Historic buildings inspector/conservation officer : Employers and vacancy sources

Building conservation is a relatively small field, but there are opportunities across both the public and private sectors, with jobs all over the country, although competition for jobs can be fierce.

Most local authorities employ at least one historic buildings inspector or conservation officer, usually in the planning department. English Heritage  is the Government’s statutory advisor on the historic environment, and there are other public agencies such as:

• Historic Scotland  
• Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments  
• Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland (DOE(NI))  

There are opportunities in the construction industry, working for a specialist historic building contractor, or for private practices specialising in conservation.

Employment can also be found with various charities, the most well known being the National Trust , but there are also amenity societies such as the Victorian Society  and The Georgian Group , which are national charities dedicated to specific buildings. These types of organisations tend to be very small and are run mainly by volunteers, but they may employ a limited number of building conservation specialists.

There will also be opportunities in consultancy, and in higher and further education, with teaching and research opportunities becoming more commonly available.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Countryside Jobs Link  
• English Heritage Jobs   
• Environment Jobs   
• Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC)   
• jobsgopublic  
• Just Construction   
• Local Government Jobs   
• Opportunities: The Public Sector Media   
• Planning Resource   
• sector1  
• Local and regional press.
• Local authority websites.

In most instances, organisations recruit graduates directly rather than through recruitment agencies, however they are still a useful source of vacancies. See the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)  website for details.

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