Senior Planning Assistant

Salary: £31,537 to £34,434 per annum

Grade: H

Contract: Fixed Term, maternity cover, secondments will be considered

Hours: Full Time 37 Hours

Location: Selby, North Yorkshire

About the Role:

We are looking to recruit a Senior Planning Assistant, who will work within a team based in the Selby office to provide a range of specialist services across the whole of the Planning Service. This is a maternity cover for a 12 month period and we are looking for someone who already has experience within planning, ideally development management and is looking to their knowledge to the next level.

Our Service

The Council’s Planning Services play a fundamental role in managing the natural and built environment, ensuring that the future development needs of the county can be accommodated to make it a better place in which to live and work. It is one of the largest planning functions in the country covering one of the largest geographical areas including national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty, to small market town and large urban areas.

The Operations team are responsible for many technical aspects of case processing across the range of responsibilities within the Planning Service – including Development Management, Building Control, Policy & Place, Infrastructure and Delivery, Land Charges, Street Naming & Numbering, data management, system use.

The Role

Senior Planning Assistants play a vital role in supporting the work of the Planning service and Building Control. We are looking for someone with excellent knowledge of all aspects of Development Management to work within a team providing a wide range of specialist technical services across the whole of the Planning service, to ensure efficient, effective and compliant service delivery. You will undertake work across a diverse range of back office and ‘front of house’ services within a busy customer-facing environment.

Tasks a Senior Planning Assistant would be expected to carry out include:

• Processing and managing minor application cases to decision, including but not limited to, permitted development planning enquiries
• Undertake site visits to assess suitability to proposals
• Negotiating with professional agents on submissions
• Providing technical expertise across a diverse range of service activities, including undertaking survey work for Tree Preservation Orders by way of an example
• Validating the most complex application cases and notifications, including liaising with applicants/agents when required
• Co-ordinating Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulation requests
• Improving working practises through application of business improvement methodologies
• Involved in supporting projects and undertaking small scale projects in relation to improving working practises
• Support Planning Assistants with training and building knowledge

What you will bring

Ideally you will have experience working and delivering all aspects of Development Management, knowledge of Building Control. Experience working with electronic systems and document management systems. Knowledge of process improvement, be able to manage and prioritise your own workload. You should be an effective communicator who has the ability to work and relate with customers at all levels, Is someone who is organised with effective time management skills. You will have experience working within a team environment, providing advice and guidance to others to help resolve complex queries with a good attention to detail. Have the ability to negotiate and influence others is an essential skill for this role, as is being a confident decision taker. Have knowledge of Street Naming and Numbering applications.

What can we offer you?

In addition to your salary, we offer a range of great benefits to help you financially and make life a bit easier.

These include:

• A local government pension scheme with 15.1% employer contribution
• Salary sacrifice schemes
• Employee discount benefits including shopping, supermarkets, gym discounts and more!
• Travel loans
• Health Assured – confidential help and support for your wellbeing

Click on our Total Rewards Brochure at the bottom of this advert to see the full range of benefits.

Contact and Apply

For more details about the role, or if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Liz Sandell – Elizabeth.sandell@northyorks.gov.uk

Key Documents:

Job Description.docx

Total Rewards Brochure

Key Dates:

Closing Date: Tuesday 30th June

Interview Date: Friday 10th July

NYC are committed to directly recruiting staff and will not accept applications nor services from agency suppliers in respect of our vacancies.

We are committed to meeting the needs of our diverse community and aim to have a workforce reflecting this diversity. We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

North Yorkshire Councils’ purpose is to deliver services and facilities to the diverse residents and visitors of North Yorkshire. To ensure we deliver inclusive services we strive to have a diverse workforce where everybody can be themselves by respecting differences and embedding equality of opportunity. We celebrate diversity and recognise each other’s contributions; we therefore welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds.