Historic England Commissioner - 3 posts available

The Commission is the governing body of Historic England and provides expert advice and guidance to the Executive. It has corporate responsibility for establishing the overall strategic direction of the organisation and for monitoring its performance against strategic objectives and targets.

Commissioners ensure that the organisation carries out its statutory responsibilities, maintaining high standards of probity in the administration of public funds and the effective use of resources. We are seeking to appoint up to three new Commissioners.

We are seeking to appoint up to three new Commissioners, with a range of skills. We would expect candidates to have good knowledge and experience of the minimum criteria in one or more of the following areas:

Conservation Architect

Relevant professional qualification

Experience of dealing with the most significant historic buildings

Finance / Risk

Accountancy or other relevant professional qualifications

Knowledge and understanding of public sector finances

Managing risk in a large and complex organisation

The intention is that the successful candidate will Chair our Audit & Risk Committee when the incumbent stands down as a Commissioner at the end of 2025

Property Development

An experienced property developer

Considerable knowledge of the property market

Having direct involvement in development impacting the historic environment

An understanding of the planning system

The skills and experiences outlined above are only intended to be examples and are by no means exhaustive. All candidates are expected to demonstrate a commitment to preserving cultural heritage, and improving education and understanding of British and World history., A commitment to preserving cultural heritage, and improving education and understanding of British and World history.

A commitment to improving opportunities for people throughout the UK and access to people from a diverse range of backgrounds.

An understanding of Historic England's work, the environment in which it operates and a commitment to its aims and objectives

An ability to think strategically and exercise sound judgement

An ability to work constructively with fellow Commissioners and wider stakeholders

An ability to represent their own area of expertise in the full range of Commission discussions

An ability to challenge and support the executive team on the full range of issues, Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.

About Historic England

Historic England is the public body that helps people care for, enjoy and celebrate England's spectacular historic environment, from high streets and battlefields to parks and pie shops. Our vision is for a heritage that is valued, celebrated and shared by everyone. A historic environment that people connect with and learn from and that we are proud to pass on to future generations.

By protecting and caring for our historic environment, with and for people and places, and through our research, listing, grant-giving, planning and technical advice, we help our heritage have a positive impact on the world around us.

Our work is varied and diverse:

We target our resources and expertise through national programmes, such as our award-winning Heritage Schools programme, which has reached over 2 million school children, and our Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) and High Street HAZ schemes, which have successfully worked together with over 90 places across the country to unlock the potential of the historic environment as a catalyst for economic and social recovery and growth.

Our campaigns and public programming work engages communities across England, broadens our reach, and helps even more audiences discover the power of heritage

We are digitising even more of the 14 million photographs, plans and drawings in Historic England's Archive to make more of this incredible resource available online.

We maintain and publish the Heritage at Risk register, which helps draw attention to places most at risk of being lost forever through neglect, decay or inappropriate development.

We make over 1,000 recommendations to the Secretary of State each year on new and existing designations on the National Heritage List for England, celebrating and protecting the wonderful and unique diversity of England's heritage.

We work with Government and partners on planning legislation and policy; and work with planning authorities, owners and developers, advising on around 20,000 planning cases a year, to find sustainable futures for our heritage.

We commission and produce research, guidance and training on a wide range of subjects, and publish Heritage Counts, an annual overview of the state of England's historic environment.

Our Future Strategy - Championing Heritage, Improving Lives and our Corporate Plan sets out how Historic England can champion and support the historic environment and communities across England to enjoy the benefits of heritage today and tomorrow.

Board composition
The Commission is composed of between eight and seventeen members. The current Board composition is:

Regulation of appointment
This post is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. For more information, please refer to the Commissioner's website