Stonemason - Palace MCU (Maltings) 67

Starting salary: £27,519
Contract type: Permanent
Grade: 2
Location: Edinburgh (Holyrood Palace and St Ann's Maltings)
Working Hours: Monday - Friday, 35 hours per week (annualised hours)
Interviews: To be held in person at Croft-an-Righ House on week commencing 8th December 2025

The Palace and Parks Conservation Unit, (MCU), consists of a 10-person team all of whom carry out conservation and maintenance work at a variety of locations. The team is headed by a Lead Mason. As part of the Monument Conservation Unit, you will have responsibility for the on-going conservation, maintenance, and presentation of other Historic Environment Scotland monuments within the Holyrood Palace and Parks remit.  You will train and instruct apprentices in all aspects of the trade and provide information and instruction to support staff as required. You may also be asked to be involved in showing Stonemasonry skills to the public at open days.

You will be expected to work at any location within the Edinburgh area as directed by the Lead Mason. Although the depot is situated at St Ann’s Maltings, some of your work will be at other sites local to the depot. Official transport is provided to and from the various sites within the district. You may be asked drive using HES vehicles to other sites outside of the Edinburgh district which may include overnight stays, however individuals are expected to make their own way to the MCU Depot.

For more information about the post and information about the team, please access the full job description [insert hyperlink to full job description] for this post. Please note that if you don't have Office 365 installed on your device, this can be opened using your browser.

Benefits of joining us at Historic Environment Scotland

• Enrolment onto a Civil Service Pension scheme – 28% employer contribution
• 25 days annual leave, pro-rata (increasing to 30 days after 3 years) + 11.5 public holidays
• Reimbursement for relevant professional subscriptions
• Support for further education and personal development
• Study leave for work related courses
• Flexible working hours (where appropriate)
• Free entry to all of our properties (with up to three guests)
• Free entry to English Heritage, Manx and Cadw properties

Key Responsibilities of this role

• To carry out conservation and routine maintenance works to HES monuments in the Holyrood Palace and Park area. This involves all forms of traditional building maintenance for the sites local to Holyrood Palace as well as monuments in other areas as and when required. 
• Stone cutting and hewing of various architectural mouldings / stones for Holyrood Palace and monuments in other areas as required.
• Traditional building / repairs / indenting of stonework
• Raking out and pointing defective joints and beds.
• Promote traditional methods of conservation techniques to carry out challenging and diverse conservation projects / works.
• Operation of electrical and petrol-powered hand tools and machinery to facilitate work including disc saws, mortar mixers, compressors, hoists etc. The winter season may consist of work outwith the normal duties associated with stonemasonry such as fence repairs, grounds works and painting. 
• Provide training and mentoring for apprentice stonemasons in traditional conservation skills, which you are trained in.
• Comply with and promote HS Health and Safety Policy.
• Throughout your employment with HES you will be required to attend training courses identified to assist the work, or to comply with health and safety legislation, including first aid (training as required). This may require overnight stays away from home. 

Key requirements of the role:

In order for you to be successful in this post, we will be looking for you to submit a cover letter which addresses how you can meet each of the essential and desirable criteria (in up to 1,200 words), using examples of where you have demonstrated these criteria previously. Please ensure that you provide real life examples for each of the criteria to be considered for this post. You can use examples of how you have met this criteria from your work life, home life, education or volunteer experience. Please read our CV and Cover Letter Guidance first before completing, as you will only be eligible for selection if you use examples of how you meet the essential and desirable criteria.

Essential:

• You must be a time served stonemason with relevant building trade qualification to Advanced Craft Level SVQ level 4 or SCQF level 6. (See framework here)

• You should have a proven knowledge of traditional building crafts. In particular an understanding and knowledge of current conservation practises and techniques relating to historic buildings and monuments.

• Good understanding and practical experience of the conservation, presentation and repair of historic monuments and/or listed buildings.
• Good all-round understanding and practical experience of using lime mortars.
• Good knowledge of Health & Safety at Work (Responsibilities & Practise). 

Find out more about desirable skills and experience in our full job description [insert hyperlink to job description].

We are dedicated to building a workforce which is reflective of diversity within Scotland. We warmly welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, regardless of age, race, gender or gender identity, religious beliefs, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, or neurodiversity. In support of our Gaelic Language Plan, we welcome applications from Gaelic speakers.

We want every candidate to have the best chance to succeed during the recruitment process. If you require your application in an alternative format, please reach out to us via email at recruit@hes.scot or call our Head Office at 0131 668 8600 and speak to a member of our People Team.

Please note that, at this time, we are unfortunately unable to provide sponsorship as part of the recruitment process, therefore you must have current right to work in the UK to be considered for a post.

To submit your application online, please read our ‘How to Apply’ followed by ‘Apply Now’ button to begin your application.