Job: Head of Stonehenge

234

mmooreds 6 days ago 234 commentsRead Article on english-heritage.org.uk

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Discussion (234 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

ggm•6 days ago

* Must be proficient in use of mistletoe in unspecified rituals.

* Must provide own sickle, and robes.

JoeDaDude•6 days ago

* Must be willing to perform human sacrifices during select astronomical events?

nephihaha•6 days ago

Must be fluent in Cornish.

thih9•6 days ago

Must be proficient in brewing potions.

NOTE: Only cauldrons with a safety mechanism preventing anyone from falling into the potion can be used at the site; traditional Gaul type cauldrons do not qualify.

nly•3 days ago

Funny, but it's actually in Wiltshire

gbacon•6 days ago

What about the wizard hat?

davidschof•6 days ago

Their senior solution architect vacancy has similar pay: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/our-people/careers...

Somewhat less eminent job title though.

riffraff•6 days ago

I would love to have "Stonehenge architect" as a job title.

gosub100•6 days ago

Monolithic codebase though

1-more•6 days ago

I'm counting the liths and I'm getting a lot more than mono

stymaar•6 days ago

Don't threaten me with good times.

layer8•6 days ago

It's still modular.

oaiey•6 days ago

They really miss out on opportunities here.

sgt•6 days ago

> We offer flexible working arrangements where the role allows. This role can be based at our offices in Swindon, or worked on a hybrid pattern. You will be required to attend our Swindon offices 1 day per week.

Pretty decent flexibility though.

zeafoamrun•6 days ago

Yes but you can have a pint down at the pub on a warm summer evening with your colleagues after work. Almost makes up for it.

vanuatu•6 days ago

that is abysmal!

Ndymium•6 days ago

As a Finnish dev with 12 years of experience, I can only aspire for such salary.

ksec•6 days ago

Are you serious? Sarcasm Don't translate well on internet.

eterm•6 days ago

That's a fairly standard wage outside London for senior developers.

UK wages are not great.

siva7•6 days ago

i wouldn't call that standard wage, rather the lowest end of the spectrum where you could theoretically shop a "senior" outside of london.

dwroberts•6 days ago

The balancing force to this though, is that cost of living outside of London is massively lower

soupfordummies•6 days ago

36 hour work week, flexible hours, 25 paid holidays and a 10% pension though...

yzydserd•6 days ago

Maybe you missed the “25% discount in our shops and cafes” perk for the day you need to be in the office. Score.

Natfan•6 days ago

american salaries must be ridiculous if £70k (~$93.5k) is considered "abysmal(ly)" low!

as others have said, some may be in for a very rude awakening...

nonethewiser•6 days ago

$93.5K isn't abysmally low in the USA. Average is about 66k

$93.5k is abysmally low for a Senior Solutions Architect in the USA. I would expect at least $175k if not $200k+ on average. Plus stock and bonuses.

ForHackernews•6 days ago

Yes, American salaries are ridiculous in a global context. The rest of the world should demand better.

vanuatu•6 days ago

For that level of experience you can prob get 200k in a MCOL area in the US, or up to 500k+ in HCOL

The rest of the world has already been in a rude awakening, talented engineers should be compensated well no matter where they happen to live

FinnKuhn•6 days ago

And this is for a 36 hour work week.

marysol5•6 days ago

Wait till you see UK wages, when it's the UK arm of a US firm....

blitzar•6 days ago

wait till you hear about the stock grants and vesting schedule

shalmanese•6 days ago

Be warned though, the equity you are granted will be exceedingly illiquid.

SLHamlet•6 days ago

RE Your predecessor

No one knows who he was, or what he was doing.

But his legacy remains hewn in the HR dock of Stonehenge.

nDRDY•6 days ago

Some say he was let go after a design error lead to some dwarves kicking over the first stonehenge.

tekchip•6 days ago

"From £64,189 p.a. depending on skills and experience"

I maintained a collection of well organized rocks as a child. Surely that gets me a bit more than base pay right?

stinkbeetle•6 days ago

I'm afraid that won't even get a foot in the door in this market. You must have at least 5 years experience managing Salisbury megaliths to meet the selection criteria.

blitzar•6 days ago

even if you grind lots of leet-stone problems?

fergie•6 days ago

Must be a rockstar

kitd•6 days ago

Good at aligning rocks with stars

Lio•6 days ago

There's got to be a way to shoehorn in a Spinal Tap reference here, I just haven't had enough coffee yet to think of it.

philipwhiuk•6 days ago

The height of the stones goes to 13!

madrox•6 days ago

Building a henge, are we?

kombookcha•6 days ago

You bastards, you never told me 200 miles. 200 miles in this day and age! I don't even know where I live now!

madrox•6 days ago

I wish the Christians would hurry up and get here

kombookcha•6 days ago

God, I had that entire Dress To Kill show loaded up on my old timey mp3-player along with Definite Article, Glorious and Sexie. Barely any room for music, but I was giggling my way through every day trying not to look too insane in public.

Izzard probably rewired my brain more than any other single comedian.

curtisblaine•6 days ago

Technically Stonehenge is not an henge (even the term henge comes from Stonehenge)

> Ironically, even though Stonehenge has an earthwork circle around it (the earliest phase of the monument), it isn’t officially a ‘proper’ henge, as the main ditch is external to the main bank. It has to make do with being a ‘proto-henge’.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/what-is...

vintermann•5 days ago

Well, they've got no moat.

Quarrel•6 days ago

Damnit. No WFH option.

teaearlgraycold•6 days ago

Unless Stonehenge is your home

andrewstuart•6 days ago

“Work From Henge”

thih9•6 days ago

I’m waiting for the “Head of Skull Rock[1]” position.

[1]: https://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/nature/skull-rock-trail.htm

eliben•6 days ago

Joshua Tree NP <3

chicagojoe•6 days ago

I was slightly disappointed when I first visited Stonehenge as the standard tours keep you fairly far away and roped off.

But, I took a modestly more expensive "Inner Stones" tour a few months ago and lucked out being selected to be fully alone for a minute. It was a profound experience being in the middle of such a historic place.

Highly, highly recommended!

madaxe_again•6 days ago

I highly recommend avebury, about 20 minutes down the road. Absolutely enormous megalithic complex, huge man-made hill, and you can just wander where you wish, go hug a menhir, whatever you fancy - and there’s hardly ever more than a handful of other people there. Oh and it’s free.

TheOtherHobbes•6 days ago

You must have gone at a quiet time. Avebury can be absolutely heaving in the Summer and on the traditional pagan quarter days.

It also has a pub, a restaurant, a gift shop, a museum founded by a marmalade magnate, and if you're really rich you can buy one of the houses inside the circle.

Generally a happier experience than Stonehenge.

If megalithic rocks are your thing there's also the nearby West Kennet Longbarrow, which is far more likely to be deserted, especially at night, although if you go on the quarter days (nights) you'll probably meet weirdly-dressed people lighting candles and throwing spells around.

jbaber•6 days ago

West Kennet Longbarrow's also appropriately spooky. I've been there with people too scared to stay inside.

laurencerowe•6 days ago

Best of all go during the summer solstice when there is free public access. It’s really quite fun.

During the the 1980s and ‘90s there were regular clashes between new age hippies and police stopping them from reaching Stonehenge during summer solstice before public access was allowed.

fanatic2pope•6 days ago

I really enjoyed Newgrange in Ireland. It's huge, you can go inside it and as part of the tour they turn out the lights and simulate what it looks like on the solstice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange

mattoxic•6 days ago

I would have thought you'd need to be a druid

axolttl88•6 days ago

While the stones are usually roped off from up close viewing still loom large because of their cultural impact, the area around them is beautiful. The Heritage org. has brought up huge tracts of land around them to protect it and restore it to the way it "was". You get to wander around most of those vast fields freely, among ancient mounds. On a nice summer's day, it really is one of the most peaceful and beautiful things to do.

matthewpick•5 days ago

My brain went straight to Niagara Falls for some reason… I wish the experience of viewing the falls was similar. Just in nature rather than this built-up tourist destination.

throw310822•6 days ago

Better than Head of Easter Island.

russellbeattie•6 days ago

I caught a live stream of Stonehenge during this past Winter Solstice (it was cloudy, naturally) and the streamer provided a bit of trivia that I hadn't heard before:

George Washington's English ancestors, specifically Sir Lawrence Washington, were the owners of the West Amesbury Estate in Wiltshire, England, which included the land where the ancient Stonehenge monument sits. (Via Google)

If you hadn't that before, welcome to the "Huh, that's a funny coincidence" club.

hdgvhicv•6 days ago

Rich people have lots of descenders who tend to be rich.

Washington was a wealthy landowner in the British Empire, hardly surprising his ancestors were wealthy landowners.

robotresearcher•6 days ago

What’s it a coincidence with?

marysol5•6 days ago

"Rich man had a rich family, how queer"

lifestyleguru•6 days ago

Land owners also had married within family so I you checked their family tree two persons could be simultaneously spouses and cousins. That's a coincidence!

xtorol•6 days ago

Due to a typo in the paperwork sent to HR by the hiring manager, they are only paying 64,189 pence. The director was last heard chastising HR, saying "It's not your job to be as confused as Nigel."

flurdy•6 days ago

Ask one of the Ylvis brothers

laughing_man•5 days ago

I would definitely take that job no matter how little it paid or how unpleasant it was. For awhile, just so I could put it on my resume.

hmokiguess•6 days ago

Stonehenge! Stonehenge! Lots of stones in a row! (chor)

...

And they moved it (Stonehenge!)

And they dragged it (Stonehenge!)

And they rolled it 46 miles from Waleeees! - Heeey (46 miles from Wales! )

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klJhWr_FTaE

12_throw_away•6 days ago

And hey, at £64K per annum, you'll want a Honda Civic - a car you can trust.

readthenotes1•6 days ago

"Job type Permanent"

I bet they enjoyed typing that in.

"5,000 years+ -- depends on you"

Might be another option if it were freeform text

12_throw_away•6 days ago

I assumed "permanent" was industry jargon for "the ideal candidate will be sealed in the Pandorica for all time", but it's something I'd probably clarify during the phone screen.

VikingCoder•6 days ago

Does this seem like a Netflix show to anyone else?

NoSalt•6 days ago

Man, how awesome would that job be?

rpaddock•6 days ago

In the fall of 2023 I tried to visit Stonehenge. We arrived at 15:15 local time.

I was riding in the passenger seat.

There was a male and female police officer standing at the side of the road, beside a "Road Closed" sign blocking the entrance.

The male police officer came to my window and started yelling in my face:

"We are closed!! Come back another day!!!"

I knew it would be pointless to argue with this a-hole and there was no other day in my schedule that we could come back. So we left and never got to see it.

Do these old rocks get tired at three in the afternoon or what?

I'll be sending this Head of Stonehenge an email about the experiance...

AlotOfReading•6 days ago

The stones don't get tired, but the humans running the visitor center and keeping the tourists in line do. Operating a highly visited historical site like Stonehenge takes significantly more work than people realize.

pnut•6 days ago

Sounds like VIP/head of state visit and terrible communication skills.

rjmunro•6 days ago

Last entry is at 3pm in winter because it takes a while to queue then catch the shuttle bus etc. and it gets dark, so closes at 5pm.

But if there were actual Police, not just English Heritage security, it sounds like something strange was happening that day, like a VIP visit or something.

It gets so busy that it's recommended to book a timeslot in advance on the website, even if you are a member and don't have to pay.

bobmcnamara•6 days ago

Experience?

I'm the head of pebble hedge!

onion2k•6 days ago

"If I get the role, what will my budget for repairs be?"

manarth•6 days ago

Don't forget the twice-a-year realignment when the clocks change for daylight saving

fsck4•6 days ago

Dry stone masonry.

zuzululu•6 days ago

really wish i keot my british passport

faangguyindia•6 days ago

i know quite a few dev ops and frontend guys who were employed for last 4 years and are now driving taxi in india.

hmokiguess•6 days ago

Next up: Forward Deployed Wizard

Mistletoe•6 days ago

Honestly feels like a dream job. Imagine your ancestors smiling down on you if you are from Britain or just human.

kijin•6 days ago

Considering the location, I would imagine that the ancestors prefer to haunt the barrows at night. Still a dream job if that's your thing. Just watch out for the occasional Nazgûl. :)

nephihaha•6 days ago

Or Nigel. No one knows who they were or what they were doing...

_alternator_•6 days ago

On the front page? LLMs got lots of us programmers dreaming of leaving the profession, I suppose.

tyre•6 days ago

Is this not super cool regardless? Even if you love tech, was a fun little gem.

celsius1414•6 days ago

Missed opportunity to say they’re ‘looking for a rock star to lead our team!’

peebee67•6 days ago

They pretty much are, too. It certainly reads like some tech job ads. Rock star with 30 years experience. Graduate wages.

tkocmathla•6 days ago

The median income in the UK is currently sitting at £2,627 / week or £31,524 / year [1]. This is advertising more than double that at £64,189, not quite graduate wages!

[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwor...

EDIT: £2,627 / month, not week!

NamlchakKhandro•6 days ago

2.67 * 52 = 138.84

Not sure how you got 31,524

samplatt•6 days ago

Tasks include: looking at rocks, stars.

thih9•6 days ago

Due to advancements in calendar technology made in the last couple hundreds of years, the profile for this role has changed and tasks are now different.

FatherOfCurses•5 days ago

Music with rocks in

laszlojamf•6 days ago

"a solid leader who can carry the weight of our massive responsibility"

pants2•6 days ago

Sounds like a very cool job, and not sure about the UK job market, but seems to be wildly underpaid for the qualifications!

kristianc•6 days ago

This, shockingly, is actually quite well paid considering for the UK.

Lead Data Scientist for the UK Government is currently advertising for a salary of £57,670 - £67,500.

https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi?jco...

hdgvhicv•6 days ago

Government jobs are terribly paid. They tend to have good pensions worth another 15-20k though and tend to be very flexible.

Project manager on 65-85k

https://uk.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk=a43416327745431e

Lead data scientist 100-110k

https://www.reed.co.uk/jobs/lead-data-scientist/56925078

Neither of those are London based.

bdavbdav•6 days ago

That’s government. They’re notoriously underpaid.

philipwhiuk•6 days ago

And this is third sector.

kaonwarb•6 days ago

Not disagreeing, but it's also worth something to know, and say, that you are in charge of Stonehenge.

sva_•6 days ago

Must be an extraordinary honor to be in charge of a bunch of rocks over there.

cyclopeanutopia•6 days ago

Wait until you learn some people are swapping bits all day long, isn't that crazy?

650REDHAIR•6 days ago

Yes?

YZF•6 days ago

36 hours per week. 25 days vacation (going to 28). Pension contributions. You can buy extra leave. Epic location, fun job, decent salary for the UK (where e.g. you don't pay for healthcare)...

robotresearcher•6 days ago

You do pay for healthcare, from the taxes on that salary.

marysol5•6 days ago

Fun fact, so do Americans, just they don't get the service for it!

ifjfkfkfkfj•6 days ago

> you don't pay for healthcare

It is bloody expensive, if you want life saving surgery now, not in two years!

Tepix•6 days ago

Yeah, the 25 days of vacation are a bit disappointing, in Germany 30 days are standard.

tikkabhuna•6 days ago

Is that including or excluding bank holidays? In the UK, 25 days excluding the 8 bank holidays is pretty standard.

wyclif•6 days ago

Talked to a German guy who was here on holiday recently. When I told him that in the US it's typical to get two weeks vacation when starting a new job, you should have seen his eyes bug out. It was hilarious.

loeg•6 days ago

This is like a 90th percentile UK salary.

marysol5•6 days ago

In reality, because the "salaries" higher than this aren't paying in PAYE.

bdavbdav•6 days ago

I’m not sure that’s strictly true. I think you’ve got to go a long way up the salary ladder until you’re in a situation where you can command more complicated arrangements (certainly when working for larger companies)

zipy124•6 days ago

no. Most UK income statistics are based on total taxable income, not salary.

ascorbic•6 days ago

This is a decent salary for a heritage job. It is a very poorly-paid sector. On building sites with archaeological excavations, the person driving the digger is likely to be paid more than the archaeologists, who probably have postgraduate degrees.

jrflo•6 days ago

I'm not in the UK, but from what I understand that's actually decent. US salaries, particularly in tech, are wildly higher than in most of Europe.

oaiey•6 days ago

UK tech salaries are also not high. And 64k pounds for a history and/or business major is quite right. Do not forget also: history is a overrun study with many people afterwards driving taxis

vintermann•5 days ago

I wouldn't mind a few more archaeologists. They may be many compared to the jobs available, but there should be more jobs available.

phyzix5761•6 days ago

Don't forget to deduct the 25% effective tax rate.

Calculator: https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/estimate-paye-take-home-pay/y...

techterrier•6 days ago

this isnt all that *bad for something in the conservation / heritage / ngo sector

edit: *obviously its not a wonderful salary, but for the sector....well I've seen worse.

swarnie•6 days ago

Just a smidge over $63k after tax and before gibbs.

The job market over here is shocking.

dismalaf•6 days ago

Lol in Canada 64,000 pounds = $120K CAD which would put you in the 92nd income percentile.

loeg•6 days ago

This is equivalent to $85,700 USD, not $63k.

theodric•6 days ago

Read it again. $63k after tax and before "gibbs" i.e. government-provided social distributions.

moomin•6 days ago

The charity sector rarely pays well.

y-curious•6 days ago

Especially considering minimum wage “salary” in the UK is ~24k GBP, 64k is nothing imo. They call it the “wage squeeze”

UnfitFootprint•6 days ago

Average full time salary is 40k GBP. It’s +50% on the average which seems right for a non profit organisation in a non exec role

jacknews•6 days ago

It is a leadership role though.

I don't know how many staff there are, but it's surely one of EH's most important locations.

loeg•6 days ago

This is like 90th percentile UK salary. It's good pay for the UK, a poor country.

gbro3n•6 days ago

The UK is still the 5th biggest economy in the world. Public infrastructure feels like it's under huge strain however, and there is also a big problem with inequality, which seems to be changing under Labour, albeit slowly.

geysersam•6 days ago

Let's not be delusional. The UK is not a poor country, and 64K is low by US tech standards but it's good by any other measure.

laurencerowe•6 days ago

The UK has had substantially less wage inequality than the US for a long time. The UK “wage squeeze” is median/minimum wage which has gone from the 1/3 to 2/3 since ~2000 as the minimum wage has been raised. But the relevant difference here would be around 90th percentile/median which is 1.85 in UK vs 2.4 in US and even higher in California.

hdgvhicv•6 days ago

And over time the ratio is similar - 90%ile about 1.9 times median for the last 30 years.

enraged_camel•6 days ago

Yeah, but 25 days holiday plus bank holidays means you're working like half the year at most. ;)

dylan604•6 days ago

And don't you knock of at lunch on Fridays anyways? So that's like a 4 day work week, because let's face it, you're not really doing anything on the day you're knocking off early anyways. See you at the pub!

green_wheel•6 days ago

What's your role?

I'm a CSO.

Oh nice, Strategy or Security?

Stonehenge.

quuxplusone•6 days ago

"Just to be clear, you are saying you manage a hedge fund, right?"

"Yeah, a henge fund."

"Hedge fund."

"Henge fund."

"Hedge."

"Henge."

"...I think we're on the same page."

appplication•6 days ago

This had me giggling, thank you

bfeist•6 days ago

Heard of it?

smashah•6 days ago

Stonehenge would be a great AI Lab name!