Head of Planning

We are a multi-disciplinary consultancy, working nationwide but with our strongest presence in the Midlands. Our mission is to help our clients make the most of their land and property, whether rural or urban, commercial, agricultural or residential. Our town planners work hand-in-hand with our architects, civil engineers, heritage consultants, land valuers and surveyors to take sites from initial concept to spades in the ground.

We are looking to recruit a new Head of Planning. You will drive forward our town planning offer across the UK, setting a vision for the service and translating this into action. You will work closely with your colleagues to turn new opportunities into projects, to lead and grow client relationships and to provide top-level planning advice to our most-valued clients.

You will be one of seventeen town planners in our business. Shrewsbury is our largest planning office, with planning colleagues also based in Hereford, Kettering and Towcester. In 2023/24 we were ranked in the Top 25 UK Planning Consultancies by the Royal Town Planning Institute.

Responsibilities / Duties of the Head of Planning:

This is a key, client-facing role at the heart of our business. It combines inspiring leadership with outstanding customer service. We are looking for somebody who can take an opportunity and run with it; somebody with the confidence to guide a client and steer a project; somebody for whom nothing is too much trouble. You must be responsive, energetic, reassuring and, above all, personable. You will offer first-rate planning advice and will have excellent report-writing skills. Your role will cover both planning application and strategic land promotion work.

This is a role for a confident and experienced consultant, from the private or public sectors. You will be comfortable working independently but will know instinctively when to touch base with others. A sound understanding of the UK planning system is a given and experience in environmental impact assessment would be helpful. Membership of the MRTPI is essential and you should be confident handling your own caseload from start to finish, with minimal oversight.

Your expertise will be highly regarded across the world of planning and Berrys will have no hesitation in putting you in front of any of our clients. As our Head of Service, you will help coach junior team members and will share knowledge willingly when asked for help.

We would love to speak to anybody who has a good range of the attributes above, even if not all of them.

Key responsibilities of the Head of Planning role include:

• Leading our town planning service, inspiring colleagues and representing the business externally

• Supporting senior colleagues with the generation of business and the development of key clients and markets

• Leading client relationships from start to finish

• Delivering projects efficiently with minimal overspend

• Offering top-level planning advice to clients in the housing, leisure, energy and agricultural sectors, providing reassurance and managing expectations

• Writing planning statements, appeal statements and design and access statements to an exceptional standard

• Promoting land for development through the local plan review process

• Managing the EIA process and editing environmental statements

• Nurturing regular communication between client and business

• Attending client, LPA and subconsultant meetings, both virtually and in person

Head of Planning Benefits

This is a leading role in the business and you will be given the opportunity to develop clients and markets in line with your own areas of interest.

• We shall negotiate an excellent salary for the right candidate which reflects your skills, experience and former successes
• We will offer an excellent salary for the right candidate reflective of your skills, qualifications and experience
• We will pay all the appropriate professional memberships and fund your attendance at relevant CPD events and time off for approved training
• We provide Private Healthcare scheme for all
• We have an Employee Assistance Programme, including a health plan and annual flu jab
• We have an agile working philosophy allowing for a mix of remote and office working
• We provide an entitlement of 35 days holiday per annum (pro rata to working hours) inclusive of bank holidays
• An additional day off to celebrate your Birthday
• We also give an additional day of holiday for every 3 years of service
• Potential for discretionary bonus
• We provide an enhanced workplace pension scheme operated through The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST)
• Following successful probation period, access to employee loan and employee discount on Berrys services
• We offer salary sacrifice schemes for Electric Vehicles and Cycle to Work schemes

Hours: 37.5 hours per week, to be worked flexibly Monday-Friday.

Closing Date: 11th November 2024

If you would like to have an informal chat about this role, without any obligation, please contact Lisa Meadows on (phone number removed).

Please note that we may close this role early, if sufficient applications are received, therefore it is recommended to apply early if you match the criteria.