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.

Historic England has a fantastic opportunity for you to join us as our Senior Building Services Engineer.

This is a full time, fixed-term contract until 31st March 2030.

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, Portsmouth (Fort Cumberland), London 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.

To view our full range of benefits please follow the link here.

What you will be doing

The Technical Conservation Team in the National Specialist Services Department specialises in the care, repair and conservation of buildings, structures and landscapes. We set standards and provide specialist technical services and strategic leadership on all aspects of the care, repair, maintenance and adaptation of the historic built environment. We do this by developing and promoting evidence-based technical policy, standards and best practice and by providing specialist guidance to support those who care for and make decisions about the stewardship of the historic environment.

As our Senior Building Services Engineer, you will take an active role in promoting the specific sympathetic approaches required when applying building services engineering solutions to all aspects of the historic environment.

You will use both your expert technical knowledge and your excellent interpersonal skills to advise on and develop sustainable proposals for the repair and re-use of traditional buildings. You will join a national team working alongside colleagues in six regional offices to deliver grant programmes that will repair and conserve all types of built heritage, but in particular to focus on grant work related to designated places of worship and museum buildings.

Who we are looking for

• Chartered Engineer with substantial relevant practical experience

• Member of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers or Institution of Engineering and Technology or Institution of mechanical engineers.

• Experience in the management of mechanical or electrical building services engineering design and implementation of design solutions

• Experience in assessment and implementation of energy management solutions and good practice.

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. Please visit our jobs pages or contact us to find out more.

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. You can contact us by email at recruitmentTeam@Historicengland.org.uk if you have any recruitment queries. 

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 or 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 dates: Mid July 2026 TBC.

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

https://historicengland.org.uk/media/wvhmhcvb/senior-building-services-engineer.odt