Head of Estate Planning & Consent

Head of Estate Planning & Consent

Location: RG7 4PR, located between Reading and Basingstoke, with free onsite parking.

Package: A competitive salary aligned with the seniority and impact of this role.

Working

Pattern: AWE operates a 9-day working fortnight, with every other Friday as a non‑working day.

For this role, employees are required to work fully onsite.

We support flexible working arrangements where possible, including part-time and varied working hours, while maintaining an onsite presence.

Key responsibilities and accountabilities include

• Lead AWE's planning and consent strategy, providing expert advice to senior leaders and stakeholders.
• Define and maintain standards for planning applications, consents and regulatory compliance across the estate.
• Oversee planning applications from development through submission, approval and implementation.
• Ensure compliance with planning conditions and associated consents across AWE sites.
• Manage AWE's external planning commitments and site development activities.
• Review local and national planning policies, assessing potential impacts on AWE's operations and future programmes.
• Provide planning advice to AWE and Mo D on external developments that could affect AWE sites and interests.
• Represent AWE with regulators, local authorities, government bodies and community stakeholders.
• Lead site‑wide consenting activities relating to biodiversity, sustainability, net zero and other strategic initiatives.
• Act as the central point of coordination for planning and consent activities across the business.
• Work closely with legal, environmental, engineering and project delivery teams to ensure aligned and efficient approvals processes.
• Identify future planning and consent requirements and support stakeholders in developing robust submissions.
• Advise on key planning risks, issues and opportunities, ensuring these are effectively managed and communicated.
• Support the development of AWE's Establishment Master Plan and long‑term Estate Strategy.
• Lead the management of planning appeals and inquiries, including acting as an expert witness where required.
• Develop and maintain AWE's Travel Plan, identifying opportunities to enhance sustainability and site accessibility.

Who are we looking for?

• Significant experience in town and country planning, estate development, infrastructure planning or consenting.
• Strong knowledge of planning legislation, policy and regulatory requirements.
• Experience leading complex planning applications and securing development consents.
• Proven ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders, regulators and local authorities.
• Experience managing planning‑related risks, governance and compliance activities.
• Strong understanding of sustainability, biodiversity and environmental planning considerations.
• Ability to interpret national and local planning policy and assess its impact on business operations.
• Experience developing and implementing strategic plans that support long‑term organisational objectives.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong leadership capability, with experience leading teams and delivering outcomes in complex organisations.
• Work hard, be rewarded: In return we offer balance, with award winning benefits including:
• 9-day working fortnight – meaning you get every other Friday off work, in addition to 270 hours of annual leave.
• Market leading contributory pension scheme (we will pay between 9% and 13% of your pensionable pay depending on your contributions).
• Family friendly policies: Maternity Leave - 39 Weeks Full Pay and Paternity Leave - 4 Weeks Full Pay.
• Opportunities for Professional Career Development including funding for annual membership of a relevant professional body.
• Employee Assistance Programme and Occupational Health Services.
• Life Assurance (4 x annual salary).
• Discounts – access to savings on a wide range of everyday spending.
• Special Leave Policy including paid time off for volunteering, public service (including reserve forces) and caring.

Important things you need to know

• You will need to obtain and maintain the necessary security clearance for the role. This will be funded by AWE.
• The nature of our work does mean you need to be a British Citizen who has been resident in the UK for the past 5 years in order to apply for SC clearance and 10 years for DV.
• Our interviews typically take place over Teams and for most roles are a 1 stage process.
• We strive to create workplaces where we recognise and celebrate differences, encourage diverse contributions and our employees feel able to be themselves at work.
• We want you to feel comfortable and able to shine during our recruitment process.
• Please note that you must be a British Citizen to apply for a role with us.

Any inclusion information you provide will be stored in accordance with GDPR and kept separate from your application form and CV, and the information will not be shared with anyone involved in interviewing or making hiring decisions.

If you’re looking for a role with excitement, intrigue and something that really makes a difference then now is the time to join AWE.

We are at the start of a once in a generation – possibly two generations – programme to design and produce a replacement warhead for the UK’s continuous at sea deterrent.

We will do this while continuing to deliver the Trident programme as well as managing ambitious state‑of‑the‑art capital and construction projects – some of which have never been done before.

Find out more on our website.

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