Policy Adviser - Local Government Resilience

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 Policy Advisor (Local Government Resilience). This is a full time permanent contract position. The salary range for this role is £32,616 - £37,451 dependant on location and experience. National £32,616 - £33,855; Greater London+ £36,078 - £37,451. The location of this role is national, inclusive with hybrid working. You will be based in one of our following offices and from home - Newcastle, York, Manchester, Birmingham, Swindon, Bristol, Portsmouth (Fort Cumberland) and Cambridge.

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.

What you will be doing:

The Policy Adviser (Local Government Resilience) will be an integral part of a team providing Historic England’s policy and programme work to improve the capacity and capability of Local and Strategic Authorities heritage services, enabling them to make effective, confident and consistent decisions regarding the historic environment supporting growth, place-shaping and climate resilience, whilst responding to changes in the planning landscape. Reporting to the Policy Manager (Local Government Resilience), you will facilitate and coordinate the team’s engagement with key sector bodies to build a strong awareness of current and future policy changes and sector needs, to support Historic England’s local government resilience programme. Working collegiately with others in the Sector Policy Directorate, and alongside colleagues from across the organisation, the role will engage with relevant stakeholders, including MHCLG, DCMS, Local Government Association, heritage sector and industry bodies to ensure Historic England’s support offer is appropriately aligned and targeted to complement wider support available.

Who we are looking for:

• Awareness of important current issues associated with building capacity and sector resilience in the heritage sector
• Experience of gathering evidence and using insight to inform the development of strategies
• Strong written communication and influencing skills
• Experience of building effective partnerships and managing strategic relationships

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

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.

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. We do not use CV application for the majority of our hiring processes. You will answer a selection of questions that allow our hiring teams to test your skills and suitability for the role. 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 date: 14th September 2026.