Summary

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 our Youth Engagement Manager.

This is a Full Time, 2 Year Fixed-Term Contract.

The location of this role is either Newcastle, York, Manchester, Birmingham, Swindon, Bristol, Portsmouth (Fort Cumberland) or Cambridge, inclusive with hybrid working.

Salary

National: £40,778 pro-rata

Cambridge: £43,903 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.

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

What you will be doing

As our Youth Engagement Manager, you will help create the conditions through which more young people, particularly those who face barriers to participation, can benefit from engagement with local heritage. 

Working under the direction of the Head of Community Heritage, Inclusion and Learning, you will build relationships and partnerships across the youth sector, strengthen the capability of adults who work with young people, and work with the Place Policy teams to develop a compelling narrative about the role local heritage can play in improving outcomes for young people, including their sense of place and belonging, wellbeing, confidence and skills. 

The role will support Historic England's contribution to the National Youth Strategy by translating strategic priorities, policy objectives and evidence into practical partnerships, workforce development opportunities, resources and programmes that increase opportunities for young people to engage with local heritage. 

This is an enabling role rather than one focused on direct delivery with young people. The emphasis is on influencing and supporting organisations, practitioners and partners who work with young people and creating the conditions through which more young people can experience the social benefits of heritage. 

Who we are looking for

• Relevant experience of working in or alongside the youth sector, with a good understanding of current issues affecting young people and the principles of youth voice, participation and co-production.

• Experience of building trusted relationships and working collaboratively across organisational or sector boundaries to achieve shared outcomes

• Experience of translating strategic priorities, policy objectives or evidence into practical, inclusive activity that addresses barriers to participation.

• Experience of evaluating activity, using evidence to improve outcomes, and supporting others to develop or deliver effectively.

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

Historic England is a Disability Confident Leader and normally offers guaranteed interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the role, where it is practical and appropriate to do so. We want all candidates to shine in the recruitment process, so please tell us what we can do to help you show us your very best self. For more information, please visit our Everyone is Welcome page, or contact us at recruitmentTeam@Historicengland.org.uk if you have any recruitment queries.

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: w/c 7th December 2026

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

https://historicengland.org.uk/media/ls3eugul/youth-engagement-manager.odt

Historic England only accepts applications through our authorised recruitment platform, Applied. We will never ask applicants to pay any fee or provide payment details during the recruitment process. Please only apply using the application link provided within this advert.