Planner - Braintree District Council

Are you a recent graduate looking to start a career as a professional Planning Officer, or are you already a Planner looking for a new and challenging opportunity? If so, this role would give you an ideal opportunity to develop your career at Braintree. You will have the skills to manage a diverse caseload of planning applications within a busy Development Management team. Braintree will be an area of significant growth over the coming years. We are looking to embrace this challenge to deliver well-designed new homes, create jobs and improve and develop infrastructure for the benefit of existing and new communities., We are looking to recruit a new Planner for one of our Area Teams. As a Planner you would be responsible for a diverse caseload of planning applications, appeals and pre-application enquiries. Career development is something we take seriously, and we enjoy nothing more than seeing our colleagues grow with us, with members of the team developing as they gain more experience and responsibilities. We are committed to building an exceptional Planning team, utilising our colleagues' talent, and making the most of what they have to offer. With a strong and supportive management behind you, you'll play a key part in helping us achieve our aims and assist in driving forward our vision to shape the District. We offer flexible working arrangements with a mix of home and office working. It is essential that you have a full driving licence and access to a vehicle for work purposes.,

• To assess planning and related applications against the Council's policies and prepare and
assist in the preparation of reports and recommendations thereon.
• To attend Planning Committee meetings and present planning application reports and recommendations.
• To undertake site inspections and meetings with regards to planning applications and pre-applications, and appeals and enforcement enquiries where required.
• To advise applicants on the content of applications both prior to and after submission.
• To advise Parish Councils, elected Members and members of the public on Development Management matters.
• To prepare evidence for planning and enforcement appeals and give evidence at appeals at
the level appropriate to experience.
• To liaise with the Planning Policy Team on policy matters and the preparations of development briefings.
• To support, contribute and comply with quality procedures as described within the Corporate
Quality Policy and as directed by the Service's management.

Our ideal candidate would be someone with a Degree in Town and Country Planning working towards membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute. We also welcome applications from someone considering a career in planning with a degree in a related subject, and an interest in the built environment who is looking to become a qualified planner in the future. Previous experience of working within a Planning team would be beneficial but not essential. The successful candidate will have a strong work ethic, excellent communication, report writing, and customer service skills, as well as the necessary motivation to deliver high performance and the ability to manage their own caseload and working to tight deadlines. If you are hardworking, ambitious, dynamic, and commercially aware, we want to hear from you.

Braintree District Council is an ambitious and forward-thinking authority with a vision of creating a great place for our residents and businesses. As a Council our role is as a guardian of the place and its people; where residents live well in healthy and resilient communities; a well-connected district with high-quality homes delivered with the infrastructure and a place which attracts and provides good employment opportunities. We are becoming one of the fastest growing Districts in the East of England with three growing towns, London just 45 minutes away and the district located directly between the international transport centres of Stansted Airport and Harwich and Felixstowe International Ports. We have a deserved track record for delivering and a strong reputation within the business community and are committed Braintree District Council is a great place to work. We pride ourselves on our creative and innovative approach which is led by our staff. We are committed to having an engaged workforce who understand our strategy and how they can help deliver it. Some of the benefits of working for Braintree District Council are:
• Flexible working
• Free parking
• Local government pension scheme
• Learning and development for all staff
• Staff recognition schemes
• Extensive health and wellbeing programme including discounted gym membership.