Head of Heritage Protection

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

We have an exciting opportunity for a Head of Heritage Protection to join the team here at Historic England.

As the Head of Heritage Protection, you will lead a team of planning and listing policy specialists to support government with the development of areas of public policy where the historic environment can make a significant contribution.  You will drive, inspire, coordinate, lead and prioritise our engagement with policy work that seeks to reform Heritage Protection to improve the quality, consistency and speed of designation and planning decisions, whilst also ensuring the social and economic value of Heritage and its role in making successful places is fully realised. 

This role can be based out of one of the following offices, inlcusive with hybrid working;

Newcastle, Manchester, York, Swindon, Birmingham, Cambridge, Bristol or Portsmouth.

 What you will be doing

Reporting to the Policy Director, you will be the regular point of contact for DCMS, DLUHC and other government departments on planning and listing policy matters.  You will also support heritage sector partners to help maximise their engagement in the process.  

In this role, you will work alongside the Head of Local Government and Communities and Head of Environmental Management, as well other colleagues across the Policy and Evidence Group and Regions Group.  You will be outcome-focused and will help ensure our policy engagement is targeted towards achieving our corporate priorities in the most effective and efficient manner. 

The role calls for a flexible, outcome-focused and proactive approach from you. The Policy Development team invests in building relationships with key players in government departments, the heritage sector and other stakeholders, including government agencies, think tanks and civil society organisations. 

What we are looking for

• Degree or equivalent professional qualification in a relevant discipline 

• Significant experience of strategic work relating to public policy, including planning and/or listing 

• Experience of leading, motivating and developing a multi-disciplinary team 

• Astute stakeholder management, including credibility and confidence to engage at a national level 

• Ability to communicate and engage persuasively, succinctly and credibly – verbally and in writing 

• Resilience, responding positively and proactively to competing priorities, deadlines and change

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 offer a wide benefits package including a competitive pension scheme starting at 26% 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.

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.