Planning Operations Lead (Business Manager)

North Northamptonshire Council; Thrapston; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension scheme with life cover

Annual leave 28–33 days + bank holiday

Hybrid and flexible working

Employee wellbeing support

Job summary

North Northamptonshire Council is seeking an Operations Lead to guide a technical support team and oversee the administrative processing and validation of planning applications. The role involves budgeting, performance monitoring, and ensuring timely data returns across government reporting requirements.

You will engage with internal and external stakeholders, support managers across planning functions, and drive transformation including new software rollouts and improved processes.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent.
• Experience at a management level in a diverse service environment.
• Strong understanding of administrative functions in the English Planning System.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead a technical support team delivering administrative processing and validation of planning applications.
• Oversee invoicing and transactions.
• Monitor budgets and projections.
• Oversee monitoring of team performance and data returns.
• Coordinate IT Superusers for planning systems, providing training and support.
• Handle FoI, EIR and SAR requests and process data under GDPR.

Skills

Management experience

Customer service

Budget monitoring

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Degree level or equivalent

Tools

Planning IT systems

Job description

About The Role

North Northamptonshire Council is a product of local government reorganisation which took place across Northamptonshire in 2021. We have brought together the four former district and borough and county Local Planning Authority planning functions and working through a transformation programme to create a single high-performing planning service for North Northamptonshire.

About The Role

North Northamptonshire Council is a product of local government reorganisation which took place across Northamptonshire in 2021. We have brought together the four former district and borough and county Local Planning Authority planning functions and working through a transformation programme to create a single high-performing planning service for North Northamptonshire.

North Northamptonshire is a high-growth area offering an exciting opportunity for professional development. We are working on preparing a new Local Plan to provide a spatial vision for the whole area. We are delivering sustainable urban extensions in differing phases of development, a wealth of large commercial and industrial development proposals and everything in between.

This role will work across the Planning teams and support managers in all these areas to ensure the successful delivery of a planning service.

What will you be doing?

In this dynamic role you will play a vital part in supporting the effective delivery of North Northamptonshire’s planning functions. You will be at the forefront of providing customer service, engaging with a range of internal and external stakeholders, including members of the public, applicants and councillors, ensuring every interaction reflects our commitment to the future of our area.

You Will

• Develop and lead a technical support team delivering the administrative processing and validation of planning applications
• Oversee and facilitate all invoicing and transactions.
• Budget monitoring and calculation of projections
• Oversee and facilitating the monitoring of team performance, including performance indicators and project milestones. Ensuring the timely completion and submission of both internal and Government performance data returns.
• Coordinate all IT Superusers for planning systems, providing training and support to the users of the systems.
• Handle FoI, EIR and SAR requests and process data in accordance with GDPR.

You will be joining us at an exciting time as we implement our new team structure, come together in new headquarter offices, and roll-out new planning software and ways of working. Working as Operations Lead, you will be at the at the forefront of supporting initiatives and be part of our continuing transformation and improvement journey, influencing the evolution of our

About You

You will be educated to degree level or equivalent experience to demonstrate the same level of key abilities.

You will have relevant experience at a management level in an appropriate, related work area, reflecting a corporate and strategic approach in a diverse service environment.

You will have a strong understanding of the common administrative functions required to support the processing of an application through the English Planning System.

You will have experience of managing a diverse workforce, with demonstrable ability to motivate and inspire others to achieve high performance outcomes and positive working relationships and an open and flexible management style.

Our benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!

Why choose us?

We Offer a Vibrant Working Environment With

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

About Us

Our Values and Behaviours

Our Values Define Who We Are And How We Operate, By Forming The Foundation For How We Interact With Our Customers, Colleagues And Provide Our Services. They Are Also At The Forefront Of Our Decision Making And Delivery And Are

Customer-focused

Respectful

Efficient

Supportive

Trustworthy

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

Disability Confident Employer

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.

Our Employment and Disability Service provides bespoke support to individuals facing barriers to employment, helping them work towards their goals to start, stay and succeed in employment.

Armed Forces Community

The council obtained the Gold status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS).

Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)

Attached documents

• Operations Lead (Business Manager).pdf