Job Description

• East Suffolk Council
• Address: East Suffolk House, Melton, Woodbridge IP12 1RT and Riverside, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0EQ
• Salary: £31,537 - £42,839 (Band 5/7 Career Grade)
• Hours: 37 hours per week
• Contract: Permanent

East Suffolk Council is an exciting place to work, delivering essential local services and making a real difference to a quarter of a million people across East Suffolk.

We have an opportunity to join our Design and Heritage team within the Planning and Building Control Service at either Assistant Heritage Officer or Heritage Officer level. The role sits alongside other Design and Heritage Officers as part of our Specialist Services team and works alongside other specialists including our Landscape and Arboricultural team and Ecology team.

The role:

The East Suffolk district has a high quality historic and natural environment, with around 4,000 listed buildings, 53 Conservation Areas and 30 registered and locally listed parklands. A large part of the district is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The district has a hugely varied character which combines resorts, market towns, urban centres and many villages, all within a high-quality landscape setting that combines coast and countryside.

You will be joining an existing team of four dedicated Design and Heritage Officers, with backgrounds in the theory and practice of conservation, architecture, planning, urban design and landscape history. The team works closely with the Ecology and Landscape and Trees teams. Our experienced and well-resourced specialist teams provide a great opportunity for career learning and job development.

Heritage Officer (Band 6/7 - £35,412 to £42,839 per annum)

In this role you will work with the existing Heritage Officer and Senior Design and Heritage and Officers to provide heritage advice to protect and promote the historic environment of East Suffolk.

Your role will include commenting on development management applications but will also include so much more. You will contribute to Nationally Significant Infrastructure projects, commission Conservation Area reviews and appraisals and see them through to adoption, and work on a major review of Article 4 Directions and extend their use.

You should have considerable experience of working in the historic environment and in particular with listed buildings and in Conservation Areas; a good theoretical, technical and practical knowledge of design and conservation of the built environment; and a good grounding in a wide range of planning/building control issues.

You should be either an Associate or Full Member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation – or at least an existing Affiliate.

Assistant Heritage Officer (Band 5 - £31,537 to £34,434 per annum)

At Assistant Heritage Officer level, you will support the existing Heritage Officer and Senior Design and Heritage Officers in the provision of heritage advice, including advising on the determination of planning applications and supporting the preparation of planning policy documents.

For both roles, you will have a passion for the historic built environment and display an independent and positive approach to safeguarding heritage across the district. You will be skilled at assessing development proposals and their impacts on heritage assets and providing technical and design advice to listed building occupiers and those in Conservation Areas.

If you think you have what it takes to be successful in either of these roles, even if you don’t meet all of the essential requirements, we want to hear from you and look forward to having the opportunity to consider your application.

If you think you have what it takes to be successful in this role, even if you don’t meet all of the essential requirements, please apply. We would appreciate the opportunity to consider your application.

Why work for us?

East Suffolk Council is a great place to work and there are lots of benefits our employees can access. To find out more about why we are so proud of East Suffolk Council, take a look at our video and hear why our employees think it is such a great place to work (YouTube)

Here are some of the main benefits:

• Generous leave entitlement (equivalent to 25 days a year, increasing to 31 days after 5 years’ service, plus bank holidays)

• Local government pension scheme

• Flexible working arrangements

• Learning and development tailored to your role

• A wide variety of staff support networks including access to health and wellbeing initiatives and programmes.

• Discounts on mobile phones, computers, holiday and travel, fashion and clothing, health and beauty and many other products and services.

Find more information about what we offer in our benefits brochure (pdf)

To find out more

For an informal discussion regarding this post, please contact Robert Scrimgeour on (01394) 444610, or by emailing Robert.scrimgeour@eastsuffolk.gov.uk

Closing date: 12pm Friday 19th June 2026

Interview date: w/c 6th July 2026

How to apply

Step 1 - Read the advert and the and Person Specification (docx)

Step 2 - Complete the Supporting Statement template (docx) Your statement needs to indicate how you meet each of the criteria contained within the Person Specification. Please use the template provided (other formats will not be accepted).

Step 3 - Complete the online application and upload your statement. Please note, CVs are not accepted.

For more information, check out the How to Apply section of our Career Site (URL).