Principal Planning Officer 

Up to 37 hours per week, part time hours will be considered 

£42,403 - £46,464 per annum, plus £4000 market forces supplement payment 

Wychavon and Malvern have an ambitious growth strategy and will be building over 20,000 homes and 300 hectares of employment land over the next 15 years. The strategy includes the delivery of the major new settlements at Worcestershire Parkway for 10,000 homes and Throckmorton for 5,000 homes. Combined with ambitious strategies to regenerate our existing centres such as Evesham and Droitwich this is your chance to help shape the future of some of the fastest growing Districts in the West Midlands. 

In this role you will be responsible for managing major applications across our districts. This involves the allocation, vetting and processing of applications, involving site inspections, negotiations (including s106 agreements), consultations and general correspondence, the preparation of written reports and their subsequent presentation where necessary to the Area Planning Committees. You will also deal with S78 planning appeals whether under the written representations, informal hearing or public inquiry procedures and you will support the Development Manager in the allocation and issuing of decisions on planning related matters.

You will be in regular contact with applicants, agents, members of the public and elected members.  Great communication skills and an ability to engage with a range of stakeholders is therefore essential along with a commitment to delivering an outstanding service to all our customers.

This is a great opportunity for an experienced planning professional to grow your CV and cement your planning experience in a supportive and ambitious shared service. 

About you 

 For the role of Principal Planning Officer, you will need:

• To be natural project manager and ideally have experience of dealing with major category planning applications, complex appeals and have a strong track record of negotiating S106 legal agreements and securing high quality design. 
• Full Royal Town Planning Institute (MRTPI) membership, or willingness to work towards full membership, and be able to demonstrate a commitment to continual professional development (CPD).
• Comprehensive and up to date knowledge of planning law and practice
• To be educated to degree level with a recognised qualification in town planning. 
• Good computer literacy and be able to use MS Office, property databases and GIS systems.
• The ability to work under pressure and manage a caseload of complex/contentious planning applications is essential. 
• Excellent presentation and communication skills
• An appreciation of good design
• Negotiate planning obligations within tight deadlines, demonstrate outstanding customer care, strong computer skills and a commitment to supporting performance improvement are all key personal attributes that you will need to demonstrate. 

You will be required to attend regular Planning Committee meetings and undertake site visits so flexibility, a full driving licence and use of a car is essential. You will also need to be able to travel throughout the districts.

What we can offer 

Our staff are at the heart of what we do, and as a result we are always looking to recruit, develop and retain the very best talent we can find.  So, as well as a rewarding career, we offer a range of attractive benefits, such as:

• Agile Working (40% minimum office based)
• Excellent pension scheme with employer contributions
• Generous annual leave entitlement with options to purchase additional annual leave
• Committed training programme and development opportunities
• Payment of one professional membership subscription e.g. RTPI. 
• Onsite nursery with 20% staff discount
• Discounted Gym and swim membership
• Health and Wellbeing support and a Free Employee Assistance scheme including access to counselling services
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Employee Discounts with a range of companies including EE and the Kaarp discount scheme.

The roles are required to be based at either Civic Centre, Pershore or Council House, Malvern. If you have a preference in your base location, please detail this in your application to be considered (please note, whilst we will try our best to accommodate this, it will be decided upon service requirement).   

To discuss the post or for further information, please call Ciaran Power, Head of Development Management on 01684 862317 or Ian Macleod, Director of Planning and Infrastructure on 07823 535035. 

Closing date: Sunday 28 April 2024

Interview date to be arranged. 

 Please note if we experience a high intake of applications, we may close the role and interview for the position sooner than advertised.