Job Specification: Heritage Engagement Officer – Lower Ormeau Residents Action Group (LORAG)

Job Reference: SRG/TNLHF/26

Location: Shaftesbury Community and Recreation Centre, Balfour Avenue, Belfast, BT7 2EW
Responsible to: LORAG Director of Services
Salary: £34,636 – £36,363 per annum NJC S01 pt 23-25 Contract: 2-year fixed term (subject to funding)
Hours: 37.5 per week (some evenings/weekends required) Annual Leave: 25 days per year plus statutory holidays. Probation: 6 months
Reports to: LORAG Director of Services

LORAG is only able to accept applications from those individuals who are currently eligible to work in the UK. We will only interview those applicants who appear, from the information provided, to be the most suitable in terms of the person specification.

About the Project

In October 2025 the Belfast Historic Waterfront was officially designated a Heritage Place by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, one of only 15 across the UK and just two in Northern Ireland in recognition of the area’s national heritage significance. This designation creates a unique opportunity to place local communities at the heart of how the city’s waterfront is understood, protected and shaped. A key priority for the Belfast Historic Waterfront is the delivery of a comprehensive two-year capacity- building programme that empowers communities to fully engage with and contribute to our Heritage Place.

Maritime Belfast is collaborating with key anchor organisations to design and deliver the programme. A cornerstone of this approach is the creation of three dedicated capacity building roles, embedded within inner South, inner East, and inner North Belfast communities. These officers will act as connectors and catalysts for change, ensuring local voices actively shape and influence the Belfast Historic Waterfront, bringing communities back to the water. They will play a key role in aligning with existing local area action plans and strategies ensuring added value and preventing duplication.

The officers will spend 70% of their time based at LORAG, working with inner South Belfast waterfront communities, building relationships, driving engagement, co- creation and delivering projects to fully realise Heritage Places opportunities. The remaining 30% will focus on supporting wider waterfront communities to benefit from shared learning and local expertise and therefore strive towards a fully collaborative approach to the Belfast Historic Waterfront.

This role offers an opportunity to lead meaningful, community-led heritage activity that enriches neighbourhood life in South Belfast and surrounding waterfront communities through connecting local people and their stories to Belfast Historic Waterfront.

LORAG

LORAG (Lower Ormeau Resident’s Action Group) is a ‘needs led’, community development organisation, founded in 1987 to support the residents and community of the Lower Ormeau area of South Belfast. LORAG is committed to supporting and assisting the diverse community from ‘the cradle to grave’ in a multitude of areas from personal development, family support, employment and training support, community cohesion and innovative health initiatives.

This is an exciting opportunity to shape how communities reconnect with the Belfast waterfront heritage while helping deliver long-term social, cultural and environmental impact across the city.

Purpose of the Role

The Heritage Engagement Officer post is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and will be employed by LORAG based at Shaftesbury Community and Recreation Centre.

The role focuses on developing, supporting, and delivering heritage‐led activities across inner South Belfast, including identifying and progressing new Heritage Place projects. Working as part of a dynamic partnership involving LORAG, Maritime Belfast Trust, Sailortown Regeneration Association and EastSide Partnership, the postholder will play a key role in strengthening community connections to local heritage and supporting collaborative heritage development across the area.

The Heritage Engagement Officer will support heritage led development across inner South Belfast’s waterfront neighbourhoods, beginning with the listed McConnell Weir and Lock site. The aim is to transform these scheduled monuments into an active, accessible river access point and to help reconnect the community with the historic Belfast waterfront.

The main purpose of this role is to be responsible for the planning, coordination and delivery of the Belfast Historic Waterfront initiative in Inner South Belfast in partnership with Maritime Belfast Trust and funded through the National Heritage Lottery Fund. This role will act as a connector and catalyst for change, ensuring local voices actively shape and influence the Belfast Historic Waterfront, bringing communities back to the water.

The role will build capacity amongst communities by providing tailored projects to build relationships and drive engagement to fully realise the Belfast Historic Waterfront as a Heritage Place. It will focus on supporting wider waterfront communities to benefit from shared learning and local expertise.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver a community capacity building programme delivering key heritage focused educational and developmental activities, including maritime heritage workshops, talks, exhibitions, walking trails, oral histories and digital content.
• Develop appropriate water-based and health and wellbeing initiatives which may be extended across the Belfast Historic Waterfront.
• Develop a consultation and engagement plan that leads to maximum engagement and participation in the project.
• Collaborate with local communities and stakeholders to bring the waterfront to life through vibrant programming, enhancing existing events and creating new maritime heritage events that inspire engagement and celebrate local identity.
• Support the development and implementation of a Waterfront Community Heritage Forum.
• Work in collaboration with stakeholders to develop and deliver a small grants programme.
• Collaborate with the communities to identify additional heritage assets to inform and enrich the Belfast Maritime Story Plan
• Support research and best practice
• Support alignment of Heritage Places principles with wider organisational strategies including saving heritage, protecting the environment, inclusion, access and participation and organisational sustainability.
• Identify and sustain relationships with potential partnering organisations from statutory, voluntary and community sectors.
• Support the development and delivery of the Heritage Places initiative, engaging with key stakeholders and coordinating a strategic approach to the implementation of key projects.
• Use findings from engagement to influence Heritage Place initiatives and reconnect communities to the Belfast Historic Waterfront.
• Contribute regularly to the Waterfront Task Group.

• Manage evaluation of project including collection of qualitative and quantitative data including feedback, case studies and reports.
• Provide regular updates to LORAG, Maritime Belfast Trust and National Heritage Lottery Fund including regular project/funder progress reports.
• Maintain strong working relationships with partnering organisations
• Attend appropriate training and events to keep up to date with relevant developments, policy and good management practices.
• Develop positive and cohesive relationships working with a range of networks and partnerships to engage residents, businesses, community organisations and other stakeholders in heritage planning.
• Organise a series of positive and engaging consultation and engagement events across the area including neighbourhood communities who are members of the Inner South Neighbourhood Partnership (MDA, Donegall Pass community forum).
• Engage with schools, other community groups and other community organisations in order to provide a voice in heritage programmes
• Undertake such other relevant duties for LORAG as may from time to time be required Essential Candidate Competencies Candidates must clearly demonstrate how they meet each component of the criteria outlined below, and provide exact dates including month and year
  • Third level qualification in a relevant field, e.g. Community Development, Heritage, Community Planning, Communication, (Please note relevance should be clearly demonstrated)
  • 5 GCSE’s (Grades A – C) or equivalent/comparable including Mathematics and English Language. Applicants must list all subjects, grades and level attained A minimum of 2 years gained in the last 5 years of
    • Experience of delivering community-focused projects
    • Experience of stakeholder engagement
    • Experience of organising training events and/or programmes

• Experience of managing project budgets
• Experience preparing monitoring reports and funding returns Desirable
  • Experience working in or with heritage, regeneration, environmental or cultural programmes.
  • Experience in delivering/supporting water-based developments/projects/initiatives
  • Experience working with vulnerable groups
  • Experience with digital design packages Key skills, Knowledge and attributes Essential
    • Good IT skills including ability to confidently use MS Office suite •
    • Excellent communication skills (Oral and Written)
    • Ability to work as part of a team Desirable
      • Genuine interest in celebrating local history, heritage and stories
      • Knowledge of Belfast’s Maritime Heritage, Waterfront or inner-city communities.
      • High degree of self-motivation and initiative
      • Ability to act diplomatically and persuasively We reserve the right to enhance the criteria as we see fit in the event of a large volume of applications.