Senior Planning Officer

Some key information

• Salary £44,060 to £48,431 per annum which includes a recruitment allowance of £2,289 per annum payable for up to three years.
• Reporting to: Team Leader/Principal Planning Officer.
• Permanent position, 37 hours per week, part time hours will be considered.
• Flexible and Hybrid working (1-2 days per week in the office).
• Generous pension scheme and 30 days’ annual leave.
• Extensive CPD and peer support.
• Opportunity to work on a wide range of interesting projects, offering unique opportunities to develop your experience and skills.
  
  

What will I be doing?

You’ll be responsible for assessing and determining a range of minor/major planning applications including change of use, residential and commercial development working pro-actively, negotiating to ensure the highest quality outcome.

Working within one of the small area teams within Somerset, you’ll be supported by other Senior and Principal Officers, and regularly engage with the public and elected members.

There is a significant breadth of work and plenty of interesting projects, which currently include:

• Local Development Orders.
• Development Consent Orders.
• Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.
• Major residential and Commercial developments.
• Our Emerging Local Plan.
  
  

We have a successful history of gaining Levelling up and Homes England funding - which means there will be a range of new things to work on in the coming years as we deliver key community facilities, infrastructure and public realm improvements.

What kind of experience or qualifications do I need?

We are looking for qualified planners with experience of determining and negotiating on complex caseloads within a Local Authority environment. You would need to be (or be eligible to become) a Chartered Planner, if you are not already Chartered, this will be encouraged for your development.

It would be ideal if you had some management experience but if you’re a Planning Officer and feel ready to step up, we’ll support and help development you into a Senior role.

We’re proud to be here for the people of Somerset. And that means everyone in Somerset. An important part of this is ensuring that we are as diverse and inclusive as the people and communities we serve.

We welcome applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences to enrich our team. You can always contact the hiring manager for a chat if there’s anything you want to talk about before you apply.

What's in it for me?

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, working as part of a team who are passionate about the work they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset.

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screenings.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and more
  
  

Anything else I should know?

For an informal chat about the role, contact Zac Elwood, Area Planning Manager at [email protected]

When completing your application/ CV please provide your full employment history (explaining any gaps where relevant). Please start with your current or most recent employment.

If you have everything you need, just hit the apply button. We can’t wait to hear from you.