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 Planning Advisor.

This is a full time, fixed term contract until March 2027 with possible scope to extend beyond this date.

The location of this role is London/ South East, inclusive with hybrid working.

£39,590 – £47,000 pa pro-rata subject to experience, office attendance and location.

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 regional Development Advice teams support local communities, including through local authority partners, in appreciating the significance of their local historic environment and its potential to deliver benefits for the community by promoting the effective use of the planning system at strategic and local levels.

As part of this team, the Historic Environment Planning Adviser takes delegated responsibility for providing Historic England's advice to local authorities and other partners in the preparation and revision of development plans. Applying the ethos of ‘constructive conservation’ and making effective use of Historic England’s guidance in all their advisory work, they will provide advice on strategic planning matters such as Spatial Development Strategies, Local Plans and Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, as well as contributing to national and local guidance.

Who we are looking for

• Educated to degree level or equivalent in town planning or a closely related subject or significant experience in a relevant field

• A thorough understanding of the national planning system and its legislative context at both the strategic and local level and its role in the sustainable management of the historic environment

• Evidence of a track record in managing positive change to places

• Good negotiating and influencing skills

• Evidence of a track record of working constructively with Local Authorities organisations, developers and owners.

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: 26th August 2026

To view the full Job Description for this role click here - https://cms.historicengland.org.uk/media/nexkwegm/historic-environment-planning-adviser.odt