Principal planning advisor

Principal Planning Advisor

Permanent, Part Time (22.2 hours per week)

£47,827 to £56,268 per annum FTE

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Anywhere worker

Closing Date: 12th March 2025

Please note this is a part-time position working 22.2 hours per week (either 3 set days or flexibly delivered across the week). The pro rata salary range is £28,696.68 to £33,760.80 per annum.

The Infrastructure Delivery Team develops and delivers the capital programme for Essex County Council. The team focus's on developing opportunities for capital investment in order to secure financial returns to support the Council's strategic priorities.

The successful Principal Planning Advisor will support project sponsors, senior officers, project managers and external service providers on planning policies and procedures, so that proposals remain compliant with regulatory requirements and are delivered within budget and agreed timeframes.

With significant Town Planning knowledge including experience of Regulation 3, this role will build working relationships and engage with a range of stakeholders, to mitigate and reduce the incidence of project revision and delay.

Accountabilities

Acts as the planning expert within Infrastructure Delivery and responsible for the provision of strategic and operational planning advice to project teams, colleagues and external customers, outlining Town and Country Planning System implications to the capital programme and other projects.

Develops and delivers procedural guidance for brokering communication between Council project teams, externally appointed advisors and Planning Officers, together with their respective consultees.

Responsible for determining priorities and implications of identified planning constraints for individual projects. Ensuring effective communication to appointed external services providers, relating to realignment of quality, programme and cost targets.

Responsible for providing timely planning advice to enable the production of feasibility studies for the delivery of projects.

Works collaboratively with a broad range of stakeholders and internal and external partners to determine priorities and consequential resourcing of projects.

Delivers appraisals and advice on the content, implications and effectiveness of planning documentation for projects which represent the relevant programme of work.

Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

Educated to degree level or equivalent by experience with qualification in Town Planning.

Evidence of continuing professional development, expert knowledge in relevant professional area, and membership of relevant professional body (e.g RTPI).

Knowledge and experience of planning issues which affect development within the county of Essex.

Experience of Regulation 3 and County Matters applications.

An ability to build strong relationships and partnerships which encourage collaboration and engender delivery.

Please note that the job role requires you to be mobile throughout an operational area. Therefore, the post holder will need to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle, or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means.

To read more about us please visit: People, Policy, Economy and Public Health - Working for Essex

Why Essex? Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England's oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest - Basildon and Harlow - are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read more about us here.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We're committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process.

We're also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

What you should do next

If you are interested in finding out more about this role, please apply via the Working for Essex website.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

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If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

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