and wide-ranging experience in applied building conservation, your ability to take an integrated, whole-building approach, and your confidence in diagnosing complex problems and developing well-informed solutions across a range of materials and challenging situations.

You will join a collaborative team within a department that brings together a wide range of specialists and values the expertise and perspective each person brings. We care about the growth and development of our people and will support you to deepen your specialist knowledge, broaden your experience and pursue opportunities that reflect both your strengths and your aspirations.

Who we are looking for

Degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant subject, or equivalent work experience.
Extensive, appropriate and wide-ranging post-qualification experience in the conservation of historic buildings and structures, including diagnosing defects and implementing appropriate interventions.
Experience of writing reports, guidance and articles, and editing the work of others.
Practical experience of a range of historic building repair methods.
Detailed knowledge of traditional building materials and systems, deterioration mechanisms and remedial options.
Proven ability to work as part of a team and collaborate with a wide range of internal and external partners.

Please note your application will be scored and assessed against the above criteria.

Historic England is a Disability Confident Leader and normally offers guaranteed interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the role, where it is practical and appropriate to do so. We want all candidates to shine in the recruitment process, so please tell us what we can do to help you show us your very best self. For more information, please visit our Everyone is Welcome page, or contact us at [email protected] if you have any recruitment queries.

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 won the Gold Award from MIND for workplace wellbeing in seven consecutive years, 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.

Historic England wants all of our candidates to shine in the recruitment process. Please tell us what we can do to make sure you can show us your very best self. You can contact us by email at [email protected] if you have any recruitment queries.

At Historic England we use a hiring system called Applied. Applied is a behavioural science-backed recruitment platform that reduces bias, improves quality of hire and increases diversity.

At Historic England, we value the expertise and individuality each candidate brings and want to hear about this in your own words. If you require the use of AI tools or other resources to support your application, we ask that all information is factually accurate, original, and reflects your own experience. To best represent yourself, we encourage you to write in your own words and use AI-generated content only as inspiration—not as direct input.

Provisional interview dates: 24th November 2026; 01st December 2026.

Please follow the link for a full copy of the Job Description –

https://historicengland.org.uk/media/sowntube/senior-building-conservation-adviser.odt

Historic England only accepts applications through our authorised recruitment platform, Applied. We will never ask applicants to pay any fee or provide payment details during the recruitment process. Please only apply using the application link provided within this advert.