Senior Planning Lawyer

Womble Bond Dickinson; Leeds; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading legal firm is seeking a skilled planning lawyer to join its renowned Real Estate Planning team in Leeds. The role involves handling complex mandates across various sectors, providing strategic advice, and managing junior staff. With a commitment to growth and inclusion, this position offers a unique opportunity to work on high-profile projects within an open and supportive culture.

Benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Health and wellbeing initiatives

Commitment to diversity and inclusion

Qualifications

• 5+ years post-admission experience within a planning team.
• Knowledge of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
• Experience managing junior team members.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic planning advice and review environmental statements.
• Handle inquiries, examinations, and judicial reviews related to planning.
• Manage large-scale development consent orders and compulsory acquisitions.

Skills

Planning

Environmental Impact Assessments

Project Management

Supervision

Education

Legal Qualification

Job description

Our Real Estate Planning team is widely regarded as one of the best in the UK, advising on some of the most iconic developments. Whether it is offshore wind farms located 40 kilometres out to sea, major residential schemes including garden villages and regeneration, new rail and road projects, airport developments, or waste and mineral projects; we are instructed on all of them.

What will you be doing?

Our national team offers clients a full spectrum of expertise and handles a range of complex mandates in the residential, commercial, infrastructure, environmental, and waste sectors, as well as contentious work in Judicial Review and Lands Chamber proceedings.

What does the ideal candidate look like?

Due to growth in our work, as well as the variety and complexity of the projects we are working on, this role requires strong experience in planning, infrastructure, and environmental work, as well as a genuine enthusiasm to develop our great team.

This role will see you working on large-scale development consent orders, compulsory acquisitions, providing strategic planning advice, reviewing environmental statements, assisting with project management, and supporting our national real estate practice. The role offers an unrivalled opportunity to work on a wide range of premium planning projects outside of the City.

We have seen a significant increase in work for major infrastructure providers and would like to hear from you if you have both the passion and expertise in this area. There are great opportunities to work with talented lawyers at the top of their field across our offices.

To be successful in this role, you'll need at a minimum:

• A legal qualification with 5+ years post-admission experience gained within a planning team.
• Knowledge of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and some knowledge of the Planning Act 2008 is desirable.
• Experience of planning agreements.
• Experience of highway agreements.
• Ability to handle inquiries, examinations, and judicial reviews relating to planning matters.
• Experience managing and supervising junior team members.
• Knowledge and experience of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA).

What makes it great to work here?

We continually work hard to create an open culture that sets us apart from other firms. Our culture emphasizes a human feel, showing that we're more than just suits!

As signatories to the Mindful Business Charter, we prioritize the health and happiness of our people, both in and out of work. We have resources and initiatives to support health and wellbeing, and we are very open to flexible working arrangements, whether full-time or part-time.

Through our DEI initiatives, we foster an environment where differences are valued. Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Group, led by our Board Sponsor, works with colleague networks for race, ethnicity, cultural heritage, LGBTQ+, disabilities, families, and women's career development. We are continuously expanding our networks to better support everyone. Find out more about ED&I at WBD here. We encourage applicants from all social backgrounds, ethnicities, disabilities, gender identities, and sexual orientations.

We are committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you have a disability or long-term condition and need adjustments during recruitment, please contact the recruiter. Please also inform us if you need the job advert or application in a different format.

We offer interviews to candidates with disabilities or long-term conditions who meet the minimum criteria. You can opt into this scheme within the application form. Your response is used solely for this purpose and is only visible to the recruitment team.

Our in-house recruitment team aims to fill roles directly. If you're an agency, please click here for ways to work with us.