Senior Policy Adviser (Devolution, Housing and Investment)

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 (Devolution, Housing and Investment).

This is a full time, permanent contract.

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

As our Senior Policy Adviser (Devolution, Housing and Investment), you 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 issues such as devolution and housing, as well as other investment opportunities, such as the creative industries, visitor economy and public land disposal. You will help to ensure the social and economic value of heritage and its role in making successful places is fully realised.

Reporting to the Head of Devolution, Housing and Investment, 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 secures the mutually beneficial contribution of heritage to government growth programmes. You will work closely with relevant partners, both within and outside the heritage sector, to enable their constructive engagement in the process.

You will work collegiately with the others in the Growth Policy 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, including devolution, housing and/or investment programmes.
• Ability to work with a wide range of stakeholders with both authority and sensitivity.
• Strong negotiating and influencing skills.
• Experience of policy making with Government and/or arm’s length bodies.

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.

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 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: Early September 2026

Please follow the link for a full copy of the Job Description –

https://cms.historicengland.org.uk/media/opihqwye/final-senior-policy-adviser-devolution-housing-and-investment-jd-june-26.odt