Job detail for Dendrochronologist

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 .

This is a permanent, full time position.

Salary is dependent on location

National £40,788 - £42,125 per annum

GL+ £43,903 - £45,411 per annum

Inner London £45,395 - £46,952 per annum

The location of this role is either London, York, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham, Cambridge, Swindon, Bristol, London 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

The Scientific Dating Team provide research, support and advice to Historic England and the wider sector on the appropriate use of scientific dating techniques and the chronological modelling of archaeological sites, buildings and sediments.

You will work closely with other parts of the Archaeology and Science Department at Historic England, as well as Regions Group staff and the wider sector.  Our purpose is to understand the character, date and condition of historic places, objects and materials.  We develop and promote evidence-based technical policy, standards and best practice.  We also provide specialist advice and analysis to all Historic England colleagues, the English Heritage Trust (through a Shared Service agreement) and the wider heritage sector.

Overall purpose of the job:

• To maintain expertise and standards in England, including developing and enabling the implementation of best practice in the wider sector.

• To act as an intelligent client for Historic England, providing technical direction of the programme of work we fund.

• To advise, devise and deliver programmes of research in support of our strategic priorities, ensuring that the techniques applied are appropriate, cost-effective and that the highest standard of work is maintained.

• To provide advice and training on the use of in England.

• To sustain and enhance Historic England’s status and reputation as an expert

Who we are looking for:

• experience

• Knowledge of complementary dating techniques

• Experience of writing reports to professional standards

• Technical skills - experience of working with various types of software & databases.

• Importance of attention to detail

Please note your application will be scored and assessed against the above criteria.

Historic England is a Disability Confident Leader and normally offers guaranteed interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the role, where it is practical and appropriate to do so. We want all candidates to shine in the recruitment process, so please tell us what we can do to help you show us your very best self. For more information, please visit our Everyone is Welcome page, or contact us at recruitmentTeam@Historicengland.org.uk if you have any recruitment queries.

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 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 recruitmentTeam@Historicengland.org.uk 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 November 2026 either via Teams or in person depending on circumstances.

Please follow the link for a full copy of the Job Description – https://cms.historicengland.org.uk/media/cm3jsi0z/zw--jd-sep-2026.odt