Graduate Town Planner

You see the world through a unique lens and that’s exactly what we need. We embrace how you see things differently – it’s essential for creating a sustainable future.

Arup is a global consultancy with advisory and technical expertise across more than 150 disciplines. We guide, plan and design the future of the built environment. Globally, each year we recruit hundreds of graduates and students who help us see things differently and solve the most complex challenges facing our clients, climate and communities.

With 150 town planners across 17 UK offices, Arup’s Town Planning team works on some of the UK’s most high‑profile and complex projects, providing end‑to‑end planning and policy advice to public authorities, infrastructure providers, developers, property companies and landowners. Our work spans planning policy, spatial strategy, regeneration, major infrastructure planning, development management and research, helping to deliver more sustainable, resilient and inclusive places.

As part of a multidisciplinary firm, we work closely with engineers, environmental specialists, urban designers and economists to tackle challenges such as housing delivery, climate change and infrastructure provision.

The role would be based within either our Birmingham or Nottingham offices, working as part of a wider national network of town planners. We are working on projects of national significance that will shape the future of the region. Our infrastructure work includes planning for the sustainable growth of Birmingham Airport, ensuring that the region has the energy it needs by planning for major new grid connections as well as working on new nationally important reservoirs.

Our policy work includes working with both the East Midlands and West Midlands Combined Authorities to support the preparation of Spatial Development Strategies and establishing an exciting new vision for Nottingham’s future regeneration.

In this role you will:

• Support the preparation of planning applications, planning policy documents, spatial strategies and evidence‑based studies for public and private sector clients.
• Undertake research, data analysis and report writing to inform planning, development, regeneration and major infrastructure projects, applying digital tools, GIS and AI‑assisted techniques to interrogate evidence and communicate findings clearly.
• Contribute to environmental, socio‑economic and other impact assessments that support planning and consent processes.
• Assist with stakeholder and community engagement activities, including workshops, consultations and meetings.
• Work collaboratively as part of multi‑disciplinary teams with planners, engineers, urban designers, environmental specialists, economists and other experts to deliver sustainable and inclusive places.
• Help us use digital and AI tools well – from spatial data, dashboards and visualisation to automating routine policy and site analysis – so that our advice is quicker to produce, easier to understand and better evidenced.

For this opportunity, we are seeking the following qualifications, skills and attributes:

• An undergraduate or bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline, such as Urban Planning, Architecture, Geography & Geospatial Science or Urban Design. RTPI‑accredited degrees are preferred, and we will support you through your RTPI Assessment of Professional Competence.
• Desirable technical skills include experience using GIS, mapping or spatial analysis software (e.g. ArcGIS or QGIS); comfort with data handling and visualisation tools (e.g. Excel, Power BI); and a practical, critical interest in how AI and automation can be applied responsibly to planning tasks such as evidence…