Historic England
Senior Policy Adviser - Planning
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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 Senior Policy Adviser - Planning.
This is a full-time, permanent position.
The location of this role is either York, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham, Cambridge, Swindon, Bristol, or Portsmouth, inclusive with hybrid working.
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 Senior Policy Adviser (Planning) will be an integral part of a team providing Historic England’s advice to government and organisational strategy on public policy that maximises the positive contribution of heritage to delivering growth and improving people’s lives. You will provide expertise on planning issues, such as legislative and policy reform, new approaches to streamlining decision-making and infrastructure programmes, to ensure the social and economic value of heritage and its role in making successful places is fully realised.
Reporting to the Head of Planning, you will strengthen our engagement with DCMS, MHLCG, and other government departments on these issues, enabling effective, influencing relationships. You will manage day-to-day activity that supports our strategic direction, evidence-based insight, and sector leadership, to influence policy-making in a way that ensures heritage is both properly protected through England’s planning system and contributes positively to the delivery of government’s missions and planning reform agenda. You will work closely with relevant partners, both within and outside the heritage sector, to enable their constructive engagement in the process.
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You will work collegiately with others in the Growth Directorate, alongside colleagues across the Policy and Evidence Group and Regions Group, supporting delivery of high-quality advice and the design of impactful programmes. You will be outcome-focused and will help ensure our policy engagement is targeted towards achieving our corporate priorities in the most effective and efficient manner.
Who we are looking for
- Experience of strategic work relating to public policy in heritage and planning.
- Strong understanding of current planning policy and regulations.
- Ability to work with a wide range of stakeholders with both authority and sensitivity.
- Ability to communicate and engage persuasively, succinctly, and credibly – verbally and in writing.
- Resilience; responding positively and proactively to competing priorities, deadlines, and change.
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.
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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 value the expertise and individuality each candidate brings and want to hear about this in your own words. If you require the use of 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: 5th August 2026
Please follow the link for a full copy of the Job Description – https://historicengland.org.uk/media/djfhwt2o/final-senior-policy-adviser-planning-june-2026.odt
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