Architectural Research Specialist

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 Architectural Research Specialist.

This is a full time, permanent contract position.

The location of this role is national, inclusive with hybrid working. You will be based in one of our following offices and from home - Newcastle, York, Manchester, Birmingham, Swindon, Bristol, Portsmouth (Fort Cumberland) and Cambridge.

• 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
• development opportunities to ensure you achieve your goals

Reporting to the Listing and Architectural Research Director, this key role will take on a range of duties in support of the Architectural Investigation (AI) discipline, providing a central focus for Architectural Research within Regions Group. It includes the initiation and coordination of Architectural Investigation projects and programmes, and processing of research requests, while coordinating with Architectural Investigators (AIs) on the delivery of Quality Assurance, learning and development and recruitment.

You will play a role in providing authoritative professional and specialist advice in the investigation and assessment of the historic environment, undertaking or contributing to projects on historic buildings and places that support Historic England’s Strategic Plan.

• Ability to work collaboratively and demonstrate ability for resource prioritisation
• Experience in project management and programme coordination
• Experience in developing and delivering programmes of learning and development and process improvement
• Good advocacy and stakeholder engagement skills, ability to communicate persuasively both internally and externally
• Experience of buildings investigation; understanding of applied research processes and associated issues

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.

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 recruit men 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 date: 3rd August 2026.