Senior Planning Officer

Job summary

We are MHCLG

The plan-led approach is the cornerstone of our planning system. Effective, up-to-date local plans are essential to planning for and delivering the development the country needs; in ways that make good use of land and result in well-designed and attractive places to live.

We are currently reforming the way in which local plans are prepared, and we are in the process of implementing a new plan-making system for England. Alongside this we are supporting local authorities bring forward plans in the ‘legacy’ and in the new plan-making systems.

As a result of this increased work there are now opportunities for experienced Senior Planning Officers to join our Development Plans Division. We have exciting roles within both the Local Plan Strategy and Local Plan Delivery and Intervention Teams. We are a friendly and supportive division of experienced planners and policy and data professionals, located across the country.

These are high-profile areas of work, closely linked to the Government’s growth mission, at the heart of the planning reform programme and central to increasing local plan coverage. England’s local plan making system is undergoing the biggest overhaul in a generation. The reforms we are implementing introduce a new-plan making process that will ensure that local plans are prepared faster and kept up-to-date, and easier for people to engage with and understand.

The Local Plan Strategy Team role is central to our ongoing plan-making reforms and offers an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of developing and implementing the reforms. The Local Plan Delivery and Intervention Team role spans the new and legacy system seeking to ensure more up to date plans are in place across the country.

Job description

Role 1- Your work in the Local Plan Strategy Team involves working on implementing the new plan making system, including:

• Developing the new plan-making system: supporting the development of the remaining regulations to implement the new plan-making system for England, and preparing new policy and guidance for the new system, including the approach to local plan preparation and evidence.
• Data standards: supporting the development of statutory data standards for plan-making.
• Rolling-out the new plan-making system: working with planning authorities and statutory bodies to help ensure a successful roll-out of the new plan-making system.
• Providing quality advice: including preparing reports, briefings and advice for Ministers and senior civil servants, drafting responses to parliamentary questions and responding to correspondence from stakeholders.
• Working collaboratively: including with legal colleagues, planning authorities, The Planning Inspectorate, The Planning Advisory Service, digital partners and the wider Department to support the implementation of reforms to the planning system.

Role 2 – Your work in the Local Plan Delivery and Intervention Team involves working on the legacy and new planning system to ensure that there is increased coverage of up to date plans. Your work in the team will include:

• Supporting delivery: meeting with local authority officers in their geographical area to discuss local plan progress, and develop relationships and provide support.
• Providing quality advice: responsibility for Local Plan Delivery casework, such as providing timely advice at pace to Ministers, for example, on requests to exercise the Secretary of States intervention powers in plan making.
• Delivering at pace: leading on correspondence, briefing and parliamentary questions for all LPAs in their geographical area.
• Collaboration to support delivery: providing support via the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) to councils develop their local plans in good time and help to manage the PAS support programme.
• Working collaboratively: form constructive working relationships with a number of external stakeholders, representing the Department at any external meetings/events and working closely with internal departmental stakeholders to ensure plan progress.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Has a minimum of 3 years’ experience of working in planning or a related field and has developed a technical planning knowledge gained either through a professional qualification and/or experience.
• Is a chartered member of or qualifies to apply for chartered membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute via the licentiate, associate or experienced practitioner routes.
• Ability to form strong, effective working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders including officials across Whitehall, subject-matter experts, and external bodies.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to use data, evidence, and stakeholders’ views to outline options for policy development, and present clear conclusions.
• Comfortable working at pace and under pressure while handling challenging policy and delivery issues, both alone and as part of a team.
• Can work flexibly, responding to competing priorities and ensuring work is done to a high standard and on time.
• Strong verbal communication skills, including the ability to verbally brief colleagues and Ministers on relevant matters in a succinct and engaging way.
• Strong written communication skills, including the ability to translate complex technical matters into plain English, and identify options and recommendations.
• Can operate in a fast paced and challenging environment which will offer significant development opportunities to the successful candidate.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £47,352, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £13,717 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Staff Benefits Scheme, Childcare Vouchers, and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Application and Selection

The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:

Ability , Behaviours , Experience , Strengths , Technical

Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information.

Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link.

Important: Your CV and Cover Letter must be merged into a single document before uploading.

Stage 1: Sift (CV & Cover Letter)

Experience: Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page referencing how you meet the criteria set out in the job description.

In your CV and covering letter, please include:
a. why you are interested in the role;
b. how you meet the essential skills and experience required

If you run into any technical problems when applying through Be Applied (for example, trouble logging in or submitting your application), their support team can help. Please contact them at hello@beapplied.com.

If we receive many applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead behaviour listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

Lead Sift: Communicating and Influencing

Stage 2: Interview

• Behaviours: Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace
• Experience: Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.
• Technical: Technical questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.
• Strengths: The strength-based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.

Candidates will be asked to complete a written exercise, further details will be provided on invitation to interview.

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 27th July 2026.

Interviews are envisaged to take place the week commencing 10th August 2026 and are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change.

Disability Confident Scheme (DCS)

We are a Disability Confident employer.

We apply a fair and proportionate interview process for all candidates. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to progress candidates who apply under the Disability Confident Scheme and meet the required minimum selection criteria.

However, where high application volumes are received, progression to interview may be limited to those who best meet the role criteria. In these circumstances, the benchmark required to proceed to interview may be raised for all candidates.

How We Recruit

Find out more about our recruitment processes here.

• Applying

• Sifting

• Interview

• Interview Results & Feedback

• Reserve List

• Near Miss

• Civil Service Grades

• We are a Disability Confident Scheme, Redeployment Interview scheme & Great Place to Work for Veterans employer

• Reasonable Adjustments

How to Apply

Find out everything you need to know before applying here.

You must review the following information from the MHCLG Career's Site before submitting your application. This step is essential to ensure your eligibility for the role and that your application is completed correctly.

• Security Clearance Requirements

• Civil Service Nationality Requirements

• Right to Work

• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles

• CV Declaration

• Sponsorships

• Salary and Grade

• Existing Civil Servants

• Conflict of Interest

• Location and Flexible Working

• Internal Fraud Database

• Appeals and Complaints

• Fixed Term Appointments for:

• External Candidates

• Existing Civil Servants (Including Loans)

• Secondments

• MHCLG employees

Security Clearance Requirements

National Office:

London Office: + CTC

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Sara Lewis
• Email : Sara.Lewis@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@communities.gov.uk

Further information

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team - recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:

a procedural irregularity

an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy

exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day.

It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at recruitment@communities.gov.uk.

If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk