Senior Planning Specialist

The Role

This role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to a successful strategic species conservation strategy by supporting colleagues with essential knowledge and guidance on the UK planning system.

The role requires an experienced, well-organised and confident communicator who can apply their strategic planning policy expertise together with knowledge and understanding of planning reforms and development management into daily tasks and long-term projects, integrating our work effectively and smoothly with the planning system.

The experienced postholder will be responsible for supporting the NatureSpace team with the increasing needs of a rapidly growing company – The role would support strategic decision-making and would provide support and guidance to all teams when required. Daily tasks would be variable depending on need.

The role sits within the Core Support team – a small yet growing team with a wide remit – and will be line-managed by the Core Support Manager. You’ll work closely with two current planning specialists, while also working independently and collaboratively with colleagues across the company.

A sound understanding of planning law and practice is required for this role, with an expectation of a good grasp of planning principles. It is expected that the postholder will guide and support the two existing planning specialists within the team, supporting their development in core competencies to consolidate skills and build confidence and expertise within the planning team, and will undertake line-management responsibilities.

We’re looking for an enthusiastic, capable individual with strong communication and organisation skills, passionate about planning with a keen interest in biodiversity and sustainable development.

Key responsibilities

• Co-ordinate the planning team to provide planning support across all teams as necessary, on strategic planning and development management areas of expertise.
• Communicate and interpret strategic planning, local planning policy and planning reform changes effectively across the company
• Lead on the preparation, review and delivery of internal planning training, including organising training sessions and designing presentations.
• Review all external communications to ensure they are accurate in planning knowledge and understanding.
• Provide planning support within internal and external meetings, and to external stakeholders.
• Supervise and review planning knowledge and data for all licence applications requiring planning policy input, ensuring accuracy.
• Provide planning knowledge and context for innovative new workstreams
• Ensure that important records are kept up-to-date and assist with the quality assurance process to maintain high-quality data.
• Co-ordinate the review and dissemination of planning news, updates and guidance to the wider team and other relevant key information.
• Be responsible for a variety of work as necessary, including administration, communications, updating and monitoring progress towards key planning projects and wider company projects as required.

Company background

Great crested newts have declined dramatically in the UK over the last 50 years, and although still widespread across lowland England they are no longer common. Despite protection under UK and European wildlife law, numbers are still declining, and habitat loss is their biggest threat.

In 2018, the NatureSpace District Licensing Scheme was launched – set up in partnership with the UK’s leading freshwater and amphibian non-governmental organisations as well as seven local planning authorities across the South Midlands. Since then, the scheme has expanded nationally and now covers 70 local planning authorities across Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Surrey and West Sussex.

The scheme allows planning authorities to authorise (under strictly defined terms) activities which affect great crested newts at the same time as they grant planning permission. The District Licensing Scheme has significant advantages for newt conservation and wider biodiversity benefits through a fully funded region-wide conservation strategy that creates high-quality habitat at a landscape scale and delivers long-term management and monitoring for newts, which is carried out via our partners at the Newt Conservation Partnership (a community benefit society formed of experts from Freshwater Habitats Trust and Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust). The scheme benefits developers because the licensing process for great crested newts is simplified and streamlined.

We also work with national infrastructure providers, such as Network Rail and National Highways, to help them secure and deliver 'Organisational Licences' for protected species with the same conservation deliverables. The schemes are administered by NatureSpace, are regulated, and approved by Natural England and are supported by the country’s leading amphibian and freshwater NGOs.

This is an exciting time for NatureSpace, as we advance new workstreams that build upon our successes; including our uniquely stacked high-integrity Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) offer and pioneering licensing schemes for other protected species.

Requirements

Essential skills, knowledge, and experience

• Qualified to at least degree standard in a relevant discipline (such as Town and Country Planning/Environmental Planning). Demonstratable equivalent working knowledge and experience would be considered for a suitable candidate.
• Excellent time management and organisational skills and the ability to respond to changing and challenging priorities within set timescales.
• Line management experience
• Good level of understanding of the role that local planning authorities play in making decisions about new developments in England.
• Excellent knowledge of the English planning system, at local, regional and national scale – including the planning application & determination process, appeals process, and planning policy. A good understanding of planning law is required to enable support to the wider team on all planning matters.
• Good IT skills and competence in using Microsoft 365 package, including Word, Excel, Teams, Outlook and PowerPoint.
• An effective communicator with good inter-personal skills, able to liaise proactively and confidently with a range of people, both in written and verbal formats.
• A positive, enthusiastic and self-motivated individual that can work independently.
• Ability to cope with remote working with limited opportunities for in-person meetings and events throughout the year (e.g. company days).

Desirable skills, knowledge, and experience

• Experience of supporting team members within the planning or environment sector
• An understanding of environmental assessment, biodiversity conservation, BNG, protected species and licensing
• Enthusiasm for wildlife conservation in the UK. Conservation is at the heart of what we do.

Benefits

Company benefits and culture

• 4-day working week (Monday-Thursday)
• Remote and flexible working
• Travel to meetings in England may be required a few times throughout the year, but we encourage the use of public transport, a car is not essential
• 20 days annual leave
• Plus bank holidays, weekday birthdays and additional holiday over the Christmas period
• Annual bonus scheme, up to 20% of your pay
• Company pension contributions
• Company private health and life insurance
• Individual employee development budget for relevant CPD

NatureSpace Partnership is a small (c.70 staff) but busy and rapidly growing company. Being a small organisation, everyone has a big say in what we do and how we do it. We are a forward-thinking company, working to high standards to deliver well-planned and meaningful outcomes. Our agility and size mean that your voice will be heard, and you will have the opportunity to directly see the results of your work.

Work/life balance is important to us. We actively support a flexible working arrangement so that our work fits in with our lives and we’re open to exploring how this role could best work for you.

The successful candidate will join a friendly, close-working team of home-workers as part of a dispersed national team. The role is mainly desk-based and can be based anywhere in the UK (there’s no central office), although occasional travel to meetings in central England will be required. You will be trusted to manage your own workload and work independently, so strong motivation, sound judgement and good self-management will be important.

To deliver better outcomes for nature, people and places, we need a team that brings different perspectives, experiences and ways of thinking to our work. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds with the relevant skills and experience for the role. We’re committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone can contribute and develop, and we particularly encourage applications from people who are currently under-represented in the environment sector.

As summarised above, we offer a strong benefits package designed to support work/life balance and job satisfaction. Our 4-day working week means full-time team members work Monday to Thursday, with 20 days annual leave (which equates to 5-weeks off per year in light of the 4-day working week), plus bank holidays, weekday birthdays and additional holiday over the Christmas period. Where additional hours are agreed with your line manager, these can be recognised through time off in lieu (TOIL) or overtime pay. Employees also benefit from an annual performance bonus of up to 20% of your pay, company pension contributions, and company private health and life insurance.