About the job

Key information

• This role offers hybrid working, allowing you to work either from home or from our office in Bridgwater.
• 30 days annual leave (Plus bank holidays).
• Permanent contract, 37 hours per week.
• The role will be based in Bridgwater but will primarily cover the Planning North Area including Bridgwater, Burnham and Highbridge.

What will I be doing?

We are seeking a Conservation Officer to join the Placemaking & Projects Team, to review, guide, advise, and uphold high quality conservation and design advice, and help raise the profile of heritage across the council area. The team currently has a busy workload dealing with an area benefiting from a rich pool of heritage assets including nearly over 11,000 listed buildings, 181 conservation areas, 467 scheduled monuments, 41 Registered Parks & Gardens and 2 Registered Battlefields; these range from medieval market towns to country house estates to former Industrial Mills.

Your main duties will be:

• Primarily covering the planning north area that include the towns of Bridgwater and Burnham and Highbridge and will be based at the Councils offices at Bridgwater.
• Evaluating and making recommendations on applications relating to planning and historic buildings and/or effecting conservation areas, parks and gardens, providing specialist advice to professional colleagues.
• Providing planning and heritage advice to enquiries from members, various interest groups and individuals on planning and heritage proposals.

Somerset is rich and varied in character and stretches from the Exmoor National Park and the Bristol Channel to the borders of Devon, Wiltshire and Dorset. It includes the Quantock, Mendip and Blackdown National Landscapes as well as the internationally protected Somerset Levels and Moors.

What kind of experience or qualifications do I need?

We offer ongoing support, training and guidance to help you be the best you can be however to be successful in this role, you’ll ideally have:

• A degree in built heritage conservation or related discipline.
• Experience of working with listed buildings, conservation areas and other historical structures.
• A strong working knowledge of listed building and conservation policies, enforcement procedures, and related legal requirements.
• Membership of the RTPI or IHBC is desirable.

This role requires you to hold a valid full driving license (Cat B) with no more than 6 points on your license, or the means to travel across the county, including rural areas not covered by public transport.

You’ll need to be enthusiastic, knowledgeable, collaborative and customer focused, in line with our high standards within the section and the Council.

We’re proud to be here for the people of Somerset. And that means everyone in Somerset. An important part of this is ensuring that we are as diverse and inclusive as the people and communities we serve.

We welcome applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences to enrich our team. You can always contact the hiring manager for a chat if there’s anything you want to talk about before you apply.

What is in it for me?

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, working as part of a team who are passionate about the work they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset.

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave.
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screenings.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and more.

DBS check

This post may require a criminal background check via the Disclosure procedure.

Supporting documents and information

The Salary for the role is Grade 10, ranging from £36,124 to £40,476 per annum.

For an informal chat about the role, you can contact Fiona Webb via email at Fiona.webb@Somerset.gov.uk

When completing your application/ CV please provide your full employment history and ensure that any gaps in employment are explained. Please start with your current or most recent employment.

If you have everything you need, just hit the apply button. We can’t wait to hear from you.

Apply on the Somerset Council website

Apply now