Senior Planning Manager

tdm recruitment; Wakefield; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

tdm recruitment is seeking a Senior Planning Manager in Wakefield to lead planning efforts for a major housebuilder. You will be responsible for driving planning strategy across immediate and strategic land, managing a team of planners, and making key decisions at the board level.

Candidates should have substantial experience in residential planning, strong negotiation skills, and familiarity with client-side practices. This role involves engagement with local authorities and oversight of planning applications.

Qualifications

• Substantial planning experience gained on the developer or housebuilder side.
• Strong track record in residential planning including outline and detailed applications.
• Experience working across both immediate and strategic land.

Responsibilities

• Lead all planning activity across the Yorkshire region.
• Manage and develop a team of two town planners.
• Oversee the preparation, submission, and negotiation of planning applications.

Skills

Substantial planning experience

Strong track record in residential planning

Strong negotiation skills

Commercially minded

Job description

A well-established Yorkshire division of a major housebuilder is looking for a Senior Planning Manager to lead its planning function. Reporting directly to the Land Director, this is the senior planning hire in the region — responsible for driving planning strategy across a live pipeline of immediate and strategic land, managing a small team of planners, and playing a visible role at board level.

THE ROLE — RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead all planning activity across the Yorkshire region — immediate consents, outline applications, and a long-term strategic land portfolio
• Manage and develop a team of two town planners, setting workload priorities and quality standards
• Oversee the preparation, submission, and negotiation of planning applications, S106 agreements, and pre-application discussions
• Contribute to land acquisition decisions — appraising planning risk, identifying allocation opportunities, and supporting the Land Director in site selection
• Engage directly with local planning authorities, consultants, and statutory bodies to progress consents
• Monitor and influence emerging Local Plans, SPDs, and planning policy changes relevant to the region's land strategy
• Present planning appraisals and updates to the regional board — owning the narrative on planning risk and programme
• Work closely with the technical, land, and commercial teams to align planning programme with build and sales phasing
• Support due diligence on potential acquisitions, including assessment of planning history, constraints, and deliverability

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Substantial planning experience gained on the developer or housebuilder side — candidates from consultancy will not be considered unless they have significant client-side or in-house experience
• Strong track record in residential planning, ideally including both outline and detailed applications across mixed site types
• Experience working across both immediate and strategic land — understanding the full pipeline lifecycle
• Used to presenting to board or senior leadership — comfortable owning the planning narrative in a business context, not just a technical one
• Proven ability to manage and mentor junior planners
• Strong negotiation skills — experienced in handling LPA relationships, S106 heads of terms, and appeal management
• Commercially minded — able to translate planning risk into business language and contribute meaningfully to land appraisals

Development Manager profile also considered: Candidates with a Development Manager background will be considered where they can demonstrate deep, extensive planning expertise gained across the planning process — not project delivery. The emphasis must be on planning knowledge and strategy, not programme management or build-out.