About this job

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Council’s Culture and Heritage Service as the Heritage Place Manager. As a Senior Project Manager working within the Arts, Culture and Heritage sector, you will manage a portfolio of projects and The National Lottery Heritage Fund bids, ensuring delivery within time, cost, and quality standards as part of the wider Heritage Place Programme. You will line manage the Heritage Engagement Officer and work closely with the Culture and Heritage team of colleagues, partners, stakeholders, Heritage Lottery Fund and funders contributing to the development of a focused approach to Barking and Dagenham's new designation as a Heritage Place. Your role includes managing and delivering projects, developing and co-ordinating new Heritage Lottery Fund bids, scoping project requirements, conducting procurement and cost analysis, and ensuring compliance with council policies, legislation and funders. Your role will provide written bids, co-ordination, evaluation and specialist reporting to the Heritage Lottery Fund, and integrate compliance practices into project planning. Additionally, you will establish and monitor KPIs, implement quality control measures, oversee management processes, internal and external stakeholder engagement. Regularly attending and scheduling stakeholder meetings, you will ensure project performance and delivery align with financial and funding management frameworks. This role is based at Eastbury Manor House, Eastbury Square, London IG11 9SN. A necessary component of this role includes cross site working, including at our Culture and Heritage sites. Weekend and occasional evening working is also required. This job is pro rata 4 days per week (including weekend working)

Special requirements for this post

This new post is part of the Borough’s designation as a Heritage Place by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The Heritage Places Initiative is a long-term, strategic investment in up to 20 different places across the UK as set out in the <a href="https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/about/heritage-2033-our-10-year-strategy">Heritage Lottery Fund’s Heritage 2033 strategy</a>. The aim is to make heritage integral to plans that are making local areas better places to live, work and visit. Barking and Dagenham was part of six new Heritage Places announced in October 2025, joining a previous nine other areas, towns and cities which were announced in 2023, to deliver transformational projects and programmes over the next 8-10years: <ul> <li>Barking and Dagenham, London</li> <li>Belfast Historic Waterfront, Northern Ireland</li> <li>Dudley, West Midlands</li> <li>Orkney Islands, Scotland</li> <li>Tameside, Greater Manchester</li> <li>Ynys Môn (Isle of Anglesey), North Wales</li> </ul> We seek exceptional applicants who will manage a new programme of projects, Heritage Lottery Fund bids and Borough wide engagement. We seek applicants who align with our Culture and Heritage Strategy, who embody our organisational DRIVE values and are passionate about serving our borough’s residents and communities through culture and heritage.

About you

With a degree and experience in the fields of Arts, Culture and Heritage project management, you possess detailed knowledge of the Arts and Heritage sector, including working with funding bodies such as The Heritage Lottery Fund. You bring at least 5 years of extensive experience in commissioning, managing and written evaluation of projects and programmes in an arts or heritage setting. You have a proven track record of successfully managing and delivering arts and heritage projects within the public sector and have a thorough understanding of project planning, procurement and stakeholder engagement, being able to work closely with a range of partners. Your ability to negotiate and influence successful outcomes with a wide range of partners, and to commission and monitor the work of projects, is exceptional. You are adept at operating in a public sector environment and communicating effectively with officers, members, residents, communities and a wide range of external stakeholders. Demonstrating an inclusive style, you embrace diversity and have in-depth knowledge of data protection issues, particularly GDPR. As an effective leader, you engage, motivate, and manage staff to deliver against corporate, service, and funding objectives. You are results-driven, defining your role and contribution to achieving improvements and delivering benefits for the residents and communities we serve.

About us

Barking and Dagenham is a vibrant and diverse Borough, with a strong, evolving history we are proud of. As our local community grows and changes, we continue to adapt our Culture and Heritage provision to meet the needs of everyone, ensuring all local residents feel welcome across our cultural and local history sites. With a strategy that sets out a clear vision and action plan of London Borough of Barking and Dagenham’s Culture & Heritage Service over the next 5 years, our approach to collaborate closely with local people, cultural practitioners and organisations across civic society and creative sectors. Out strategy is comprised of six objectives and a corresponding detailed action plan focused on three key areas; People, Place and Creativity. The Culture & Heritage Service’s key sites Eastbury Manor House, Valence House Museum, Archives and Local Studies Centre, the Women’s Museum and the Galleon Arts Centre. We believe creativity plays a positive role in building a stronger society and in improving the lives of local people. We are One Borough; One Community; No-one left behind. The Council has undertaken an ambitious transformation programme over the last few years to ensure we can deliver real change within our community to deliver growth that is inclusive and benefits all our residents. Barking and Dagenham Council is responsive and data-led, putting the needs of our residents at the forefront of what we do. We value the diversity of people who live, work and visit Barking and Dagenham and it is our vision is to create a place where people understand, respect and celebrate each other's differences.

Additional Information

It Starts Here Barking and Dagenham Council’s It Starts Here: Partnerships for Change is a major new boroughwide plan, setting out an ambitious vision for the future of the borough, with clear outcomes that the council will work together with partners on to improve the lives of residents. A shared vision, rooted in partnership, the vision for Barking and Dagenham remains unchanged: a place that people are proud of and where they want to live, work, study and stay. Realising that ambition requires strong, long-term collaboration, the new plan is jointly owned by key partners including the NHS, Police, and BD Giving as a leading representative of the voluntary community, faith and social enterprise centre. This collective approach will help the borough tackle some of its biggest challenges, from poverty and inequality to health, safety and the environment by focusing capacity and resources across agencies and creating a coordinated system‑wide response. It Starts Here: Partnerships for Change sets out ten missions that will guide work across the borough in the years ahead. These cover the issues that matter most to residents, including: <ul> <li>Healthy and thriving children – supporting children to get the best possible start in life.</li> <li>Building financial resilience – reducing poverty and hardship through joined up anti-poverty action.</li> <li>Access to good work – helping more local people into good quality, secure jobs.</li> <li>Preventing and managing long‑term conditions – earlier detection and healthier neighbourhoods.</li> <li>Independent living – supporting people to live independently for longer.</li> <li>Zero tolerance to domestic abuse – a whole system response to preventing harm.</li> <li>Feeling safe – improving safety and confidence through strong community engagement.</li> <li>Better homes – delivering warm, modern homes and improving social housing quality.</li> <li>Clean neighbourhoods – reducing waste, boosting recycling and tackling environmental offences.</li> <li>Culture and Heritage placemaking – using arts and heritage to strengthen identity and drive regeneration.</li> </ul> <a title="It Starts Here: Partnerships for Change" href="https://lbbd.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s179233/It%20Starts%20Here%20-%20App%201.pdf">https://lbbd.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s179233/It%20Starts%20Here%20-%20App%201.pdf</a> <a href="https://www.lbbd.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2025-01/Culture%20Strategy_2024.pdf">Culture Strategy_2024.pdf</a>

Available documents

JDPS Heritage Place Manager (1).docx