Senior Building Conservation Advisor

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 Senior Building Conservation Advisor as part of our Technical Conservation Team to support the team’s role as a centre of specialist knowledge and research in the conservation of historic buildings. We are looking for a good team player with wide experience in applied building conservation, combined with intellectual curiosity and a creative approach to problem solving, to help deliver our evidence-based advice and guidance on caring for the built heritage. Within the team’s wider role, we are seeking a candidate specialising in mortars, plasters and renders in conservation, and conservation of earthen materials.

This is a unique opportunity to join a small, highly motivated and high-achieving team working alongside colleagues and industry experts with a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips. This is a Part Time, Permanent position working 21.6 hours a week. The location of this role is National where we offer hybrid working, you will be based in one of our following offices and from home - Newcastle, York, Manchester, Birmingham, Swindon, Bristol, London, Portsmouth (Fort Cumberland) and Cambridge.

Salary: £41,761 - £48,200 pro-rata

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:

• As a member of the Building Conservation & Designed Landscape Team in Technical Conservation, 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 guidance on appropriate methods of conserving the historic built environment by 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.
• You will provide expert input to our technical advice, guidance development and research on mortars, plasters, renders and earthen materials.
• The work is highly varied, and no two days are the same; one day, you might be on site, to advise on mortars for conservation of a ruined site, and the next day you might be in a meeting with scientists, helping to design a research methodology for evaluating traditional solutions to driving rain penetration, or be attending a conference to present our research or guidance.

Please note:

• The role will involve travel to local offices and locations throughout England, often to sites that are inaccessible by public transport, so it is essential that you have a current driving licence that is valid in the UK.
• Due to the national remit of the role, attendance at meetings and site visits will often involve overnight stays, sometimes of more than one consecutive night.
• The role will also involve visiting sites in exposed locations and where climbing scaffolding and negotiating uneven terrain and confined spaces (such as attics) will be essential.

Who we are looking for:

• Degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant subject or equivalent work experience.
• Extensive, appropriate & 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 (particularly mortars, plasters, renders and earthen materials) and a thorough understanding of the mechanisms of deterioration, options for remedial work, and the implications of intervention.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Team player with proven ability to collaborate with a wide range of internal & external partners.

Please make clear reference to the person specification in the job description when you are completing your application and highlight examples of any related knowledge, skills and experience based on these.

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 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 want 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.

Provisional interview dates: 18th March 2026 in person in London.