Lead Officer - Development Management

About the Borough

Found in zone 6 with good transport links in and out of London, Kingston is a vibrant and diverse university town which creates the rich sense of community shared across the borough and its Residents. Kingston boasts an idyllic riverside location, good shopping and great restaurants, as well as a mix of modern and historic town centre. Kingston has lots of open parklands and cycle routes that help connect the district town centres into an enjoyable place to live and work.

We are passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

About the Service and Team

Lead Kingston’s Growth. Champion Quality. Shape Our Places.

We’re looking for an exceptional planning leader to join Kingston as Lead Officer – Development Management. This is a pivotal senior role at the heart of one of London’s most ambitious and complex planning environments, leading the delivery of high-quality, sustainable development that meets the needs of our communities.

Why Kingston?
Kingston is a borough of contrasts and opportunity — historic neighbourhoods, sensitive heritage assets, ambitious regeneration programmes and significant housing and infrastructure pressures. You’ll work at the forefront of this change, leading complex planning decisions and helping shape places that are resilient, inclusive and well-designed.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

What you’ll do:

• Lead and coordinate the full planning process across all application types, from householders to major, strategic and sensitive developments.
• Provide authoritative professional advice on planning legislation, the London Plan and Kingston’s Local Plan.
• Take a leading role at Planning Committee, Member briefings and design reviews, delivering clear, balanced and defensible recommendations.
• Project-manage Planning Performance Agreements (PPAs), negotiating deliverable programmes and milestones.
• Act as a key interface between developers, Members, senior officers, statutory consultees and community stakeholders.
• Lead negotiations on Section 106 agreements, affordable housing, viability and infrastructure delivery.
• Champion design quality, placemaking, climate-positive development and inclusive growth.
• Act as expert witness at hearings and public inquiries for major applications.
• Line manage and support Principal, Senior and Planning Officers, providing coaching, direction and quality assurance.
• Support service modernisation, performance improvement and digital transformation, deputising for the Head of Planning when required.

What we’re looking for:

• Degree in Town Planning or a related built-environment discipline.
• Chartered Member of the RTPI (or eligible for chartered membership).
• Extensive experience managing major and complex planning applications, ideally within a London or high-density urban authority.
• Strong leadership skills with experience managing multidisciplinary teams and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Proven experience of Planning Committee work and high-level Member engagement.
• Strong track record in negotiating planning obligations, viability and infrastructure contributions.
• Excellent knowledge of planning legislation, national policy, the London Plan and best practice.
• Outstanding communication, judgement and decision-making skills, with the ability to manage risk and complexity.

Our values matter.
As a Lead Officer, you’ll role-model Kingston’s STAR values — being Supportive, Transparent, Appreciative and Respectful - and help foster a positive, high-performing planning culture.

Join us and help shape Kingston’s future — delivering confident planning decisions, high-quality places and sustainable growth in one of London’s most dynamic boroughs

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 25-32 days, plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade.
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
• Three volunteering days per year in Kingston
• Hybrid working (dependent on the role)
• Flexible and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Electric vehicle leasing scheme
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Application Process

For more information and to apply, please visit www.kingstonjobs.co.uk

Penna are managing this recruitment campaign on our behalf as our trusted Recruitment Partners.

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.
However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Kingston we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our STAR values.
Here at Kingston we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.