Senior Compliance Officer (Planning Enforcement)

Role: Senior Compliance Officer (Planning Enforcement)Location: South Ribble and Chorley Borough Council Contract: Full time (36.25 hours per week) / Permanent

Salary: £38,626 - £42,708 plus 6% car allowance

Closing Date: 7 July 2025

Are you an experienced Planning Enforcement Officer? If so, we are seeking to strengthen our planning enforcement services – are you the person to help us achieve this?

We are looking for two skilled and dedicated Planning Enforcement specialists to join our shared Compliance Team across two councils, to deliver our services, continue our journey of improvement, and put our customers and community at the heart of what we do.

There are two roles available – one based primarily in Chorley, and one based primarily in South Ribble.  However, you will be expected to cover cases and the 2 Compliance Officers across both Boroughs as required.

What you’ll be getting up to

• Undertaking site visits across the Boroughs to investigate and document potential breaches of planning.
• Investigating the most complex breaches of planning control through to resolution, including formal enforcement actions and court action.
• Providing day-to-day guidance and mentoring to the Compliance Officer (Enforcement)
• Provide advice and guidance to Members, the public, developers, and other stakeholders on planning enforcement matters and expediency tests.
• Making the professional development of the planning enforcement team one of your key priorities, and you will assist in delivering a program of continuing learning
• Working with the Compliance Team Leader to assist them in delivering a multi-team collaborative approach to compliance monitoring and enforcement.
• Being pro-active as well as re-active regarding potential breaches of planning.

Who we’re looking for

The ideal candidate will have 

• a strong working knowledge of planning enforcement procedures and laws
• a strong ability to understand and interpret various different types of legislation and regulations.
• excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• a proven ability to adapt to change and embrace improvements and changes to work practices and processes
• a determination to seek out improvements and implement positive changes
• an aptitude for gathering information from various sources, interpreting technical documents, problem solving, diplomacy, and making clear, logical, and well-founded decisions.
• great communication skills – both written and verbal – to explain your decisions in easily understood language to different audiences.
• the ability to manage and prioritise a mixed caseload at various stages of the process
• the ability to deliver innovative solutions and problem solve, working co-operatively with others to achieve results.
• Membership of the National Association of Planning Enforcement (NAPE) (Desirable)

Other requirements

• This role requires travel around our boroughs. You should have a valid driving licence or the equivalent mobility.

For an informal discussion please contact the Recruitment Team through the Chorley Council and South Ribble Borough Council careers website.

Our Benefits

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays (and Christmas shutdown)
• Hybrid/agile working from day one
• Local Government pension
• Healthcare Cash Plan for cash back on health treatments 
• Cashback website access for savings on brands you love
• Volunteering days
• Free parking
• Car Allowance

Many of our colleagues work flexibly for us. We’re always open to conversations around different working arrangements. If you’re interested in part-time, compressed hours or any other working arrangement, please get in touch with us through the “Contact Us” form on our careers website.

At South Ribble and Chorley Council, our mission is to provide a first-class service and improve the quality of life for our communities. Our staff are our greatest resource in helping us achieve this. They’re at the heart of everything we do and are crucial to the delivery of excellent services. 

Working Together

We share a number of our services between South RIbble and Chorley Council. This allows for improved resilience across both councils and provides numerous benefits to our operations. Whilst some staff and back-end processes are shared between the Councils, both Councils still retain sovereignty and have separate strategies and corporate plans.

Additional information

Applicants are advised to apply early. We reserve the right to close a vacancy prior to the closing date. 

Equal Opportunities

We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. We are committed to the elimination of unfair and unlawful discrimination and prejudice in all our policies, procedures, and practices.

We’re committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and accessible to everyone. This includes making adjustments for disabled people, neurodiverse people or people with long-term health conditions. If you would like us to do anything differently during the recruitment process, please contact us via the "Contact Us" page on our website.

• If you are disabled or your last employer was the armed forces, and you meet all the essential criteria of a post, you will be guaranteed an interview.