About the job

The Role

The DfE Planning Team sits within the Capital Directorate and plays a key role in supporting the delivery of centrally funded new schools, the rebuilding of the existing School and Further Education college estate, and all other capital funded education programmes across England. The team operates on a regional basis and the successful candidates will be responsible for advising on all planning aspects of all school and college projects in a region. The role primarily involves providing initial and on-going advice on strategic and site-specific planning issues; ensuring that planning advice is available through the life of a project; that suitable planning strategies are in place to ensure the timely delivery of planning permissions; and that planning risk is appropriately assessed.

We require two experienced and self-motivated planning professionals to join our team, they will work closely with a multi-disciplinary team of legal, commercial, technical and project delivery experts to ensure the programme objectives are met. The regions of responsibility will be confirmed subject to the location of the preferred candidates and the resourcing requirements across the team.

Person specification

As part of the role, the successful candidates will each have responsibility for at least 50 live projects at any point in time. The role requires effective prioritisation of work and balancing of competing demands. The successful candidates will work closely with other members of the Operational and Forward Planning Team, and with Project Directors, Project Managers, Property Agents, Technical Advisors, Lawyers, and Commercial Procurement colleagues to support the delivery of schools and colleges, and to disseminate good practice.

Along with other team members you will be home based but expected to travel on occasion to DfE or stakeholder offices for meetings, and to school/development locations for site visits. Travel costs will be reimbursed. 

Essential Criteria

The successful candidates will be skilled town planners, with a proven track record of resolving complex planning challenges on sites with multiple constraints in a variety of settings. You will demonstrate the capability and enthusiasm for working independently whilst maintaining a high-performance output against tight deadlines.

You will need to be a qualified Town Planner (MRTPI) with at least 5 years post qualification experience, be that in local authorities, central government and associated bodies, or the private sector. You will have established a reputation as a trusted advisor, with a proven track record of managing and delivering complex projects and securing planning solutions, be it on behalf of applicants, the determining authority, and/or other statutory parties and stakeholders.

Qualifications

We expect candidates to be existing full members of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), or to have the specific qualifications and experience to be eligible for full membership at the time of appointment. 

Benefits

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.