Senior Planner/Principal Planner

Penguin Recruitment Ltd; Tetford; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the Utilities and Infrastructure sector is seeking a Principal Planner to join their growing Environmental and Planning Team. This role focuses on delivering planning services, developing relationships with stakeholders, and supporting junior staff development. The company promotes a positive work environment with various employee benefits, including a flexible working scheme and health memberships.

Benefits

Annual bonus scheme

25 days annual leave plus 1 day for your birthday

Vitality Health Membership

Flexible working

Pension Scheme

Life insurance

Free on-site parking

Cycle to work scheme

26 Weeks paid Maternity Leave

2 Weeks paid Paternity Leave

Qualifications

• Experience as a Principal Planner with MRTPI qualification.
• Sound analytical, presentation, and communication skills.
• Commercial awareness and understanding of client needs.

Responsibilities

• Lead/manage a team to deliver environmental planning services.
• Develop strong working relationships with stakeholders.
• Monitor and support junior members of staff.

Skills

Analytical skills

Presentation skills

Written communication

Verbal communication

Commercial awareness

Negotiation skills

Self-motivation

Organisational skills

Education

Relevant planning degree

Chartered membership of MRTPI

Tools

GIS systems

Job description

Senior Planner/Principal Planner

Location: Thetford

Penguin Recruitment are delighted to be supporting an exciting client in the Utilities and Infrastructure industry, who are committed to bringing the UK and Ireland closer to Net Zero every day. Their land, environmental and geospatial experts work together to unlock the consents needed by our clients to deliver key projects. Their services include land access and assembly, agricultural liaison, planning, environmental impact assessments and geospatial mapping.

The Environmental and Planning Team is looking for an experienced Principal Planner to bolster the existing planning expertise in this busy and exciting part of the business which is continuing to grow.

Candidates are required to:

• Have a relevant planning degree and have achieved chartered membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute (MRTPI).
• Have sound analytical and presentation skills coupled with great written and verbal communication skills; ideally you will be able to write and prepare fee proposals for the work you undertake and advise others when inputting into larger multi-disciplinary projects
• Be commercially aware, enabling you to understand client needs and requirements when undertaking negotiations with stakeholders
• Be an excellent communicator with the willingness to learn and develop
• Have good knowledge of GIS systems and an understanding of environmental technical disciplines
• Be self-motivated and organised
• Have a full UK driving licence

What does the role involve?

• Lead or manage a small team to deliver a range of environmental planning services with a focus on technical Planning specialisms for projects and sites with varying levels of environmental sensitivities, including feasibility assessments, screening, scoping, planning and coordinating projects in line with relevant Environmental and Planning related guidance, legislation and policy as applied in UK, providing advice and preparing and delivering a range of planning and technical related reports; including planning applications.
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with a range of internal and external project stakeholders including client teams, technical specialists and Local Authority planning officers whilst also drawing on the expertise of specialist colleagues, attending relevant meetings and site visits.
• Reporting directly to the client, take ownership of own/team performance in meeting deadlines and objectives and use a proactive approach and own high level initiative to drive progress and continuously improve delivery.
• Offer the wider Environmental and Planning team assistance on other projects and actively support team and wider business development, using own experienced skills to provide guidance on complex cases, seek efficiency gains and identify areas of new work and ways to cross-sell wider company services.
• Maintain own knowledge and skills via company and wider CPD and, if working towards professional membership or qualification (e.g. RTPI), take responsibility for own learning and progress, scheduling progress review meetings and maintaining an up to date record of activities.
• Monitor, support and coordinate the work and development of more junior members of staff and, if applicable, provide constructive line management to own line reports, engaging in regular progress review and feedback meetings, delegating tasks effectively and showing genuine interest in their welfare and development whilst also being able to hold difficult conversations.
• Participate in and actively support company groups, initiatives, events and socials, promoting DM’s values and always engendering a positive attitude within the workplace.
• Carry out work in compliance with relevant legal, regulatory, contractual and organisational requirements and policies.

What does the role offer?

• Annual bonus scheme
• 25 days annual leave plus 1 day to celebrate your birthday
• Vitality Health Membership (including Private healthcare, subsidised gym membership and other discounts)
• Flexible working through our ‘Flexible Advantage’ supporting working families & your work/life balance
• Pension Scheme via The Peoples Pension
• Life insurance (4x Base Salary)
• Free on-site parking in non-city centre offices
• Cycle to work scheme
• 26 Weeks paid Maternity Leave
• 2 Weeks paid Paternity Leave
• BHN Extras – provides discounted gift cards for hundreds of popular retailers
• Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Scheme (provided by Octopus Electric

If this Principal Planner role is of interest, please contact Joel Bland on [e-mail] or call 01792 365 006 to discuss further!