Planning Advisor (Town and Country Planning) (East Anglia, East Mids, Solent & S.Downs) - 36167

Job Description

In some area teams, Local Development Plans

Pre-Application advice,

In some area teams, Local Development Plans

You will work closely with colleagues in flood risk, water quality, contaminated land, biodiversity, and environmental management to manage and coordinate our expert advice. You will need to meet strict deadlines and targets under challenging work pressures. Alongside developing strong relationships with your Local Planning Authorities, you will also be working closely with developers and consultants, as well as having some engagement with water companies and government departments.

The successful candidate will need the ability to develop strong relationships, have excellent communication and customer service skills, and an awareness of the Government’s growth agenda, relevant planning systems, how the development industry in general operates as well as an understanding of Environment Agency objectives. This is an opportunity to deepen your knowledge of planning systems while developing valuable skills in project management, financial oversight, leadership, and innovation.

Incident response is central to our mission, everyone who joins us undertakes training and is expected to incident response, which could attract additional payments; full training is provided.

We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities for everyone. We welcome flexible working patterns for all our vacancies.

• Strong team ethic and ability to work independently.
• A proven ability to achieve results and proactively identify and solve problems.
• Excellent time management and organisational skills and the ability to prioritise effectively.
• Strong customer service, communication and relationship-building skills – both written and verbal.
• Excellent IT skills.

• Knowledge of the UK planning system and relevant legislation, particularly relating to local plans/supporting evidence and development management work streams;
• Dealing with and advising on development issues and/or on complex environmental problems;
• A willingness to learn and enthusiasm for the environment and planning processes.
• Good understanding of our broad business and environmental activities.

Sustainable Places is a friendly and supportive team that work across departments to deliver EA2030 goals. We work closely with internal technical teams to evaluate environmental data, evidence and assessments and produce consolidated planning responses on behalf of the Environment Agency. Externally, we advise councils and developers to ensure development happens in the right way with the right environmental infrastructure to protect and enhance the environment.

You will have:

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to successfully engage with a range of audiences.
• Strong team ethic and ability to work independently.
• A proven ability to achieve results and proactively identify and solve problems.
• Excellent time management and organisational skills and the ability to prioritise effectively.
• Strong customer service, communication and relationship-building skills – both written and verbal.
• Excellent IT skills.

• Knowledge of the UK planning system and relevant legislation, particularly relating to local plans/supporting evidence and development management work streams;
• Dealing with and advising on development issues and/or on complex environmental problems;
• A willingness to learn and enthusiasm for the environment and planning processes.
• Good understanding of our broad business and environmental activities.

You’ll have an EA Office base location.

East Anglia and East Midlands SP teams operate a hybrid working policy, with all team members expected to attend the office in person twice a week as a minimum.

Solent and South Downs Team aspire to attend the office twice per week, but there is some flexibility depending on circumstances.

For the East Anglia team, a driver’s licence is essential as Planning Advisors do have to travel for meetings which is not always possible using public transport.

Full UK Driving Licence - for…