Principal Planners / Principal Planning Policy Officers

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

Shape Kingston’s Future – Lead, Influence, Deliver

We’re looking for experienced and ambitious Principal Planners and Principal Planning Policy Officers to play a leading role in shaping Kingston’s growth, development, and long-term spatial strategy. As a senior member of the Planning Service and Deputy Team Leader, you’ll manage complex projects, mentor colleagues, and help deliver excellence across both Development Management and Planning Policy.

Why Kingston?

From our historic riverside and vibrant market town to major regeneration schemes and evolving neighbourhoods, Kingston is one of London’s most dynamic boroughs. You’ll play a key role in high-profile projects—balancing heritage with innovation and creating sustainable, high-quality places for our communities.

Whether your strengths lie in development management, planning policy, or a combination of both, this is a chance to shape the borough’s physical, environmental, and social future.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

What You’ll Do

Development Management Focus

• Lead on major and complex planning applications, ensuring compliance, quality, and timely outcomes.
• Review, sign off and make recommendations on planning applications of all types (subject to delegation).
• Represent the service at Planning Committees and Neighbourhood Committees, supporting effective decision-making.
• Provide expert advice to applicants, stakeholders and internal teams.

Planning Policy Focus

• Assist with the preparation of the Local Plan and related planning policy documents for specific areas, topics or neighbourhoods.
• Contribute to topic papers, planning briefs and policy material used across corporate strategy work.
• Support the programme of survey, data analysis and evidence gathering required for policy development.
• Assist in public participation and community engagement exercises.
• Monitor development trends across the borough and prepare related statistics and reporting.
• Advise on the policy implications of planning applications.
• Lead on transport policy advice, including responding to strategic consultations and interpreting Government strategies.

Leadership & Service Improvement

• Manage and mentor planners, fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Lead individual projects and workstreams, sometimes including budget responsibility.
• Drive service innovation and contribute to annual planning processes and performance targets.
• Deputise for senior officers—up to and including the Head of Spatial Planning—as required.

What We’re Looking For

Minimum Requirements

• Chartered membership (or eligibility for Chartered or Associate membership) of the RTPI.
• Experience meeting the criteria for progression from Grade I in the Role Profile.

Experience & Skills (Applicable Across Both Roles)

• Significant experience in Development Management or Planning Policy, including complex projects and strategic workstreams.
• Strong leadership and mentoring skills with the ability to influence at senior level.
• Comprehensive understanding of planning legislation, local government operations, and relevant national policy.
• A proactive, customer-focused approach aligned to Kingston’s STAR values: Supportive, Transparent, Appreciative, Respectful.
• Able to achieve challenging performance targets and contribute to continuous improvement.

Planning Policy – Desirable Additional Experience

• Experience of Examinations in Public for the Local Plan.
• Experience managing policy-focused projects or supervising other planners.
• Ability to lead technical work, transport planning input, and strategic evidence development.

Join Us

This is a unique opportunity to help shape Kingston’s future - delivering sustainable growth, vibrant communities, and a forward-thinking planning service in one of London’s most exciting boroughs. If you’re ready to lead, influence, and deliver, we’d love to hear from you.

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.