Main Responsibilities The Senior Town Planner role within Estates oversees and manages a wide range of programmes and services alongside the provision of subject matter expert advice and communications with all key stakeholders. Key activities for the role are: Provision of strategic advice and technical inputs to major projects and programmes, including site disposals, operational development, and land use planning strategies. Advising MOD on the potential planning impacts of external third-party proposals. Commissioning, managing, and assessing the quality of technical planning proposals and outputs from external consultants. The management, development, and submission of planning applications on behalf of MOD. Representation of MOD interests in external town planning processes including Local Plans and appeals; assurance and negotiations in relation to developer contributions and legal agreements. Influencing and developing town planning policy. Subject Matter Expert support and input to elements of: Freedom of Information Requests, Environmental Information Requests, Media and Comms briefs, Lines to Take and Ministerial Briefs concerning Town Planning and related matters. Liaison with MOD client organisations and the management of external stakeholder relations including regulatory authorities and Other Government Departments (OGDs). Location The role can be based at any of the stated locations. The successful candidate will be expected to regularly attend their chosen office for face-to-face meetings and collaboration. Work location will be agreed once the successful candidate has been selected. Please confirm your location on your application form. Alongside the advertised locations, other DIO locations may be offered. All sites will be considered whilst ensuring the location of the successful candidate can still meet the business and travel requirements of the role. If travelling outside your base location for duty reasons, you will have access to flights, hire cars, rail tickets and overnight accommodation. You can also claim 45 pence per mile should you choose to use your own vehicle for business travel. Travel may be required to carry out site visits where you may go on MOD Establishments, residential estates, building sites, agricultural land, training areas and firing ranges etc. Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements. Person specification Essential Experience: Relevant, suitable experience and knowledge at an appropriate level in the provision of strategic town planning advice and technical inputs to major projects and programmes, including: Site disposals, operational development, and land use planning strategies. Commissioning, managing, and assessing the quality of technical planning proposals and outputs from external consultants. The management, development, submission and/or assessment of planning applications. Representation of client interests in external town planning processes including Local Plans and appeals; assurance and negotiations in relation to developer contributions and legal agreements. Desirable Experience: Working in a Defence environment Good working knowledge of Microsoft Officeand Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Licences Mandatory: UK Full Driving Licence Qualifications Mandatory: RTPI accredited Degree OR qualification Memberships Mandatory: Full membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Technical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: Technical: Government Property Profession Career Framework: 1: Property Professional Expertise - Practitioner / Expert Level Technical: Government Property Profession Career Framework: 3: Stakeholder Engagement Practitioner / Expert level Benefits Alongside your salary of 44,590, Ministry of Defence contributes 12,917 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. Learning and development tailored to your role An environment with flexible working options A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% Successful candidates will become members of the Government Property Profession, with benefits including opportunities for Government and industry led CPD events; access to a diverse community of property professionals across government for sharing knowledge and ideas; and a comprehensive career framework and learning and development curriculum to support your career journey. To learn more about our full range of benefits, view our Candidate Information Guide attached. The post does not offer relocation expenses. External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period. Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed. Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts. Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/. The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments. MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights. Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Experience and Technical skills. When choosing your Behaviour examples, please make sure you use real life scenarios that relate to your own experiences. Whilst technology may help to enhance your written submission, presenting the ideas of others or those generated by technology, could result in your application being rejected. Should we receive a high volume of applicants for this post we will long-list applicants based on an agreed long-list scoring benchmark. Should those at the interview threshold benchmark not be successful at Interview we will proceed to consider applicants who met the long-list benchmark. Please ensure that at the application and interview stages of the campaign you review the Success Profiles Framework to assist you in the demonstration of your skills and experience. Your suitability for the role will be assessed using the Success Profile elements that have been chosen for this campaign. Each element will be scored accordingly, and the successful candidate will be appointed on merit. At application you will be assessed against the following: Experience: CV including Job History, Full Qualification Details and Previous Skills & Experience: Please ensure that you explain all skills and experience that are relevant to the advertised role as detailed within the Essential experience within the personal specification section of the advert. Personal Statement: Please use examples to demonstrate relevant, suitable experience and knowledge at an appropriate level in the provision of strategic town planning advice and technical inputs to major projects and programmes, including: Site disposals, operational development, and land use planning strategies. Commissioning, managing, and assessing the quality of technical planning proposals and outputs from external consultants. The management, development, submission and/or assessment of planning applications. Representation of client interests in external town planning processes including Local Plans and appeals; assurance and negotiations in relation to developer contributions and legal agreements. At interview you will be assessed against the above PLUS the following: Technical Skills: Government Property Profession Career Framework: 1: Property Professional Expertise Practitioner Level 3: Stakeholder Engagement - Practitioner Level We want to offer opportunities to all who are successful at interview for our roles, but this isn't always possible, so we do hold candidates on an active reserve list for 12 months. It is also possible that we may offer similar lower graded role/s to reserve candidates or, if no reserves are appointed, candidates that meet the lower grade criteria in merit order. Application sifting is scheduled to take place on week commencing 6th January 2025. Interviews are currently taking place via Face to Face or remotely through a digital platform, this will be confirmed with the successful candidates who are invited to an interview and will be conducted week commencing 13th January 2025. A minimum of 2 full working days notice will be provided for interviews. We endeavour to stick to these dates, but these are subject to change around business needs. To assist with your application please find attached below: DIO Candidate Information Guide GPP Career Framework For help and support with your application check out our Civil Service Careers Homepage (Link details to insert: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk) and the How to apply section The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3mod.gov.uk. As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Nationality requirements This job is broadly open to the following groups: UK nationals nationals of the Republic of Ireland nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window) .