1 Overview
Applying for a job with us could open the door to a unique work environment. It could also give you job satisfaction and excellent development opportunities, plus a competitive salary, 25 days’ paid holiday a year and a great package of employee benefits.
Benefits we offer include: flexible working, access to a pension and free entry to all of our monuments, for you and up to three guests.
In this guide, find out about:
- Pay and pension
- Working hours / holidays
- Benefits
- Our locations
2 Pay and pension
Competitive salary
How much you will earn depends on the grade of the post. New entrants start on the minimum for that band. Below are the starting salaries effective from 1 April 2023.
| Band | Starting salary | Max salary |
| Apprentice | £22,954 | £23,831 |
| Band A | £22,954 | £23,831 |
| Band B | £25,649 | £28,721 |
| Band C | £30,539 | £37,131 |
| Band D | £38,988 | £44,797 |
| Band E | £47,037 | £53,450 |
| Band F | £56,122 | £65,578 |
| Band G | £68,858 | £79,900 |
Relocation
We may reimburse relocation costs if you must move because your job changes. Costs must be agreed with us in advance. You may have to repay all or part of the sum we give you if you resign within 2 years.
New entrants must usually relocate at their own expense.
Pension
We offer a range of valuable pension arrangements, including Civil Service and stakeholder pension schemes. So you can choose the pension that suits you best.
3 Working hours
Working hours and annual leave
We feel that a healthy work-life balance is essential. To help our staff, we offer:
- flexible working hours
- special leave
- maternity/paternity leave
- adoption leave
- childcare vouchers
Flexible working is possible in many of our posts, and we can often offer part-time working, job sharing and career break opportunities. Other positions require set working hours.
We operate a number of different working patterns according to business need. Below are the most common patterns we use.
Full-time working
You will normally work 42 hours per week gross, including a 1-hour unpaid lunch break (37 hours per week net).
Part-time working
You work less than 37 hours net per week. You must also have an unpaid lunch break lasting at least 30 minutes on each day that you work more than 6 hours.
Annual hours
You will normally work an average of 1,932 hours per year. Annual hours apply most often to staff in the Monument Conservation Unit, to allow for a longer and shorter season of work.
The longer season lasts at least 26 weeks, with a typical working week of between 40 and 47 hours. The balance of the 1,932 hours is normally made up during the shorter season.
The annualised hours framework has been agreed with the trade unions.
Rostered system
You may be employed full time or part time on a roster basis. Either way, you will work 5 days out of 7.
Flexible Working Hours scheme
Staff based at Longmore House, John Sinclair House and in our regional offices may be able to participate in this scheme, subject to business needs.
Annual leave allowance
There is an annual leave allowance of 25 days, rising to 30 days after 3 years’ service (pro-rata for part-time employees). In addition, all staff receive 11.5 days (4.5 days will be floating days) public and privilege holidays – this is pro-rata for part-time employees .
4 Benefits
Training and development
Our Training and Development Team organised 7,150 training days in 2014 – equal to 6.5 days per person. You can develop your skills through a huge range of internal and external opportunities.
These include:
- training courses
- e-learning
- coaching and mentoring
- job shadowing
- secondments
- out-of-office work experience
We also offer:
- to pay for relevant professional subscriptions
- support for further education and personal development
- study leave for work related courses
- access to a learning resource centre
Promotion is based on fair and open competition.
Health and welfare
We offer you access to:
- our Employee Assistance Programme – for confidential advice and counselling
- an occupational sick pay scheme
- discounts at Edinburgh Leisure gyms
- interest free loans for bicycles (and travel passes)
Staff discounts
You will receive:
- free entry to all of our properties (with up to three guests)
- free entry to English Heritage, Manx and Cadw properties
- 20% off purchases in our retail outlets
Season tickets
You can get an advance to help with the cost of buying an annual season ticket for travel between home and work. The advance is then repaid from your salary over the life of the season ticket. Open to all permanent and fixed-term staff.
5 Our locations
We offer employment opportunities the length and breadth of Scotland. Our people safeguard our historic sites and properties from Shetland to Stranraer, and together bring to life more than 5,000 years of history.
Our attractions are found in more than 300 locations, 77 of which are staffed year-round. We also have two regional offices in Edinburgh, one in Stirling and another in Inverness.
Historic Environment Scotland employs almost 1,100 people (including about 250 industrial staff). We add to this total during each busy summer season, employing an extra 150 stewards and shop assistants on fixed-term contracts.
Download a map of Historic Environment Scotland locations [PDF, 556KB]
Our regional offices are at:
- Edinburgh Castle (Edinburgh)
- Croft-an-Righ (Edinburgh)
- Argyll’s Lodging (Stirling)
- Fort George (Inverness)
6 Contact
Human Resources
Historic Environment Scotland
Longmore House
Salisbury Place
Edinburgh
EH9 1SH
Telephone: 0131 668 8600
Email: recruit@hes.scot