Architecture, engineering, planning and surveying

Do you have a passion for design and buildings? Do you like finding creative solutions to problems? Are you passionate about the historic environment? Then a career in architecture, engineering, planning, or surveying with a focus on the historic built environment may be the perfect fit! 

Architecture, engineering, planning, and surveying (AEPS) are vital roles to maintain built heritage. These roles work together to repair, preserve, maintain, and record the built environment in a way that is responsive to social, cultural, and environmental issues. 

From surveying to designing interventions for historical buildings, roles in AEPS involve a wide variety of skills. These include budgeting, communication, reporting, analysis, management, and organisation. In their day-to-day, AEPS roles can be focused on science and technology through to history and research, so they can fit with a wide variety of strengths and interests. 

Job examples: 

• Building Surveyor (with a conservation accreditation) 

• Building/Material Scientist 

• Architect 

• Heritage Consultant 

• Architectural Technologist 

• Structural and Civil Engineer 

• Quantity Surveyor 

• Health and Safety Advisor 

• Conservation Officer 

• Digital Documentation and Visualisation Specialist 

To find out more about what skills are needed, information on training, how to get started on your career and examples about different roles, check out My World of Work’s Construction and Built Environment Page. If you want to find out information about surveying careers only, go to RICS’ Careers Page.

To find out more about careers in architecture, visit the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) information section.

Looking for vacancies? Start here: 

• Historic Environment Scotland 

• Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland's Job Hub 

• Built Environment Forum Scotland

• Institute of Historic Building Conservation's Job page 

• Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors' Job Hub 

This is how a Senior Ancient Monuments Officer at Historic Environment Scotland describes their career:

"I work as a Senior Ancient Monuments Officer in the Planning Consents and Advice Service at Historic Environment Scotland. My main responsibility is to provide advice on behalf of HES about how to manage scheduled monuments - protected historic sites that are of national importance. The enquiries we get can be very different, so no day is ever the same for me. Some days I am looking at nearby planning applications to see how they would affect monuments, and other days I am out at sites, discussing how to look after them or assessing changes people want to make. 

I studied Archaeology at university, and I remember graduating felt very daunting. I spent a year volunteering in my local area, helping with archaeological digs and working in a museum. I decided to do a masters in Managing Archaeological Sites and this opened opportunities for me to work on world heritage sites through European Heritage Volunteers. This helped me figure out what I wanted to do, and I went on to work in planning for a local authority and as an environmental consultant. I then moved onto my current job at HES! 

If you are a strong communicator who enjoys working as part of a team, problem solving, leading projects and learning new things, then this would be a great job for you. There is no one path to get into this type of work so there are many ways you can gain relevant experience. Volunteering is brilliant, but it is hard to come across paid opportunities. I recommend looking out for apprenticeships as these are a great way to gain experience through learning on the job and to meet new people that will create more opportunities for the future."