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Senior / Planning Policy Officer

Employer
Dorset Council
Location
Dorchester, Home based
Salary
Salary details- £25,927 - £38,553
Closing date
29 Aug 2022
Reference
61042818A

Planning Policy Officer (Grade 9/10)/Senior Planning Policy Officer (Grade 11)

Salary: £25,927 - £38,553

Location: Dorchester, with potential for significant home working

Protect it. Shape it. Enjoy it. Be part of Dorset

Dorset is a beautiful and iconic area, with historic market towns and miles of stunning coast. But it’s also a place of growth and innovation, with a population of 375,000 and an economy worth over £7 billion. To serve this unique area, a new unitary council was established in 2019. Bold and ambitious, with a One Team approach, we’re taking Dorset into the future – and our Planning team is taking centre stage.

Our Strategic Policy team is working on the preparation of the first Dorset-wide Local Plan and this job is an opportunity to contribute to various key stages of plan preparation - and influence the future of Dorset.

What you will be doing 

You'll be working on all aspects of local plan preparation and related policy work, including drafting policies, researching issues, engaging and consulting with communities and stakeholders, monitoring, and giving policy advice to other teams. You'll be part of our friendly Strategic Planning team, which also works closely with the Community Planning and Infrastructure & Delivery teams.

Our office base is Dorchester but we are all set up for working from home as well, and collaborate virtually as well as face to face.

The team includes planners with a range of experience and expertise, and there will be plenty of opportunity to learn in the role. Dorset has some particular planning challenges, including housing affordability and the impact of development on important nature conservation sites, to add to your experience, and we can mentor you in your progress to RTPI membership.

About you  

This is a great opportunity to develop your career in planning. You will have a degree-level qualification, preferably a postgraduate planning qualification providing a route to RTPI membership, and ideally some relevant work experience. More experienced and fully chartered planners are also welcome to apply and will start on a higher grade as Senior Planning Policy Officer.

You'll be well organised, with the ability to manage a significant workload and meet deadlines, and the ability to follow procedures and evaluate problems. You'll have good IT skills and an interest in digital approaches. You will have good oral and written communication skills, as writing reports, discussing issues and making presentations are important parts of the job. Finally, you'll enjoy collaborating and working within a team, and have an affinity with our values: Responsibility, Respect, Recognition and Collaboration.

With a team that lives by these principles, we have a friendly workplace where you’ll be free to learn and thrive. Employee benefits are generous and include a local government pension, flexible working and continual learning and development. With beautiful beaches and countryside on your doorstep too, a Planning career in Dorset comes with everything you need.

A driving licence is necessary as site visits are part of the job.

This post has a significant travel requirement and you are contractually required to have a vehicle (or transport deemed to be suitable by the council) available for use as required.

For further information, please email Hilary Jordan, Service Manager for Spatial Planning at hilary.jordan@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk or phone 01305 252303.

Dorset Council: A great place to work 

We’re passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.

At Dorset Council we:

  • provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents
  • have ambitious aspirations
  • are excited about our future
  • care about Dorset and all the people who live here
  • know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success 

You will:

  • have access to a range of employee benefits
  • be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed
  • have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression

We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation. We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares  a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.

We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments.

We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours. We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

If appointed, the personal information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found at https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn.

This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process.

We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.

We cannot accept CVs in the place of an application form as we need the same range of information from all our candidates.

Find out more about how to apply click on the 'Apply Button'

 

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