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.

This role will embed the Active Participation strand of Historic England’s future strategy across the organisation. It will aid colleagues, and HE’s partners, to deliver participatory activity to encourage more people to engage with the historic environment. Working with the Head of Creative Programmes and Campaigns to create exciting programmes of activity that help people connect to and act for the historic environment, contributing to their overall wellbeing, and social impact, aiding our pledge to inclusion and diversity. The role will also build skills and capacity within the organisation to embed participation in our processes.

What you will be doing

•     Working with the Head of Creative Programmes and Campaigns, act as the lead for annual programmes of participatory public engagement activity. The programme will reach, and be shaped by, our target audiences and aid broader priorities such as inclusion and diversity, wellbeing and volunteering activity.

•     Deliver flagship participatory projects, events and experiences that help Historic England to broaden its definition, and significance, of heritage. Working with colleagues across the organisation to ensure programmes  are insight led, well designed and managed, reach our target audiences and evaluated to continuously improve and develop our participatory programme.

•       Line manage temporary staff that may aid specific programmes and projects, placements or apprentices.

•        Be responsible for the delivery of specific grant funded programmes that fund organisations and charities to reply to our national participatory programmes. You will also work to monitor, and project assure grant funded projects and work closely with Historic England Grants team to do this.

•   In partnership with Historic England’s Inclusion and Communities teams, create programmes that demonstrate best participatory practice to the heritage sector, and introduce the wellbeing and social impact benefits of heritage to other sectors such as youth, arts and culture, inclusion and communities.

•   Drawing on advice from colleagues in Policy & Evidence be responsible for creating and monitoring theories of change, evaluation models and frameworks, and ways of working that help Historic England to advocate for the wellbeing social impact benefits of heritage.

•   Work with teams across the organisation to build their capacity and skills to ensure successful participatory projects have a legacy and can be embedded into long term processes. This legacy reflects our Future Strategy of Active Participation, Connected Communities and Thriving Places.

•   Identify and secure potential partnerships that deliver the programme and its objectives. Work with the Head of Creative Programmes and Campaigns and other relevant colleagues to secure partnerships.

• Create and maintain communities of people who can act as critical friends to particular programmes e.g.) youth panel, specific community groups, grant recipient cohorts etc

•   Work with internal and external stakeholders to plan participatory activity that aids Government priorities

• Create briefs for externally funded participation projects, working closely with colleagues in our Procurement and Grants teams to ensure public money is spent responsibly.

• Manage allocated budgets and associated suppliers to support participatory activity. Act as a Project Assurance Officer for funded projects to ensure quality outputs and outcomes.

•   Work with colleagues to advise on how best to facilitate participatory activity that may be delivered by other teams. Create materials that support internal and external stakeholders to deliver participatory activity.

• Commission research and insight that helps us have better knowledge and deliver participatory activity.

• Act as a source of knowledge and insight regarding up to date inclusive participatory practice.

•   Represent Historic England’s work in participatory activity to external audiences.

What we are looking for

• Creating and delivering participatory programmes to aid public engagement outcomes

• Commissioning external organisations to deliver work

• Evaluation models and gathering evidence to demonstrate best practice and impact

• Creating and delivering participatory programmes to aid public engagement outcomes

• Delivering grant funded activity

We offer a wide benefits package including a competitive pension scheme starting at 26% 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.

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity for everyone. Diversity helps us to perform better and attract more people to aid 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 want 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 ResourcingTeam@Historicengland.org.uk if you have an queries.

To ensure a fair and inclusive recruitment process for everyone the use of AI or automated tools is not permitted.

Interview date: Friday 15th December 2023

To view full Job Description, please visit https://historicengland.org.uk/content/job-descriptions-hr/participation-programme-manager/