Associate Partner - Planning & Development

Berrys; Kettering; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

35 days holiday

Private healthcare

Enhanced pension

Agile working

Benefits package

Job summary

Berrys in Northamptonshire seeks an Associate Partner in Planning & Development to lead the Kettering service line, building client relationships and developing the practice. You will drive strategy, oversee projects, and work across multi-disciplinary teams to deliver complex planning solutions.

This senior role offers a clear path toward Partnership, autonomy, and the chance to expand the firm's market presence while mentoring colleagues and contributing to business growth.

Qualifications

• A strong MRTPI and MRICS background with significant PQE.
• Proven ability to develop and win planning instructions.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams and managing client relationships.
• Commercial awareness and track record in business development.

Responsibilities

• Lead the planning & development service line in Kettering.
• Build and manage a pipeline of landowners, developers, promoters and investors.
• Deliver high-quality planning consultancy across residential, commercial, and mixed-use projects.
• Provide strategic planning advice and lead on applications, appeals and pre-application work.
• Mentor junior team members and contribute to department leadership.

Skills

MRTPI

MRICS

Commercial acumen

Business development

Leadership

Client relationship management

Education

MRTPI qualification

MRICS qualification

Job description

Associate Partner – Planning & Development

About the Company

Berrys is a people-focused property business, built on trusted relationships and a commitment to delivering the best outcomes for our clients. Property is what we do, but our clients and our team are at the heart of everything we achieve. Acting as a trusted advisor, we are ready to support at any stage, bringing together expertise and insight to help navigate challenges and unlock opportunities.

Working across four offices in the Midlands, we offer a wide range of services including planning, architecture, building surveying, valuation and business consultancy, helping our clients make the very most of their land and property assets.

Here, you'll be part of a collaborative, multi-disciplinary team of engineers, surveyors, archaeologists, planners and architects. We're large enough to offer a diverse range of projects and career opportunities, yet small enough to give you genuine autonomy, visibility and influence.

This is a senior opportunity for an experienced planning professional who is ready to take the next step in their career.

As Associate Partner within the Planning and Development team in Kettering, you will play a central role in growing Berrys' planning capability across Northamptonshire. You will combine high-quality planning consultancy with client development, commercial responsibility and increasing leadership of the service line.

The role is ideally suited to someone already operating at Associate Director, Director or equivalent level who wants greater autonomy, a stronger commercial platform and a genuine route towards Partnership.

Berrys already has the client relationships, regional reputation and multi-disciplinary expertise in place. The opportunity is to use that platform to develop your own market presence, originate work and progressively take greater ownership of the planning and development offering.

Key Responsibilities

• Play a leading role in developing the planning and development service line in Kettering
• Build and manage a strong pipeline of instructions from landowners, developers, promoters and investors across Northamptonshire
• Deliver high-quality planning consultancy across residential, commercial, mixed-use, rural and strategic land projects
• Provide strategic planning advice and lead on pre-application engagement, planning applications, appeals and post-planning work
• Manage key client relationships and develop trusted, long-term advisory relationships
• Identify and convert new business opportunities, including cross-referrals from existing Berrys clients
• Work closely with colleagues across architecture, building surveying, valuation, land agency and land promotion to provide a joined-up development offering
• Build your profile within the Northamptonshire property and development market through networking, relationship development and wider business development activity
• Support the development and mentoring of more junior members of the planning team
• Contribute to the commercial performance and strategic direction of the Kettering office
• Take increasing responsibility for the planning and development service as your role develops
• Work towards a clear progression route into Partnership based on performance, commercial contribution and leadership

Candidate Profile

We are looking for an experienced, commercially minded planning professional who is ready for greater responsibility and long-term progression.

You are likely to offer:

• MRTPI and/or MRICS qualification with significant post-qualification experience
• A strong background within planning, development consultancy or a closely related multi-disciplinary environment
• Broad planning knowledge across a range of sectors and development types
• Experience managing planning applications and providing strategic advice to clients
• Strong client relationship skills and the credibility to operate with landowners, developers, agents, local authorities and professional teams
• Commercial awareness and an understanding of how planning consultancy work is generated, developed and converted
• Evidence of business development activity, whether through winning your own instructions, developing existing client relationships or contributing to wider business generation
• An appetite to become increasingly involved in business development and commercial leadership
• The ambition to build your own market profile and take greater ownership of a service line
• Experience of, or an appetite to embrace, a multi-disciplinary practice environment
• The ability to mentor and support less experienced colleagues
• A genuine desire to progress towards Partnership
• A full, clean UK driving licence

You do not necessarily need to arrive with an established team or a substantial personal client book. More important is that you can demonstrate strong technical credibility, commercial instincts and the ambition to develop into a senior leader within the business.

Why Berrys?

• A genuine senior appointment with the autonomy to influence how the planning and development offering grows
• A clear and credible route from Associate Partner into Partnership
• Immediate access to an established client base and strong regional reputation
• Significant opportunities to generate work through existing Berrys relationships and cross-referrals
• The ability to work alongside specialists across planning, architecture, valuation, surveying and land promotion
• The opportunity to develop your own market profile without having to build a platform from scratch
• A collaborative and relatively flat structure where senior people have genuine influence
• Exposure to a broad range of development, property and strategic land work
• 35 days holiday, private healthcare, enhanced pension, agile working and a comprehensive benefits package