Everyone's Welcome

Embracing diversity

We believe that heritage is for everyone, and so are jobs in the heritage sector. As an equal opportunities employer, we’re working hard to improve diversity in our workforce and are always looking for new perspectives to help us protect extraordinary places.

We’re proud to be Disability Confident: Leader accreditation, which is the highest level within the scheme. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to examining our behaviours and challenging biases that prevent us from being truly inclusive – taking steps to increase the representation of diverse voices in our workforce, on our Commission and on our advisory bodies. As part of the Disability Confident Scheme we offer a guaranteed interview if a disabled candidate meets our minimum criteria for the role. This is to ensure we are considering the person fairly on their abilities.

We work in partnership with Evenbreak to promote our job opportunities to an inclusive audience.

We're Youth Friendly, and a Gold Award winner, seven years running, of the Mind Workplace Wellbeing Index – but we’re not stopping there.

Our support networks

We’re working hard to improve the diversity of our workforce and have set up a range of employee network groups to provide peer support and advice to us on how to be more inclusive, including:

• Inclusion Champions
• Wellbeing Forum
• Mental Health Champions and First Aiders
• Disability Network
• Gender Equality Network
• Neurodiversity Network
• Pride Network
• Race Equality Network
• Social Mobility Network

Inclusive culture

We have implemented actions to create an inclusive and equitable organisation. Our goal is to reflect the diversity of the public we support. Our commitment is to ensure a welcoming and inclusive environment where all colleagues feel safe, respected, and empowered to succeed. We aim to ensure that every individual feels valued, included, and able to bring their authentic selves to work.

Our commitment to Race Equality

Our vibrant Race Equality Staff Network offers peer support, organises events, and provides valuable feedback to the organisation on relevant issues. We are deeply committed to promoting inclusivity in our work, including through initiatives that celebrate and acknowledge the diverse histories and contributions of people from different racial and ethnic communities.

We take pride in the representation of racially and ethnically diverse colleagues at Historic England, though we acknowledge that there is more work to be done to strengthen this representation. We continuously evaluate the racial and ethnic composition of our teams, aiming to achieve a similar level of diversity in our leadership as observed in the general population.

Below are some examples of our initiatives in this area:

Our commitment to Gender Equality

At Historic England, we are committed to achieving gender equality as a cornerstone of building an inclusive workplace. We strive to create an environment where individuals of all genders are valued, respected, and empowered to reach their full potential.

We are proud to have excellent representation of women in leadership roles. Recent improvements in our gender pay gap reflect our dedication to the comprehensive actions outlined in our Gender Pay Action Plan.

Our Gender Equality Staff Network plays an integral role in our efforts, offering peer support, organising events, and championing positive change within the organisation. Through its initiatives, we aim to tackle gender-related challenges and celebrate the achievements of colleagues of all genders.

We remain committed to taking meaningful steps to break down barriers, challenge biases, and create opportunities for everyone. By collaborating, we can ensure that Historic England continues to be a place where all individuals can thrive and bring their authentic selves to work.

Below are some examples of our initiatives in this area:

Our commitment to welcoming and supporting LGBTQ+ people

We have been working to create a supportive and inclusive work environment for LGBTQ+ people for many years. Our thriving Pride Staff Network provides peer support, organises social events, and can provide feedback on issues to the organisation. We are inclusive in our work, including through projects like Pride of Place, a ground-breaking celebration of places that tell important LGBTQ+ histories.

We have good representation of LGBTQ+ people at Historic England, broadly reflecting estimates of the UK population and we are proud of that. We recognise that more work is always needed to maintain this. We are fully committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive work environment where colleagues feel safe and can thrive. Our aim is to ensure that all colleagues feel able and confident to be out and open in the workplace about their sexual orientation and gender identity if they choose to be.

Championing social mobility

We believe engaging with heritage helps social mobility and that it is vital for all people to have the opportunity to reach their full potential through participation in heritage.

Historic England is a significant employer in the heritage sector, and we have a responsibility to ensure we reflect this aspiration within our organisation and increase social mobility in the sector by encouraging talented people from all socio-economic backgrounds to join our workforce and to support them to thrive, develop and progress their career with Historic England and beyond.

We have signalled our commitment to Social Mobility by joining over 700 organisations in signing the Social Mobility Pledge. We also participate in the Social Mobility Index to better understand how we can shape our policies, processes, practices, and culture to reflect these aspirations.

Women in Science

Are you interested in a career in science and technology? Our specialists have shared their stories to inspire you.

According to the United Nations, women are typically given smaller research grants than their male colleagues and, while they represent 33.3% of all researchers, only 12% of members of national science academies are women. 

This is why we're proud to feature women in science at Historic England. We hope that their examples will inspire others to pursue education and careers in science, technology and engineering.

Supporting mental health and wellbeing

Looking after the mental health and well-being of our people is one of our top priorities. We’re proud to have been awarded Gold from the charity Mind in their Workplace Wellbeing Index, demonstrating our long-term and in-depth commitment to employee mental health.

We also have Mental Health First Aiders and Champions across the business who are there to support you. What’s more, courses, resilience training and meditation classes are available to everyone who works here, as well as a wide range of other initiatives to promote mental health and wellbeing.