https://app.beapplied.com/apply/ilf29mhqd2
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 Marine Archaeological Planning Officer.
This is full time, fixed-term contract until 30 June 2027.
The location of this role is either York, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham, Cambridge, Swindon, Bristol or Portsmouth, inclusive with hybrid working.
Salary
National £33,594 – £34,000 pro-rata
GL+ £37,160 – £37,500 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
The Marine Planning Unit provides Historic England’s statutory and non-statutory advice to developers, consultants and regulatory authorities. We are involved in pre‑application, formal decision-making processes and post-consent through our role as the only curatorial body for the English inshore and offshore marine planning areas.
As part of the Marine Planning Unit, you will take delegated responsibility for the delivery of Historic England’s advice on proposals for change in the historic environment that fall within their area of competence. Making effective use of published marine plans and Historic England guidance, you will provide advice to seabed developers, consultants and regulatory authorities to proactively work towards the sustainable management of the historic environment. You will contribute to delivery of Historic England’s corporate plan objectives, as relevant to marine development advice.
Historic England is the primary adviser for marine areas beyond local authority planning jurisdiction and you will play an important role in all stages of preparing development advice, especially the case for historic environment assessment and mitigation as part of the development consenting process and subsequent delivery. You will require confidence in using spatial data and in the use of official online systems for processing and providing advice.
Please note that this role:
- may require travel to locations not serviced by public transport.
- requires visiting locations that may require climbing aboard vessels (large and small), to undergo travel at sea and negotiating confined spaces.
- may require occasional participation at events and to present information at conferences requiring away stays.
Who we are looking for
- Educated to degree level with a post-graduate qualification or equivalent experience relevant to marine planning and management;
- Experience of effectively providing advice through Environmental Impact Assessment exercises;
- Trained in the use of spatial data, analysis and presentation;
- Knowledgeable about the historic environment as might be encountered by seabed users and developers;
- Understanding of government policy, guidance and statutory measures for the historic environment;
- Confidence to deal with time pressure and challenge;
- Applies initiative and willingness to develop effective working relations.
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 5th October 2026
Please follow the link for a full copy of the Job Description –
Underwater Archaeology and Maritime History jobs 