Planner - Infrastructure

Planner – Infrastructure

£28,470 - £38,385 pa

Interviews are scheduled for 7th/13th September 2022

About us

Newham Council will offer you a working environment and involvement in some of Europe’s most exciting regeneration and development projects.  Our work is contributing to building thousands of new homes and creating thousands of new jobs, creating opportunities and benefits for the Borough as a whole.

Newham offers many career-defining opportunities to work at pace, at scale, and on innovative responses to complex issues. Newham is an ambitious Council and is at the forefront in collaborating with its residents and businesses to create flourishing places.

Newham has a flexible working policy and we are open to considering proposals as to the exact pattern of work, such that hours can be arranged around you and your family's needs, as well as our business needs.

About the Job(s)

The London Borough of Newham is recruiting to two posts in the Developer Contributions Team.

These posts are funded by developer contributions and require knowledge and/or experience of the development sector, planning, financial controls or processes driven by legislative requirements.

These posts will have a close working relationship with colleagues across the Council, including Finance, Planners in Policy, Development Management, Environmental Control experts, Highways, and the Local Land Charges team.

These roles require report writing based on your assessment of details submitted, accurate record keeping, and the ability to undertake financial reconciliation.

In keeping with the Council's Local Plan, delivering housing and supporting employment opportunities for our local residents and enabling infrastructure investment is critical in contributing towards the Council's priorities; these posts are important in enabling developments to make a meaningful contribution as the borough grows.

Planner – Infrastructure (one post focusing on planning obligations)

The core function of the team relates to the monitoring of compliance and enforcement of S106 Deeds of Planning Obligation. The primary function of the post is to deal with all of the Planning Obligations, which have been secured where Newham is the Local Planning Authority including small-scale development up to major regeneration schemes.  

This post will focus on enhancing our internal controls.  We will migrate all of our records from one system to another and use this as an opportunity to review historical compliance as well as ensuring that development currently under construction are enabling the benefits our community deserve. 

This post will consider compliance with financial and non-financial planning obligations, negotiate outcomes with developers and progress enforcement action if necessary. 

Planner – Infrastructure (one post focusing on CIL)

We have a progressive CIL collection team who are robust at providing advice to third parties and promptly issuing liability notices and keeping the local land charges register up to date. The team work collaboratively to achieve outcomes and there is a real sense of camaraderie.

The team are responsible for the collection, administration and management of the CIL.  We collect CIL to fund infrastructure in Newham and the Mayor of London's strategic transport investment and regularly report on our achievements.

This post will contribute towards the technical assessment of measuring plans, interrogating legislation and negotiating with developers ensuring the correct CIL payments are made to the Council, including making recommendations on the acceptability of claims for relief and exemption.

About You

Please use your supporting statement as an opportunity to explain why and how you meet the criteria for this role.

We are looking for a candidate with a keen eye for detail but who sees how their role contributes to the Council's wider priorities.

You should be familiar of working within and thriving in a busy working environment often with conflicting priorities and expectations of prompt responses to enquiries from a range of stakeholders. 

You will feel empowered to ask for support when needed and also to follow instructions to complete tasks in the most efficient manner.  You will be keen to be a team-player and contribute towards both your individual tasks and the output of the team.

You will be confident at bringing together a wide range of information held by the Council and making assessments as to whether matters comply with legislation or contractual obligations and making recommendations based on your judgment.

You may be looking for a change from the private or third sector to a Local Authority setting; or to progress or begin your career in Planning.  If you wish to informally discuss the role please contact the role's line manager Teodora Dimitrova (S106) on Teodora.Dimitrova@newham.gov.uk or 02033739609 or Claire Sykes (CIL) on Claire.Sykes@newham.gov.uk or 02033730504.

Please ensure you refer to the person specification section of the Job description for a full understanding of the expectations for the role, and of what is required as part of your applica