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Planning Officer

37 hours per week

Permanent

£37,280 - £40,777 per annum

Wychavon and Malvern Hills District Councils have an ambitious growth strategy and will be building over 20,000 homes and 300 hectares of employment land over the next 15 years. The strategy includes the delivery of the major new settlements at Worcestershire Parkway for 10,000 homes, combined with ambitious strategies to regenerate our existing centres such as Evesham and Droitwich this is your chance to help shape the future of some of the fastest growing Districts in the West Midlands.

We have recently expanded our Planning team and are continuing to invest in the future of the service. Following a number of successful internal promotions and career progression opportunities within the team, we are now looking to appoint three Planning Officers to help support the next stage of our growth.

These roles offer the opportunity to work on a varied caseload of planning applications, including site appraisals, negotiations, report writing, committee presentations and appeal work, within a supportive and ambitious service that values professional development and progression.

You will be in regular contact with applicants, agents, members of the public and elected members. Great communication skills and an ability to engage with a range of stakeholders is therefore essential along with a commitment to delivering an outstanding service to all our customers.

This is a great opportunity for an experienced planning professional to develop your career and broaden your experience within an award-winning, supportive and ambitious shared planning service. Our joint service was named RTPI West Midlands Local Planning Authority of the Year 2025, shortlisted in the national RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence, and is currently shortlisted for Local Authority Planning Team of the Year at the 2026 Awards.

About you

For the role of Planning Officer, you will need:

• Experience of dealing with minor and other category planning applications as well as householder applications
• Comprehensive and up to date knowledge of planning law and practice
• A recognised qualification in town planning or substantial experience gained within the Town Planning field.
• Full Royal Town Planning Institute (MRTPI) membership, or willingness to work towards full membership, and be able to demonstrate a commitment to continual professional development (CPD).
• Good computer literacy
• The ability to manage a caseload of applications.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills

You will be required to attend regular Planning Committee meetings and undertake site visits so flexibility, a full driving licence and use of a car is essential. You will also need to be able to travel throughout the districts.

The roles will be based at either the Council House, Malvern, or the Civic Centre, Pershore. If you have a preference in your base location, please detail this in your application to be considered. Please note, whilst we will try our best to accommodate this, it will be decided upon service requirement.

What we can offer

Our staff are at the heart of what we do and are key to ensuring we deliver Our Council Plan (attached) to make a positive difference to our communities, our economy and our environment. We are always looking to recruit, develop and retain the very best talent we can find. So, as well as a rewarding career, we offer a range of attractive benefits, such as:

• Excellent pension scheme with employer contributions
• Generous annual leave entitlement with options to purchase additional annual leave
• Committed training programme and development opportunities
• Onsite nursery with 20% staff discount (Pershore office)
• Discounted Gym and swim membership
• Health and Wellbeing support and a Free Employee Assistance scheme including access to counselling services
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Employee Discounts with a range of companies including EE and the Kaarp discount scheme.

We are an employer that values face to face communication, collaboration and connection, therefore all our roles have an office-based requirement with some agile working as part of the role.

Please note: Malvern Hills District Council does not currently offer sponsorship for candidates without the Right to Work in the UK.

To discuss the post or for further information, please contact Clare Bull, Development on clare.bull@malvernhills.gov.uk or Simon Jones, Development Manager on simon.jones@malvernhills.gov.uk.

Closing date: Sunday 2 August 2026

Interview date: Wednesday 12 August 2026 (interviews to be held at the Civic Centre, Pershore)

Please note if we experience a high intake of applications, we may close the role and interview for the position sooner than advertised.