Planning Officer

Venesky Brown; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 29,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

A public sector organisation in West Lothian seeks a Planning Improvement Officer until March 2026, focusing on enhancing planning authorities' capacity regarding various planning issues. The position involves implementing programs, supporting stakeholder engagement, and contributing to continuous improvement in planning practices. This hybrid role offers a competitive salary and the opportunity to make a significant impact on local planning.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level in town planning or relevant subject.
• Ability to develop strong working relationships with stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communications skills.

Responsibilities

• Implement learning programme for planning authorities.
• Provide administrative support for programme management.
• Support communication and engagement with stakeholders.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Organisational skills

Data analysis

Collaborative working

Education

Degree in town planning or relevant subject

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Venesky-Brown’s client, a public sector organisation in West Lothian, is currently looking to recruit a Planning Improvement Officer until the 31st of March 2026 with potential to extend on a salary of £29,823 - £31,815/annum. This role will be a hybrid of working at home and in the office.

Responsibilities:

- Support in implementing a learning programme and associated resources and events to support planning authorities to develop their skills, build their capacity and improve their understanding of identified planning issues such as energy (hydrogen, onshore wind and battery energy storage) and housing.

- Support the organisation’s work to support planning authorities and organisations they work with, to share and learn from good practice, knowledge and experiences.

- Provide administrative support to contribute to the effective maintenance of programme and project management.

- Support the Practice and Capacity Lead to develop and implement continuous improvement, delivery and updating of the website, platforms used to support networking and knowledge exchange and social media.

- Support the Practice and Capacity lead to implement ways of identifying and disseminating good practice and learning emanating from the Planning Improvement Framework to support organisations to apply it to achieve transformational change.

- Devise and support the implementation of change management initiatives to maximise efficiencies in the delivery of authorities’ functions.

- Support communications relating to the Planning Hub to ensure that its ambitions and work are understood across the planning sector through a range of channels including the website, Knowledge Hub, social media and newsletters.

- Support engagement with key stakeholders to ensure that they are informed on the Planning Hub and the learning programme and contribute to its delivery and development.

- Support reporting to share the work and impact of the learning workstream with the wider team.

- Deliver the key tasks and accountabilities in a way that reflects Improvement Service values, aims and objectives.

- Actively participate in the Planning and Place Based Approaches Cluster meetings and support with any communications or tasks stemming from this group.

- Undertake other specified duties and responsibilities from time to time as required.

Essential Skills:

- Educated to degree level in town planning/relevant subject, studying for a post graduate qualification in town planning/ relevant subject or equivalent relevant experience

- Ability to quickly develop strong working relationships with key stakeholders

- Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communications skills

- Good collaborative working skills

- Good organisational skills and experience of project support, with the ability to multi-task and work to deadlines

- Ability to gather and analyse data

- Proficiency in Microsoft Office

- Knowledge of how the public sector operates and how different departments and external organisations work together

- Supporting projects

Desirable Skills:

- Membership of Royal Town Planning Institute or other built environment accreditation

- The ability to communicate complex ideas clearly in order to influence change and support improvements

- Knowledge and understanding of project management skills

- Knowledge and understanding of place-based approaches

- Knowledge of the statutory planning system in Scotland

- Experience of building networks and working with stakeholders across a range of organisations to influence delivery

- Experience of undertaking analysis and use of evidence to help develop policy

- Managing and organising events and meetings

- Developing effective ways of analysing and communicating evidence

- Website maintenance

- Full driving licence

If you would like to hear more about this opportunity please get in touch.