Summary

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 are calling for an expression of interest for a Head of Region – South West.

As the Head of Advice you will play a key role in supporting the Regional Director in ensuring that the work of Historic England in the region results in well-informed decisions that serve people and places well and keep places alive for current and future generations. You will lead the operational management of the teams within the South West Region.  You will establish new collaborative ways of working within and between existing teams to deliver our work seamlessly across the South West.  We need you to drive continuous improvement in stakeholder engagement and staff experience and ensure performance targets are met and processes and systems are fit for purpose.  

This is a 12 month fixed term contract.

What you will be doing

You will work across Regions Group to deliver key processes and outcomes, support national standards and consistency and achieve continuous improvement, including working with the national leads for Development Advice, Partnerships, and Listing and Architectural Investigation) to develop Historic England’s position on key issues. 

You will establish effective relationships with key external stakeholders, in line with the Regional Plan, to ensure that the historic environment plays a full role in sustainable growth, including building a supportive and receptive audience for our work. 

With the Regional Director you will be responsible for providing effective collective leadership across the South West, collaborating, in particular, to achieve high standards across all our regional work.  

Lead your teams to embed the Historic England Future Strategy and Corporate Plan strategic objectives in their work.

You will quality assure advice and decisions produced by the regional teams to ensure consistency in line with corporate ambitions and priorities, national standards and to meet performance targets. 

Work closely with other Historic England Groups (Policy and Evidence, Public Engagement and Business Improvement) to deliver key outcomes, including national and regional projects and programmes. 

Read the attached job description for more information on this exciting opportunity.

Please note that the role:

• requires regular travel to sites not serviced by public transport

• may require occasional attendance at community and other meetings which could be in evenings or at weekends.

We are seeking someone who has the following skills and capabilities:

• Experience of setting up and leading multi-disciplinary teams

• Experience of quality assurance, and driving performance improvements, including transforming processes and managing poor performance

• An ability to think strategically and to prioritise the bigger picture

• Experience of resource allocation, and the prioritisation and management of workloads

• Self-awareness, especially in relation to impact of behaviour on others

• Openness to making and receiving constructive criticism in pursuit of continuous improvement

• Commitment to corporate objectives and organisational values

How to Apply:

To apply for this opportunity, please email Ross Simmonds at ross.simmonds@historicengland.org.uk and explain why you’re interested in and suited to this position (max 300 words) by close of play on 2nd June by 11.59pm. Informal interviews will be carried out virtually using MS Teams and conducted on 12th June 2024 and 13th June 2024.

If you have any queries about the role please contact ross.simmonds@historicengland.org.uk

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.

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

https://historicengland.org.uk/media/ubjpecw3/head-of-region-bristol.odt