Senior Executive Planner - Louth County Council

Louth County Council; Dundalk; On-site; EUR 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Louth County Council is seeking a Senior Executive Planner to lead the Planning Department. This role focuses on coordinating day-to-day operations, guiding policy delivery, and overseeing strategic projects across forward planning, development management, and enforcement.

The successful candidate will engage with senior management to drive climate action, economic development, and infrastructure initiatives while ensuring compliance with national planning policy.

Qualifications

• Experience of leading a planning team.
• Knowledge of land use planning and policy development.
• Strong communication and coordination skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the Planning Department team.
• Ensure staff are informed of legislative and policy changes.
• Prepare land use plans and associated reports for the Council.

Job description

Senior Executive Planner - Louth County Council

The closing date for this vacancy is 12/11/2026, 15:00

Please note that the language you choose to begin your application with cannot be changed once the "Apply" button is selected. If your application form is in English, your communications will be in English.

To submit your application through Irish and receive communications in Irish, please ensure you are on the Irish language version of our website www.publicjobs.ie/ga before you access the vacancy you wish to apply for, and click "Déan iarratas" to apply.

Job summary

This is an excellent opportunity to work in Louth County Council at a time of innovation and change. The role of the Senior Executive Planner is to manage, provide input to, and co-ordinate, under the general direction of the Senior Planner, the day to day operations and outputs of a team within the Planning Department in Louth County Council.

It is a management role with an opportunity to engage with and provide direction on the delivery and implementation of strategic policy across the key service areas of the Planning Department, which include Forward Planning, Development Management, Compliance (Planning Enforcement) and Land Activation.

Due to the multi-faceted nature of the Planning Department the Senior Executive Planner will also provide input to and work closely with the Senior Management Team and colleagues in contributing to and delivering a range of corporate projects and objectives. Such multi-disciplinary projects include Climate Action, Economic Development, Community Development, Infrastructure delivery, Active Travel, and Sustainable Transport projects.

A full Job Summary/Description is available in the Information Booklet.

Main Duties of the Job

Lead and Manage a Team in the Planning Department.

Ensure the Team are informed and kept up to date on legislative and policy changes.

To prepare and implement land use plans and prepare reports on these matters for the Council.

To consider new and emerging national planning policy and development plans being prepared by adjoining local authorities, assess implications for the Council and respond to these proposals as required.

A full list of main duties is available in the Information Booklet.

Information about the organisation

Louth County Council is the authority responsible for local government in Louth. The county of Louth is divided into the three municipal districts of Drogheda, Ardee and Dundalk. There are five electoral areas in Louth: Ardee, Drogheda Rural, Drogheda Urban, Dundalk-Carlingford and Dundalk South. There are 29 elected county councillors and an annual operating budget of €203.7 million in 2026.

The Council provides a diverse range of services across a large geographic area. Key services areas include housing delivery, planning and development, emergency services, infrastructural upgrades and projects (road improvements, public realm), community services and facilities (community/leisure centres, libraries and parks), encouraging economic development through FDI (foreign direct investment), and supporting existing and new business. The successful candidate will work and a focussed agenda which he or she will be required to lead and deliver on, as directed by the Chief Executive.

An opportunity now exists in Louth County Council for the position of Senior Executive Planner.

Salary Scale effective from 1st June 2026:

Hours of attendance will be fixed from time to time but will amount to not less than 35 hours gross per week.

The annual leave allowance for the position of Senior Executive Planner is 30 days.

Selection Process Details

A ranking and or shortlisting exercise may be carried out on the basis of information supplied in your application form. The criteria for ranking and or shortlisting are based on the requirements of the post as outlined in the eligibility criteria and skills, competencies and/or knowledge section of this job specification. Therefore it is very important that you think about your experience in light of those requirements.

Failure to include information regarding these requirements may result in you not being called forward to the next stage of the selection process.

Local authorities are committed equal opportunities employers.

Recruitment for this role is managed by publicjobs.