Principal Planning Enforcement Officer

About the role

As our Principal Enforcement Officer, you will work as part of the wider Development Management team. You will be responsible for planning enforcement work, investigating and monitoring alleged breaches of planning and related legislation concerning a variety of sites across the borough. You will need to develop and maintain strong relationships with colleagues, applicants, agents, solicitors and the wider community as part of providing an efficient and responsive customer-focussed service. In addition, you will lead and coach a small team of enforcement officers.

Our aim is to modernise our service at all levels at Welwyn Hatfield to ensure that the residents of our special and historic borough receive the very best service possible by continually driving service improvements.

About us

Welwyn Hatfield includes the two towns of Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City but also encompasses a significant rural area which is designated as Green Belt. Our planning enforcement team deal with a wide range of planning breaches across the borough.

You will join a forward-thinking council that puts their customers first. We know that in order to provide the best for our residents and visitors, we need to do the same for our people. We have set out to make our workplaces vibrant and happy places to be, places where our people feel safe, content and valued.

About you

You will have good communication and negotiation skills and be able to demonstrate methodical and well organised working. It is essential that you have significant experience in planning enforcement and can work under pressure. Ideally you will have some experience in managing or mentoring staff as this will be an important part of your role. The role would suit a senior planning enforcement officer looking to take the next step in their career and make a positive impact on an evolving service.

Benefits

We can offer you a unique and attractive working environment in the heart of Welwyn Garden City, flexible working arrangements, free parking and access to electric pool cars as well as the usual Local Government benefits including pension scheme and generous annual leave allowance.

As we emerge from a challenging 18 months, we are looking forward to working collectively with staff and our local community to deliver the services the community most need and to build a stronger, brighter future for the borough.

Application process

We wish to make the application process as straightforward as possible, so we just ask that you upload your CV and provide a covering letter or supporting statement.

Closing date for applications is 16/12/2021

Assessments will be held on the 20/12/2021

Interviews will be held the on 06/01/2022