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Post title

Senior Planning Officer (Policy)

Post No

3255

Salary

Starting from £42,839 to £46,142 per annum

Grade

Grade 7

Hours

37 hours per week

Place of work

Worthing Town Hall/hybrid

Closing date

15th July 2026 at 23:55 pm

Interviews

TBC

This is an exciting opportunity to join Adur & Worthing Councils at the start of the Local Plan making process under the new plan making system as the Councils move towards local government reorganisation.

As Senior Planning Officer (Policy), you will support the Principal Planning Policy Officer to lead on key policy areas, matrix work with other Council services, to advise on the delivery of strategic sites and influence internal and external strategies to ensure they achieve sustainable development and represent Council priorities.

This role will combine research, evidence commissioning, stakeholder engagement, and project management to ensure the Local Plan is legally compliant, technically sound, and delivered to meet deadlines. You will also be involved in representing the Council to defend strategic planning policy at public examination and appeal.

You will also brief Council Members and Committees and deputise for the Principal Planning Officer or the Local Plan and Specialists Manager as required.

The successful candidate will require significant professional experience as a town planner within the public or private sectors, ideally with direct experience in a planning policy environment, including Local Plan preparation at a variety of stages.

For an informal discussion about this role, please contact Moira Hayes (Planning Policy and Specialists Manager) on 01273 263247 or Chris Furlong-Jones (Principal Planning Officer) on 01273 263243.

We look forward to receiving your application!

At Adur & Worthing, we are committed to supporting care leavers, in accordance with the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and the Children and Social Work Act 2017. To that end, we operate a guaranteed interview scheme for anyone meeting the essential criteria of the role they are applying for. In order to be considered for this, you will need to be a care leaver under the age of 25 at the time of application. Please confirm that you are a care leaver in the "Showing how you meet the person specification and job description" section of the application form.

As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of applicants declaring a disability, that meet the essential criteria for this position, will be offered an interview.

Staff are our most important asset and we therefore have a benefit package which reflects our continuing commitment to our employees. This includes:

• Generous leave entitlement; a minimum of 26 days + Bank Holiday entitlement

• Local Government Pension

• Training & development

• Occupational Health

• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

• Employee resource groups/networks

• Buddy Support Programme

• Flexible working options

We are committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community - a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit. Staff work in a supportive and safe environment, recognising their responsibility to value and respect each other’s contributions. Standards of conduct must be of the highest level to ensure that no-one is harassed, bullied or victimised. We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, staff engagement forums and are keen to hear from applicants from a variety of different backgrounds.

Fair, Green & Local - Please see link below to our corporate plan with our key priorities for Adur and Worthing (2025-2028):

https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/fair-green-and-local/