Head of Planning and Building Control

About the Borough

The London Borough of Sutton is situated less than 30 minutes by train from Central London, with direct connections to London Victoria and London Bridge. Found in zone 5 with good transport links in and out of London, Sutton boasts award winning parks and open spaces, low crime rates, affordable housing and great schools. As well as high levels of resident engagement and satisfaction, providing quality services and success in addressing our financial challenges, whilst involving residents in key issues and high street changes.

Sutton is continuously investing in the health, wellbeing and education of our residents and the future generation, as set out in the “Ambitious for Sutton” corporate plan. We are home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together with the development of the London Cancer Hub, Sutton will be the world’s leading life-science district, specialising in cancer research and treatment. Our vision will create around 13,000 jobs while contributing £1.2bn to the UK economy each year, a vibrant community of scientists, doctors and innovative companies intended to deliver real benefits for cancer patients and drive economic growth. With the regeneration of the local areas with new homes and schools, Sutton is passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

The Council is seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment. As we strive to improve our services and spaces for our residents as set out in the ‘Ambitious for Sutton’ corporate plan, Sutton aims to shape the future of the borough and adapt to the needs of its residents to make our Borough a great place to live, work and raise a family.

About the Service and Team

Sutton has a reputation for excellent schools, Green Flag award-winning green and leafy open spaces, and an industrial heritage along the River Wandle. Sutton is home to the London Cancer Hub, Europe’s leading cancer research and treatment district, with further plans for a multi-phase life science district. Over the past few years, the council has built a significant number of homes for the borough’s residents and invested in significant high street regeneration.

It is an exciting time to be joining Sutton, with £4bn of planned investment and another £3bn in the pipeline. This is a hugely varied role and your opportunity to shape the place Sutton becomes.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

As the council’s most senior planning officer, you will be a collaborative and effective leader with a proactive approach to development. With strong stakeholder management skills, you will build effective and professional working relationships with both developers and investors, whilst engaging with elected members and senior officers across the council. As a team player and a seasoned planning officer in local government, you will provide expert advice to senior stakeholders at Sutton whilst ensuring community is at the heart of development within the borough.

You’ll be proactive in your approach to development. You’ll be comfortable working closely and professionally with developers and investors; build strong relationships with elected members and senior officers; and you’ll put the concerns of the community at the heart of development decisions - including the provision of infrastructure. Sutton has long had high standards for the development we expect, and you’ll ensure these are achieved whilst providing an efficient, highly regarded planning service.

This is a role for a collaborator, who is an effective leader of your staff, and a team player across the Council. You’ll be experienced at working in a local authority, and confident in providing robust, sound and impartial advice to elected members and senior officers.

Our retained consultants at Osborne Thomas are supporting us with the appointment to the post, and look forward to discussing this role in greater depth with you.

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 32 days plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)here
• Enhanced Maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
• Two volunteering days per year
• Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme (dependent on the role)
• Adjustable and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Application Process

Our retained consultants at Osborne Thomas are supporting us with the appointment to the post.

Please get in touch for more information on this role in our candidate pack, including the job description, information about Sutton, the benefits offered and how to apply.

Please note that the primary contact for this position is Lucy Butler: 07935 222 378

Please note that the primary email for this role is sutton@osbornethomas.org

For more information, click here

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.