Assistant Built Heritage Consultant in Chelmsford

This is a hybrid-working role contractually based in Chelmsford. You will work from the Chelmsford office at least one day a week and across our operational area on other days, depending on business need.

Place Services is at the forefront of environmental consultancy in the public sector, and integral to our success are our people. Our purpose is to support public sector organisations to deliver sustainable development. The growth of our service means we are seeking a highly motivated, enthusiastic and versatile historic buildings specialist to join us in our Historic Environment team.

The key responsibility of this role is to support the effective technical delivery of our built heritage specialism. We offer a unique post which is one of the most diverse in the sector, providing a range of experience across a broad geographic area. You will form part of a team operating out of Chelmsford as well as our office at Cressing Temple Barns. We are conservation advisers to local planning authorities in Essex, London, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Kent, West Sussex, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire. As well as assisting in the provision of conservation advice to local planning authorities, you will contribute to a wide variety of project work.

The Assistant Consultant will work across our operational area. We offer you the opportunity to develop your career as part of a performance-driven, multi-disciplinary team of dedicated professionals, in an area with a rich and varied heritage of historic buildings and places. Reporting to a Principal Built Heritage Consultant you will assist in ensuring effective technical and commercial delivery of our built heritage specialism. You will help deliver a varied workload including assisting in the provision of conservation advice to local planning authorities, and inputting into a diverse range of built heritage project work.

We invest in and are fully committed to the training and development of our staff, including access to our annual programme of Traditional Building Skills, Conservation courses and lectures.

Typical aspects of this role include:

• Assisting in the provision of conservation advice to local authorities (role of an assistant conservation officer), with the aspiration of developing into the role yourself;
• Input into Built Heritage Statements and Heritage Impact Assessments;
• Input to Conservation Area Appraisals and other project work;
• Desk based and archival research;
• Field survey and recording;
• Cross working with our archaeological specialists;
• Joint working with our Natural and Built Environment teams within Place Services.

Essential Candidate Criteria:

• Full UK driving licence and access to car;
• Post Graduate Degree qualification in Building Conservation or similar;
• Good written and verbal communication skills, including report writing and presentation, allied with confident and professional interpersonal skills;
• Ability to establish positive working relationships, with demonstrable awareness of good client service.

Please note that the job role requires you to be mobile throughout an operational area. Therefore, the post holder will need to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle, or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means.

Your benefits package includes:

• Holiday entitlement of 27 days per annum (plus bank holidays), with the opportunity to buy additional annual leave;
• Local Government Pension Scheme;
• Life assurance of three times annual salary;
• Learning and Development Opportunities;
• Employee Wellbeing and Counselling provision;
• Employee Networks;
• Volunteering leave;
• Eye care vouchers, travel discounts, season ticket loans and much more!

There is also an employee Rewards Scheme available for all permanent/FTC employees, which includes:

• Retail and restaurant discounts;
• Cashback on purchases;
• Private health and dental care plans.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone. Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.