Sheffield Town Hall Refurbishment
Project Background
Sheffield Town Hall, one of the city’s five Grade I listed buildings, is undergoing a major refurbishment programme to secure its long‑term future as a civic, cultural and democratic landmark. The project will safeguard the building’s historic fabric while delivering a more sustainable, accessible and welcoming Town Hall for the people of Sheffield.
Once reimagined and reopened, the Town Hall will be a “Town Hall for All”: a building that better reveals its heritage and collections, improves access to cultural assets, and provides high‑quality civic, community and event spaces that strengthen Sheffield’s civic life.
We are seeking a Development Manager – Town Hall Heritage to lead the heritage and cultural workstream of this flagship project, ensuring that conservation, interpretation, engagement and future public use are embedded at the heart of the restoration from concept stage onwards.
About the Role
The Development Manager will lead the heritage and cultural workstream of the Sheffield Town Hall project, ensuring that the building’s historic fabric, collections and stories are protected, understood and meaningfully revealed to the public.
Working closely with the Project Director, architects and conservation specialists, you will oversee the documentation, conservation planning and interpretation of the Town Hall’s historic features, furnishings, artworks and collections. You will provide specialist heritage advice throughout the design process, supporting well‑judged decision‑making and balancing conservation priorities with the future operational and public use of the building.
The role includes leading heritage‑related funding and development activity, contributing to stakeholder and community engagement, and shaping plans for the future cultural and civic use of the refurbished Town Hall.
You will also lead proposals to reopen the Town Hall Joiners’ Workshop, developing a programme focused on the repair of historic furniture and the promotion of traditional building crafts and skills. This work will be delivered in partnership with the Council’s Corporate Repairs team, apprentices and local craftspeople.
The initial 18‑month fixed‑term contract aligns with RIBA Stage 2 (Concept Design) of the project.
Key Responsibilities
About You
You will bring strong professional experience in heritage, conservation or cultural development, alongside the ability to operate confidently within a complex public‑sector capital project.
You will have:
You will be a confident and thoughtful professional, able to balance the protection of a highly significant civic building with the ambition to create an accessible, inclusive and relevant Town Hall for the future.
A relevant qualification in heritage management, conservation, architecture or a related discipline is desirable, or equivalent professional experience.
We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under-represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly.