Graduate Planning Officer

Our benefits

You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here: Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council.

About the role

Our Graduate Planning Officers provide advice to the public, developers, agents, Members, other departments of the Council on all Development Management matters; from the provision of appropriate pre-application advice and the effective and efficient processing of minor planning applications to applications for planning permission and all other related consents.  

As Graduate Planning Officer, you’ll be supported to develop your skills in determining planning applications and pre-application discussions.

You will gain an understanding of how to assess the planning merits of each application and apply planning policy and guidance to the proposed form of development. You'll work alongside other Planning Officers dealing with planning applications and other training opportunities to expand your knowledge. Working with Team Leaders and colleagues across the service will enable you to gain a good understanding of the relevant laws, guidance, policies and practice which underpin Development Management. 

What will you be doing?

Day to day, you’ll support with pre-application enquiries, give technical advice, support with Planning Performance Agreements, extensions of time, appeals, deal with enforcement cases and a range of other processes carried out within the team. In this varied role, Graduate Planning Officers attend site visits, meetings with external organisations, Planning Committee and working parties as required. When required, you’ll support our Planning Policy team by providing input into the formulation of planning policies and support the Major Projects Team where large-scale projects require additional technical resource and input.  

The role also involves working across the wider Development Management service areas, including Planning Enforcement, Development Strategy, and Technical Support.

 With the support of the Development Management Team Leader, the Principal Planning Officers and other colleagues, you’ll have appropriate on the job training as well as external training courses and mentoring. You’ll be supported to develop the necessary knowledge, experience and skills to become a Graduate Planning Officer and work independently to support our Planning Service. 

About you

You will need a degree in a relevant subject as well as a genuine interest in the built environment and an interest in ensuring our community in West Northants thrives.  

Planning is a technical field, so an aptitude in area is needed, but what we do in Planning affects people’s lives, so you’ll need to be a strong communicator with the ability to empathise and negotiate.  

In planning, we are passionate about people, places and sustainability. We balance development to support new housing and jobs with protecting the environment for future generations and our commitment to net zero by 2030. We want to create an outstanding natural environment, fit for future generations. If this is something that you feel excited about, we’d love to hear from you! 

About us

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services. 

Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what its like to work at West Northants Council.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential.  We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.