About this job

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Council’s Culture and Heritage Service as the Heritage Place Engagement Officer. As an experienced Engagement Lead working within the Arts, Culture and Heritage sector, you will support a portfolio of heritage led projects, ensuring delivery within time, cost and quality standards. You will work closely with the Heritage Place Manager, and the Culture and Heritage team of colleagues, partners, stakeholders and funders contributing to the development of a focused approach to Barking and Dagenham's new designation as a Heritage Place. Your role includes supporting the following key aspects of the Heritage Place designation; scoping project requirements, co-ordinating new The National Lottery Heritage Fund bids, project administration and budget management to ensure compliance with council policies, legislation and funders. Your role will provide coordination, administration and supporting the delivery of projects that form part of the Heritage Place Programme over the next two years. Additionally, you will support wider internal and external stakeholder engagement by regularly attending and scheduling stakeholder meetings, you will ensure project performance and delivery align with financial and funding management frameworks. Working with the Heritage Commissioner and the Heritage Place Manager, the Heritage Engagement Officer will be central to achieving and delivering a Heritage engagement programme for the residents and communities of Barking and Dagenham. This is a full-time role (35hrs per week) based at Eastbury Manor House, Eastbury Square, London IG11 9SN. A necessary component of this role includes cross site working and working two weekend days a month at our Culture and Heritage sites. Occasional evening working may also be required.

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 support a new programme of projects, Heritage Lottery Fund bids and Borough wide resident and community 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

You bring at least 3-5 years of experience in managing, facilitating, and delivering effective engagement and participation programmes with residents, communities, stakeholders and partners via regular events and activities, building and maintaining networks with local communities, partners and organisations within an arts, cultural and heritage setting. You have the skills to identify, support and work in partnership with local sector partners leading specifically on heritage engagement with key community partners including families and young people. Demonstrating an inclusive style, you embrace diversity and have experience of facilitating and delivering engagement programmes across a range of cultural, community and heritage sites, including museums, historic listed buildings, green spaces and community locations. As a result you have knowledge of data protection issues, particularly GDPR. You have a proven track record of successfully delivering innovative arts and heritage engagement and have a thorough understanding of inclusion, community practice, facilitation, project planning and stakeholder engagement. You have experience and knowledge of providing administration and co-ordination in support of new Heritage Lottery Fund bids, project administration and procurement processes. Your ability to negotiate and build successful outcomes with a wide range of partners, and to evaluate and monitor the work of projects, is exceptional. As an effective Engagement Lead, you engage, inspire, and deliver participatory approaches and programmes, understanding the role of strategic outcomes as part of a Culture and Heritage Strategy and funding objectives. You are results-driven, defining your role and contribution to achieving improvements and delivering benefits for residents and communities.

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. <a href="https://www.lbbd.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2025-01/Culture%20Strategy_2024.pdf">Culture Strategy_2024.pdf</a>

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 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>

Available documents

JDPS Heritage Engagement Officer.docx