Senior Planning Enforcement Officer

Wychavon and Malvern Hills District Council; Malvern; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 41,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in Malvern is seeking a Senior Planning Enforcement Officer to join their Planning Services team. This pivotal role involves managing complex enforcement cases, ensuring compliance with planning regulations, and engaging with residents and developers. The ideal candidate will have significant planning enforcement experience and strong communication skills. The position offers a permanent contract for £37,280 to £40,777 per annum with attractive benefits including a pension scheme, generous annual leave, and training opportunities.

Benefits

Excellent pension scheme with employer contributions

Generous annual leave entitlement

Committed training programme

Discounted Gym and swim membership

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in either Development Management, planning or enforcement practice.
• Significant planning enforcement experience handling complex cases.
• Strong knowledge of current planning enforcement legislation.

Responsibilities

• Manage a variety of complex enforcement cases in planning.
• Engage directly with residents, developers, and partner agencies.
• Prepare cases for formal enforcement action.

Skills

Development Management

Planning Enforcement

Excellent communication

Negotiation skills

Good IT skills

Job description

Senior Planning Enforcement Officer
37 hours per week, permanent contract
£37,280 - £40,777 per annum

We are seeking an experienced and proactive Senior Planning Enforcement Officer to join our Planning Services team. This is a pivotal role in protecting the quality, character, and sustainability of our local environment by ensuring compliance with planning regulations and taking decisive action against breaches.

As a senior member of the team, you will manage a variety of complex enforcement cases, be customer focused and engage directly with residents, developers, elected members, and partner agencies and provide high quality planning advice. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who thrives on investigative work, problem-solving, and delivering positive outcomes for the community.

You will prepare cases where formal enforcement action is to be taken (in consultation with the Council’s legal advisors) where breaches of planning control cannot otherwise be resolved.

Great communication skills and an ability to engage with a range of stakeholders is therefore essential along with a commitment to delivering an outstanding service to all our customers.

About you

We’re looking for someone who brings both technical expertise and confident decision-making. The ideal candidate will have:

• Demonstrable experience in either Development Management, planning or enforcement practice
• Significant planning enforcement experience of handling complex planning enforcement cases and within tight deadlines
• Relevant experience of representing a Local Planning Authority at appeal hearings and/or Public Inquiries
• Strong knowledge of current planning enforcement legislation, enforcement powers and investigative procedures
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and conflict-resolution skills
• Good IT skills
• Good oral and written communication
• A full driving licence and access to a vehicle for site visits (or ability to meet travel requirements)

What we can offer

Our staff are at the heart of what we do and are key to ensuring we deliver Our Council Plan (attached) to make a positive difference to our communities, our economy and our environment. We are always looking to recruit, develop and retain the very best talent we can find. So, as well as a rewarding career, we offer a range of attractive benefits, such as:

• Excellent pension scheme with employer contributions
• Generous annual leave entitlement with options to purchase additional annual leave
• Committed training programme and development opportunities
• Onsite nursery at Pershore Office with 20% staff discount
• Discounted Gym and swim membership
• Health and Wellbeing support and a Free Employee Assistance scheme including access to counselling services
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Employee Discounts with a range of companies including EE and the Kaarp discount scheme

We are an employer that values face to face communication, collaboration and connection, therefore all our roles have an office-based requirement with some agile working as part of the role.

The role is required to be based at either the Civic Centre, Pershore or the Council House, Malvern. If you have a preference in your base location, please detail this in your application to be considered (please note, whilst we will try our best to accommodate this, it will be decided upon service requirement).

Please note: Malvern Hills District Council does not currently offer sponsorship for candidates without the Right to Work in the UK.

To discuss the post or for further information, please call Paul Clements, Planning Enforcement Manager, on 01684 862461 or Seb Ash on 01684 862298.

Closing date: Sunday 1 February 2026

Interview date: Friday 13 February 2026

Please note if we experience a high intake of applications, we may close the role and interview for the position sooner than advertised.