Inspector of Ancient Monuments

**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.

Historic England have a fantastic opportunity for you to join us as our Inspector of Ancient Monuments as part of the Development Advice Teams.

The Development Advice Teams provide Historic England’s statutory and non-statutory advice to our customers, engaging where we add most value to decision-making through our distinctive contribution as national experts. The Development Advice Teams will also work closely with other teams to support communities in looking after historic places and in the advancement of Historic England’s objectives.

**What you will be doing**

To take responsibility for providing Historic England’s statutory advice on planning, scheduled monument consent and management advice in relation to scheduled monuments and other designated heritage assets and archaeological landscapes. This will include undertaking an assessment of proposals, providing and delivering advice to an agreed timescale and with excellent customer service standards. A key part of this involves understanding the legislation and polices involved and then working collaboratively with colleagues across teams and where necessary drawing on advice from regional and national specialists.

To represent Historic England (or if directed, the Secretary of State) in the operation of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, the National Heritage Act 1983 or other relevant legislation including with regard to the investigation and prosecution of offences in coordination with other public agencies.

To be a proactive and collaborative member of the North West team and to assist with the development and implementation of the team plans and wider corporate objectives.

To manage the performance of an Assistant Inspector of Ancient Monuments, if applicable, developing their capabilities, managing workload and ensuring knowledge of and compliance with agreed practices and standards.

To be an effective advocate for the benefit for local places of conserving heritage assets.

To support the delivery of Corporate Plan, Historic England Places Strategy, Public Value Framework, and other national and local strategies as agreed with line management, including working on specific projects.

To assist stakeholders such as monument owners or the local planning authorities with the interpretation of the law and national planning policy for ancient monuments and archaeological landscapes, and heritage planning, including influencing elected council members and senior officers to make use of the powers available to them to safeguard heritage assets.

Working with the Business Manager and other colleagues, to advise HMRC on new claims for Inheritance Taxation (IHT) exemption and on the implementation of IHT management plans.

To undertake any other reasonable duties commensurate with the grade and competencies required of the post requested by line management.

**Please note** that the role:

- requires regular travel to sites not serviced by public transport.
- requires visiting/inspecting sites which is likely to require climbing scaffolding and negotiating confined spaces.
- may require occasional attendance at community or planning meetings which are usually held at evenings or weekends.

**Who we are looking for**
- Broad and extensive experience of managing change to ancient monuments and archaeological landscapes, including through the planning system
- Experience of effective advocacy and working constructively with members of the public
- A thorough knowledge of ancient monuments and archaeological landscapes in England, and the techniques of their assessment and study
- A good understanding of relevant Government policy, guidance and statutory procedures for the historic environment in the planning system, including Scheduled Monument Consent

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 just won the Gold Award from MIND, 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 offer a wide benefits package including a competitive pension scheme starting at 28% contributions, a generous 28 days holiday, corporate discounts, free entr