Planning Officer

Job Introduction

Planning Officers x2

37 hours per week, Permanent

£38,510 - £42,123 per annum

Wychavon and Malvern Hills District Councils have an ambitious growth strategy and will be building over 20,000 homes and 300 hectares of employment land over the next 15 years. The strategy includes the delivery of the major new settlements at Worcestershire Parkway for 10,000 homes, combined with ambitious strategies to regenerate our existing centres such as Evesham and Droitwich this is your chance to help shape the future of some of the fastest growing Districts in the West Midlands.

We have recently expanded our Planning team and are continuing to invest in the future of the service. Following a number of successful internal promotions and career progression opportunities within the team, we are now looking to appoint two Planning Officers to help support the next stage of our growth.

These roles offer the opportunity to work on a varied caseload of planning applications within a supportive and ambitious service that values professional development and progression.

This is a great opportunity for an experienced planning professional to develop your career and broaden your experience within an award-winning, supportive and ambitious shared planning service that was named RTPI West Midlands Local Planning Authority of the Year 2025.

About you

We are looking for a candidate who has:

• Experience of dealing with minor and other category planning applications as well as householder applications
• Comprehensive and up to date knowledge of planning law and practice.
• A recognised qualification in town planning or substantial experience gained within the Town Planning field.
• Full Royal Town Planning Institute (MRTPI) membership, or a willingness to work towards full membership, and be able to demonstrate a commitment to continual professional development (CPD).
• Good computer literacy.
• The ability to manage a caseload of applications.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills.

You will be required to attend regular Planning Committee meetings and undertake site visits. Therefore, the postholder must have the ability to travel around the district without the reliance of public transport.

The roles will be based at either the Council House, Malvern, or the Civic Centre, Pershore. If you have a preference in your base location, please detail this in your application to be considered. Please note, whilst we will try our best to accommodate this, it will be decided upon service requirement.

What we can offer

Our staff are at the heart of what we do and are key to ensuring we deliver Our Council Plan (attached) to make a positive difference to our communities, our economy and our environment. We are always looking to recruit, develop and retain the very best talent we can find. So, as well as a rewarding career, we offer a range of attractive benefits, such as:

• Excellent pension scheme with employer contributions
• Generous annual leave entitlement with options to purchase additional annual leave
• Committed training programme and development opportunities
• Onsite nursery with 20% staff discount (Pershore office)
• Discounted Gym and swim membership
• Health and Wellbeing support and a Free Employee Assistance scheme including access to counselling services
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Employee Discounts with a range of companies including EE and the Kaarp discount scheme

We are an employer that values face to face communication, collaboration and connection, therefore all our roles have an office-based requirement with some agile working as part of the role.

Please note: Malvern Hills District Council does not currently offer sponsorship for candidates without the Right to Work in the UK.

To discuss the post or for further information, please contact Emily Allport, Development Management Lead Officer Emily.allport@malvernhills.gov.uk, Clare Bull, Development Manager (Wychavon) at clare.bull@malvernhills.gov.uk or Simon Jones, Development Manager (Malvern) at simon.jones@malvernhills.gov.uk.

Closing date: Sunday 11 October 2026

Interview date: Thursday 22 October 2026 held at the Civic Centre, Pershore WR10 1PT

Please note if we experience a high intake of applications, we may close the role and interview for the position sooner than advertised.