Senior Planning Officer – Maldon District Council

Essex County Council; Maldon; On-site; GBP 51,000 - 73,000; Full time

Job summary

Maldon District Council is seeking a Senior Planning Officer for a temporary three-month assignment located in Maldon. The role requires two days per week on-site attendance and offers a £45.00 per hour umbrella rate.

The post involves delivering high-quality planning advice, managing complex applications, and supporting junior staff while coordinating with Essex County Council and local partners. The position closes 1 October 2026.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to give sound advice on a broad range of planning cases and issues.
• Experience of Town Planning applications across varying complexity and contentiousness.
• Ability to enforce legislation where a breach of planning control is suspected.

Responsibilities

• Deliver customer-focused specialist advice and services in Development Management, staying up to date with current legislation and policy.
• Manage complex and/or contentious planning applications, processes and compliance, acting as single point of contact for customers and attending appeals hearings as needed.
• Support, guide and advise Graduate Planners and Technical Support colleagues as necessary.
• Collaborate with colleagues across the organisation, Members, Essex County Council and Local Councils and other stakeholders.
• Update all relevant information systems accurately and maintain master customer records in line with Data Protection principles.
• Prepare and present reports to Area Planning Committees and other meetings, and present evidence at planning appeal hearings or inquiries.
• Maintain personal and professional development, keeping up to date with laws, policies, and procedures.

Skills

Sound advice

Planning applications

Enforce legislation

Job description

About The Role

Senior Planning Officer - Maldon District Council

Maldon District Council

Temporary, Full Time

£45.00 ph umbrella

Location: Maldon

Closing Date: 1st October 2026

Essex County Council (ECC) are delighted to be supporting Maldon District Council to recruit a Senior Planning Officer on a three-month temporary basis. Please note that this role requires 2 days a week site attendance.

Key Accountabilities

To contribute towards the delivery a high quality, customer focused Planning & Implementation department with high standards of advice and support, resolving cases of varying complexities in Development Management. Ensure compliance with statutory regulations, legislation, professional codes of practice and adherence to Council policy. Deliver projects, interventions and initiatives and develop policies in line with corporate and business plans. To deal effectively and efficiently with general enquiries, pre-applications, planning applications and planning appeals ensuring cases are managed and completed at the appropriate level of skillset. Ensure and develop appropriate levels of quality and specialist knowledge with other Planning & Implementation colleagues.

• Deliver customer-focused specialist advice and services in Development Management, keeping up to date with current and emerging legislation, best practice and policy to ensure continuous development and improvement in services.
• Manage complex and/or contentious planning applications, processes and compliance, regulations and legislation, acting as the single point of contact for customers on those cases and attending appeals hearings and public inquiries as appropriate.
• Support, guide and advise Graduate Planners and Technical Support colleagues, as necessary.
• Working collaboratively with colleagues across the organisation, as well as Members and managing key relationships with partners including Essex County Council and Local Councils and other stakeholders
• Access and accurately update all relevant information systems, both customer and back office ensuring that the master customer record is updated and maintained through verification and validation, and in accordance with Data Protection principles
• Prepare and present reports to Area Planning Committees, District Planning Committee, and other internal and external meetings and present evidence/stand as witness at planning appeal hearings and public inquiries.
• Ensure own personal and professional development is maintained including keeping up to date with relevant law, policies, working practices and procedures.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Proven ability to give sound advice and guidance on a broad range of planning cases, topics or issues
• Experience of Town Planning applications within a broad range of complexity and contentiousness, with some guidance and support of more experienced staff, occasionally referring to Principals, Team Manager and/or Head of Service for work outside previous experience
• Ability to enforce legislation where a breach of planning control is suspected

To read more about us please visit: https://www.maldon.gov.uk/site/

Maldon District Council is an equal opportunities employer and therefore all staff are expected to comply with our equality policies and help create a work environment in which everyone is treated with dignity, respect, courtesy and fairness. You are also expected to fully comply with health and safety policies and procedures in force to help maintain and develop a safe working environment. In pursuing a practice of continuous improvement and seeking to obtain best value in all aspects of the service, staff will be expected to assist in other such duties as may be allocated for the benefit of the organisation and their own personal development. Staff will be expected to assist if the council has to deal with the results of a civil emergency.

Please note that Maldon District Council has determined that the off-payroll working rules will apply to this assignment and where a worker elects to provide their services through an intermediary (such as a personal services company) then income tax and primary national insurance contributions will be deducted at source from any payments made to the intermediary.