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Job Title:  Area Planner

Grade: Band 2

Salary:  Circa £37,000 - £42,000 (dependant on skills & experience)

Contract:  Permanent / Full Time

Location: Stratford/Southwark and Hybrid Working*

Hybrid working, within this role enables a balance of 50% of time split between the office and home over a 4-week period. Hybrid working arrangements can evolve subject to business requirements.

The closing date for applications is Sunday 15 February @ 23:59

Overview

London is the best big city on Earth. With Spatial Planning at the heart of major planning and investment decisions, we are responsible for helping ensure it stays that way. We are looking for people with big ideas and a passion for planning to help shape the future of the Capital.

It is an exciting time to join the Spatial Planning department. We work to shape London’s future proactively by supporting sustainable development in London and ensuring good future public transport provision. We lead on the integration of land use planning and transport to support the Mayor’s objective of ‘Good Growth’. We develop policies through the London Plan, Opportunity Area Planning Frameworks and Local Plans, along with guidance to make sure they are successfully implemented. We identify and make the case for transport infrastructure to support growth and secure funding from new developments. We advise on the design of the urban realm. We contribute to the planning and delivery of successful major developments by realising improvements to, and mitigating the impacts on, the transport system and the environment.

The Role

As an Area Planner you will be working across a number of London boroughs to get the best outcomes for TfL from a wide range of development proposals, using your transport or town planning knowledge and negotiating and report-writing skills to highlight key issues and secure sustainable transport improvements and appropriate mitigations.

You will work closely with key stakeholders including others across TfL, the GLA, boroughs, developers and their consultants, providing transport advice for planning reports for major developments to the Mayor of London and responses to London boroughs. Within TfL, you will liaise with all of the teams that might be affected by or interested in planning applications, and look to ensure that development achieves the best possible sustainable transport outcomes.

You will also be involved in work to develop, manage and implement frameworks for Growth Areas that will set and deliver the transport strategies for these areas as part of their overall visions for growth, as well as inputting into responses on local policy documents.

We care about you and your development and offer a series of excellent benefits as well as professional development opportunities.

Key Accountabilities

• Undertake technical/policy assessment, liaison and negotiation with internal and external stakeholders including the GLA, development corporations, boroughs and developers to inform TfL's response to major development proposals and masterplans
• Prepare TfL’s response on planning applications, working with teams across TfL to ensure key issues are fully understood and reflected
• Work closely with GLA and borough colleagues to help draft and shape the reports to the Mayor and Local Planning Committees and associated briefings and correspondence
• Represent TfL at meetings with the GLA, boroughs, developers and other bodies to secure transport priorities and appropriate contributions for transport from planning obligations
• Collate evidence and provide input into TfL’s responses to local planning authorities’ policy documents
• Support the Growth Area Team’s work on the development, management and implementation of frameworks and supplementary planning documents for Opportunity Areas, town centres and other growth areas
• Support the London Plan team’s input into the development of Supplementary Planning Guidance for the London Plan as well as developing and justifying policy
• Provide coaching/support to assistant planners, apprentices and work‑experience students

Interfaces

• Team members in the Operating Businesses involved in planning assessments and other project teams
• Relevant Legal officers
• TfL’s consultants and legal advisors
• Case officers in the GLA
• Borough planning officers up to Senior Manager level
• Developers and their consultants
• Central government (eg DfT, DCLG) and other stakeholders (eg development corporations)

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

Skills

• Able to influence and advise key decision makers (Essential).
• Good networking skills to achieve successful outcomes (Essential).
• Good written and verbal communication skills (Essential).
• Able to provide effective technical planning advice to non-technical people (Essential)
• Understanding of European, National, Regional and London policy developments and trends (Desirable)
• Transport Governance (Desirable)
• Compliance with regulatory and legal requirements (Desirable)
• Transport analysis principles and their application (Desirable)
• Able to manage external specialist resource (Desirable)
• Able to manage cases and work in a project team environment to tight timescales (Essential)

Knowledge

• Degree in relevant discipline, membership of relevant professional body (eg RTPI, TPS, CIHT) or equivalent experience (Essential)
• Understanding of the property development process (Desirable)
• Understanding of planning and transport legislation in London, local government, and funding mechanisms (eg S106/CIL) (Essential)
• Understanding of key land use and transport planning challenges facing London (Essential)
• Understanding of the transport assessment process (Desirable)
• Good understanding of a multi-modal urban transport environment (Desirable)
• Good understanding of development control issues as Highway and Traffic Authority (Desirable)
• Broad understanding of urban design principles, viability assessments (Desirable)

Experience

• Some experience in a town planning or transport planning post (Essential)
• Some experience of negotiating with external stakeholders to achieve organisational objectives (Desirable)
• Experience of working in a flexible team environment (Desirable)
• Some experience of preparing evidence and/or advice on land use and transport planning (Desirable)
• Some experience of responding to planning policy documents (Desirable)

Equality, diversity, and inclusion

We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion. We want to represent the city we serve, which will help us become a more innovative and efficient organisation. Our goal is to make our recruitment as inclusive as possible. We are a disability confident employer who guarantee an interview to any disabled candidate who meets all of the essential criteria. We also use anonymising software that removes identifying information from CVs and cover letters to make the process fair.

Application Process 

Think carefully about the skills, knowledge and experience in the advert and cover this in your CV and 1 page Cover letter.

Word format preferred and please do not include any photographs or images.

The closing date for applications is Sunday 15 February @ 23:59

Vetting Process

At Transport for London, safety, trust and fairness sit at the heart of how we recruit. Our Vetting Charter (link here) explains the checks we carry out before you join us, helping ensure we create a safe, inclusive and reliable network for everyone who depends on our services. We simply ask that the information you provide is honest and accurate so we can progress your application smoothly. If something doesn’t match or can’t be verified, we may not be able to move forward with your application but we’ll always treat you with transparency, respect and clear communication throughout. 

TfL is currently unable to provide sponsorship to candidates for this role as the Home Office’s eligibility criteria for sponsorship will not be met. TfL keeps its approach under review in line with changes to UK immigration rules. We are also unable to provide advice or guidance on individual immigration queries and advise candidates to check the Government’s website for further information.

Benefits 

In return for your commitment and expertise, you will enjoy excellent benefits and scope to grow.  Rewards vary according to the business area but mostly include:

• Final salary pension scheme
• Free travel for you on the TfL network
• Reimbursement of 75% of the cost of a standard class Ticket for National Rail travel from home
• 30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays
• Private healthcare discounted scheme (optional)
• Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme
• Retail, health, leisure, and travel offers
• Discounted Eurostar travel

We will make every effort to give you as much notice as possible, however some interviews/assessments could be organised at short notice.