Planning First is a newly established service bringing together staff at Eastbourne Borough and Lewes District Councils concerned with developments related to the local built environments. The inter-disciplinary team includes case workers, planners, policy experts and a small team interested in conservation, regeneration and design issues.

We want to further develop this team, and are currently looking for an experienced Senior Specialist Advisor (Development Manager) able to

• deliver authoritative information, advice and guidance to householders, agents, architects and developers; and to other team members, council colleagues and councillors
• provide written town planning/urban design advice assessing the appropriateness of specific proposals for development submitted through applications for planning permission/ listed building consent
• support the work of the team by taking cases through to determination using delegated powers where appropriate.

The role is interesting and varied, and the successful post-holder will need

• relevant experience delivering a comparable role in a local authority or commercial setting
• an appropriate qualification and/ or credentials, for example RTPI
• excellent written and communication skills, to include the proven ability to convey complex information to non-specialist audiences
• an ability to undertake planning application assessments, audits and reviews; to support policy development and to make positive connections between development, regeneration and urban design agendas
• to be able  to manage workloads and to work with a range of IT packages
• to able to represent the authorities, and act as an ambassador, in dealings with a wide range of external groups

Interested? We’d love to hear from you, in return we can offer you training support and interesting work to really help your career flourish.