Planning Policy Team Leader

PLEASE NOTE: this role will receive a 2.9% salary increase with effect from 1st April 2025 in line with our annual pay award. 

We have a brand new opportunity for a Planning Policy Team Leader to join our team at Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council.

This is an exciting time to join the team and there is a real opportunity to lead the team and shape the future direction of the emerging local plan and the future of the Borough.

There are demanding times to come – balancing growth and constraints in our new Local Plan; sustaining local economic growth; providing housing that is truly affordable; fostering our important rural economy; working with local communities where disadvantage exists in an otherwise affluent place; working in an environment where pressures on infrastructure are growing and planning around the concerns of flooding - just to list a few of our current challenges.

Our Borough is partly Green Belt and AONB with a diverse range of towns, villages and countryside. In Tonbridge we have a town centre with major improvement opportunities. The Borough offers a breadth of experience for the professional planner found in few other places, being both a place of high business growth and traditional agricultural characteristics of the Garden of England.

You may be an experienced team leader looking for a challenging new role or an enthusiastic and ambitious Senior Planner looking to develop into your first senior management role. What we need is someone who is a self-starter who can work with consultants and stakeholders and handle complex planning matters so that Tonbridge and Malling can continue to be at the forefront of change.

You will need to be a Member of the RTPI and have experience of development plan preparation with an emphasis on developing new and innovative approaches to policy-making.

For an informal discussion about this role please contact Kelly Sharp, Planning Policy Manager Kelly.Sharp@tmbc.gov.uk (Direct candidates only, strictly no agencies).