Position:                   Senior Planner / Senior Planning Consultant  

Salary range:           £35,000 – £57,500 (depending on experience)

Location:                  Falmer, Brighton

We are recruiting for an experienced Town Planner to join our growing consultancy team as a Senior Planner. You will be part of the team, reporting to the Associate Director, whilst also working closely alongside the two Directors. You will be a vital part of our team, responsible for running your own projects (supported by other team members as needed) using your expertise to offer comprehensive planning advice to a wide spectrum of clients.  Ideally you will be a chartered MRTPI member, however we would welcome applications from candidates with significant industry experience who are close to qualification. If you’d like to discuss the opportunity informally please email hr@parkerdann.co.uk to arrange a call with one of our Directors.

Established over 30 years ago in Lewes, our office is now on the University of Sussex campus in Falmer, near Brighton. Our office hours are 09.00am – 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. We offer a flexible working environment and welcome discussions about what flexible working might look like for you.

It’s an exciting time to join Parker Dann. Our goal is to provide providing tailored, evidence-based recommendations which address the distinct challenges and opportunities inherent in each project we work on. We’re on a continuing business transformation journey, building a team who can grow and develop with the business, as we seek to be known as the first and best place to come for planning solutions. We’d love you to be part of that team.

Key tasks and responsibilities will include:

• Providing planning advice to clients and (where relevant) more junior colleagues
• Preparing documentation to support planning applications primarily Planning Statements, Design & Access Statements and Appeal Statements; occasionally Heritage Statements and Statements of Community Involvement
• Project managing the collation of documents for, and submission of, complex planning applications
• Reporting to clients and senior colleagues and keeping in regular contact
• Preparing and making presentations at meetings, including parish council and planning committee (requiring occasional evening working)
• Preparing for, and providing oral evidence at Inquiries, Hearings and Examinations in Public
• Advising clients on Local Development Plan preparation
• Being capable of winning new work (though the primary focus of the role is to process existing planning work)
• Being capable of dealing with instructions and clients alone after an introductory period
• Developing and cultivating good relationships with clients, Local Authority Planning Officers and fellow professionals

We believe a candidate likely to perform well in the role will need:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to build strong working relationships with our team, clients and fellow professionals
• Strong project and client management skills
• The ability to produce accurate, well-written, well-presented documentation based on thorough research
• The ability to work under pressure, prioritise work and multi-task
• Perseverance and enthusiasm
• Experience of the UK planning system
• Having an existing client base or network of contacts would be a particular strength but is not essential, and we will support you to strengthen your network and client base.

 Preferred skills/qualifications include:

• Member RTPI (or working towards), or MRICS with relevant planning experience
• Degree qualified in a relevant discipline
• Post-graduate experience, in a consultancy or public sector role
• Knowledge and experience of planning in South East of England
• A full UK vehicle licence (due to the rural location of some of our client sites, access to your own vehicle would be favourable but is not essential)

Please note: you must have the Right to Work in the UK as we are not able to offer sponsorship.

In return for your time and efforts, we offer:

• Salary range: £35,000 – £57,500 Full Time Equivalent (FTE), depending on experience
• Discretionary annual bonus rewarding achievement and ambition
• 25 days holiday plus bank / public holidays
• Company pension scheme (3% employer contribution)
• Career Development support and mentoring opportunities

That said, people work for more reasons than money, so some of our ‘extras’ are:

• Additional day of annual leave for every year of service, rising to a maximum of 28 days
• Gifted leave on top of your annual leave allowance, including 3 additional days of leave at Christmas/New Year when the office is closed
• One paid annual professional institution membership fee
• Employee Assistance Programme by Health Assured
• Quarterly paid company social events

We want our team to be happy, and fulfilled in their work. We’ll do our best to support you pursuing the types of work that interest you, whilst helping you further hone the vitally important skills needed to build successful, enduring, productive relationships with our clients.

When you’re ready to submit your application, please email hr@parkerdann.co.uk with your maximum two-page CV, and a covering letter outlining:

• why you want to work for us
• why you believe you’re a great candidate for this role

The closing date for applications is Friday 26^th April 2024. 

We look forward to hearing from you!