Senior Planning Policy Officer

THE ROLE

The Planning and Housing Strategy Team is looking to recruit a qualified and experienced Senior Planning Policy Officer to come and join our team working alongside the Principal Housing Strategy Officer on housing strategy and planning policy matters and other lead professionals responsible for climate change, biodiversity and heritage. We are advancing a new Local Plan for Lancaster district. The council has a strong record of keeping its development plan up to date and is also nationally acclaimed for its innovative work on climate mitigation and adaption.

Working 37 hours per week, we are looking for a strategic thinker who is hardworking, enthusiastic and highly motivated and will embrace working with high performing team members. Immediate priorities for the postholder will be to assist in the refresh of the housing evidence to support our new Local Plan. The council has already appointed consultants to prepare a district wide housing needs assessment to comprehensively review housing needs including market, affordable and specialist housing needs for Lancaster district’s diverse communities. We intend to commission a new Affordable Housing Viability Study which the postholder will take the lead on to maximise opportunities to secure affordable housing. Later this year, we will be preparing a new Homes Strategy for Lancaster which will be underpinned by our newly prepared housing studies and will link to policies being prepared for the new Local Plan.

We are looking for a professional who can produce clear and comprehensive written work including key policy documents such as Development Plan Documents, Supplementary Planning Documents and Planning Advice Notes and writing reports. We are looking for a confident speaker with great presentation skills and work alongside other team members at stakeholder engagement and public consultation events as well as presenting complex information in a clear and concise way to a wide range of audiences.

Developing and maintaining working relationships with other professionals within the Planning and Climate Change service, other council services and external bodies is a pre-requisite in this role, and will include providing support to colleagues in the Development Management team so that planning applications are determined in a timely way with robust information provided on meeting local housing need and by supporting our colleagues in housing teams to realise the council’s housing and regeneration priorities for Lancaster district.

About You You must have a degree or postgraduate qualification in town planning that is recognised by the Royal Town Planning Institute and have Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Chartered Membership, or demonstrable equivalent experience to be eligible to securing Chartered Membership status. Alternatively, for post-holders with a housing qualification; Chartered Membership of the Chartered Institute of Housing (MCIH) or demonstrable equivalent experience to be eligible to securing Chartered Membership status.

As this is a Senior officer post, we are looking for 3-5 years previous experience of working within a planning policy or strategic housing environment and you will need to evidence a track record of working within a legislative/regulatory context and have a demonstrable understanding of assessing and meeting local housing needs. You must also hold a full UK driving licence.

Ready to Join Us?
If you’re passionate about making a real difference in Lancaster, we’d love to hear from you. Find out more about what it’s like working with us, our benefits, values and culture, by visiting lancaster.gov.uk/sites/recruitment.

Why Work With Us
Our Benefits
• Generous annual leave
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Discounted gym membership
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Car purchase scheme
• Lifestyle savings
• Health Care Cash Plan
• Volunteering days
• Wellbeing support

Flexible working friendly
We welcome discussions about flexible working and may be able to offer hybrid working, a generous flexi-time scheme, and agreed working hours to support work–life balance.

Inclusive employer
We welcome applications from all parts of the community and are committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
We guarantee interviews for applicants with a disability and armed forces veterans who meet the essential criteria.