Senior Planning Officer (Policy and DM roles available) INTERNAL ONLY

About the role

Come join us:

North Northamptonshire Council is a product of local government reorganisation which took place across Northamptonshire in 2021. We have brought together the four former district and borough and county Local Planning Authority planning functions and working through a transformation programme to create a single high-performing planning service for North Northamptonshire.

North Northamptonshire is a high-growth area offering an exciting opportunity for professional development. We are working on preparing a new Local Plan to provide a spatial vision for the whole area. We are delivering sustainable urban extensions in differing phases of development, a wealth of large commercial and industrial development proposals and everything in between. This is a role that can offer a breadth of opportunities to build knowledge and experience, in a job that is both challenging and rewarding.

What will you be doing?

In this dynamic role you will play a vital part in supporting the effective delivery of North Northamptonshire’s planning functions. You will be at the forefront of providing customer service, engaging with a range of internal and external stakeholders, including members of the public, applicants and councillors, ensuring every interaction reflects our commitment to the future of our area.

You will be joining us at an exciting time as we implement our new team structure, come together in new headquarter offices, and roll-out new planning software and ways of working. You will then be part of our continuing transformation and improvement journey, influencing the service.

We are looking to recruit Senior Planning Officers to separate roles either with a policy focus or a focus on Development Management. You will be part of a team structure, either in Development Management or Planning Policy, that is designed to ensure that you can benefit from the support and guidance of colleagues to help you achieve your potential.

What sets us apart is that our Senior Planning Officer roles have inclusive job descriptions designed to provide the flexibility so that you can take on a wide variety of planning tasks. Whilst your principal responsibilities will be focused on either delivering the work programme in Planning Policy, or supporting the timely determination of planning applications in the Development Management team, we will support you to gain a breadth of experience. For example, through our ‘Development Team’ approach we will offer opportunities for all officers to be involved in largescale and high-profile developments.

Please note Interviews will be held on the 8th or 9th January 2026

About you

You will hold a relevant degree and qualifications or have the appropriate experience that would allow you to be eligible for chartered membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute (or equivalent).

You will be able to demonstrate relevant experience either of being responsible for a variety of planning applications or planning policy projects.

Able to deliver good customer service and perform under pressure

Able to travel across multiple sites, undertake site visits, and attend meetings as required.

Our Benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!

Why choose us?

We offer a vibrant working environment with:

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

About us

Our Values and Behaviours

Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:

Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

Disability Confident Employer

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.

Our Employment and Disability Service provides bespoke support to individuals facing barriers to employment, helping them work towards their goals to start, stay and succeed in employment. For further information please click here The Employment and Disability Service (EADS) | North Northamptonshire Council

Armed Forces Community

The council obtained the Gold status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS).

Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)