Assistant Planning Officer/Planning Officer

Job introduction

Brighton & Hove City Council is looking to appoint a career grade Assistant Planning Officer/Planning Officer

Brighton & Hove is a great place to live, work and develop your career in town planning. We are one of the busiest unitary planning services and this role will be central to dealing with a range of householder and minor projects in the city.

About the role

Brighton and Hove, a city by the sea, has an enviable number of iconic and historic buildings, whilst also embraces the new.  The city is a unique, energetic, innovative and a centre for culture in the South East. We have a progressive and ambitious strategy for change including a programme of projects to directly deliver council housing. In the Planning Service we are investing in our staff and developing a modern, positive and customer-focused Planning Service. 

We are currently seeking an Assistant Planning Officer/Planning Officer in our Development Management team. The post is a linked grade position and we are open to appoint at either level of the linked grade.  If you are appointed at the lower level, progression to Planning Officer is subject to meeting a number of requirements including performance.

As an Assistant Planning Officer, you will manage a caseload of householder and minor applications, pre-application enquiries and appeals.  Negotiating and liaising with customers is an integral part of the role.  Planning Officers deal with more complex applications including new dwellings, conversions and changes of use.

You will be able to do work flexibly with some days working at home and some days working at our base in Hove Town Hall.  

For an informal discussion, please contact Nicola Hurley Planning Manager on 01273 292114.

As part of your application, you will need to complete your education and work history and upload a supporting statement. Your supporting statement is the most important part of your application as it will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our guidance here (Supporting statement guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk)) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.

Additional information

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.

Work Permits: We may be able to obtain a Work Permit for this post but this is subject to meeting the requirements of the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) Points-based Immigration System. Please see Gov.uk for more information on the Skilled Worker Visa.

We offer the opportunity for the suitable candidate to choose to  work in a hybrid way. Your specific working arrangements will be subject to team and service working arrangements already in place alongside Government guidance.  Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.

For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us (brighton-hove.gov.uk)

Company information

Encouraging a diverse workforce

Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.

Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).

We welcome applications from all sections of the community but particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, LGB, female or trans as these groups are currently under-represented in our Directorate workforce.