Director of Planning And Development

Beach Baker has partnered with an established and highly regarded UK property consultancy to recruit a Director of Planning for its growing London planning team.

This is a particularly exciting opportunity for an experienced planning professional to join a new and expanding planning function within a much broader property consultancy, offering the successful individual the platform, relationships and complementary services of an established property business while retaining the opportunity to help shape the future direction of the planning team.

The consultancy provides strategic planning advice across the development lifecycle, working with investors, developers, landowners and public-sector partners. Its planning work covers development potential, planning strategy and feasibility, planning applications, appeals, stakeholder engagement, policy representation, land promotion, project management and S106/CIL advice.

The Opportunity

This is not simply a project delivery role. The successful Director will be expected to combine strong technical planning expertise with commercial awareness, client management and business development.

You will have the opportunity to play a key part in growing a relatively new planning offering within an established property consultancy. The wider business operates across both commercial and residential property, creating opportunities for the planning team to work collaboratively across investment, development and other professional property services.

The planning team itself has been established as part of a wider growth strategy, with an ambition to attract best-in-class planning talent and provide commercially focused planning advice that complements the organisation’s existing property expertise.

For the right individual, this provides an excellent opportunity to build and develop your own client base while benefiting from an established property platform and existing market relationships.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage complex planning instructions across London and the wider UK market.
• Provide strategic planning and development advice to developers, investors and landowners.
• Identify and generate new instructions through your existing professional network.
• Develop long-term relationships with new and existing clients.
• Undertake and oversee planning strategy, development feasibility and planning appraisals.
• Lead major planning applications and provide advice throughout the development lifecycle.
• Advise clients on planning policy, land promotion, stakeholder engagement and S106/CIL matters.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across the organisation’s wider property and development services.
• Identify opportunities to cross-sell planning services across established client relationships.
• Support the continued growth, profile and strategic direction of the planning team.
• Mentor and develop junior planning professionals as the team expands.

These responsibilities reflect the breadth of the consultancy’s existing planning service, which spans feasibility through to planning consent and implementation.

About You

We are particularly interested in speaking with experienced planning professionals currently operating at Director level, as well as ambitious senior-level candidates with the commercial credentials to make the step up.

• You will ideally have:Significant experience within UK Town Planning, ideally within a leading private-sector consultancy.
• Strong knowledge of the London property and development market.
• An established network of developers, investors, landowners and other property-sector contacts.
• A proven ability to win work, generate instructions and develop client relationships.
• Strong commercial awareness and an understanding of how planning advice contributes to wider property and investment objectives.
• Experience leading complex planning applications and development strategies.
• Excellent client-facing, negotiation and stakeholder-management skills.
• The ability to operate autonomously while working collaboratively with colleagues across other property disciplines.
• The ambition to help grow and shape an expanding planning team.
• MRTPI status would be strongly preferred.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

What makes this position particularly attractive is the opportunity to join a growing planning function backed by an established UK property consultancy.

The organisation launched its dedicated planning advisory service as part of a strategy to grow complementary areas of its property business. The planning function was established to strengthen its ability to provide strategic advice to clients throughout the development life cycle.

Rather than joining a large, heavily structured planning department, you will have the opportunity to make a genuine impact on the growth of the team, develop your own market and client relationships, and work alongside experienced professionals across the wider property business.

The consultancy takes a commercially focused approach to planning, combining knowledge of development dynamics, planning policy and market drivers to help clients unlock value from land and property.

Flexibility

The position is London-based and offers a highly flexible hybrid working arrangement, with the ability to work from home up to three days per week.

Salary & Package

The overall package will depend on experience, seniority, track record, client relationships and business development capability.

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