Principal Planning Officer - Internal Applicants Only in Walthamstow

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: £52,104 - £57,402

Contract Type: Full time - Fixed term (6 Months)

Working hours per week: 36

Application Deadline: 27/05/2026

Proposed Interview Date(s): TBC

Reference: 2107

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work. We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

There has never been a more exciting time to work for Waltham Forest Council where we are delivering impactful change with and for our diverse communities across the borough. Waltham Forest Council is at the forefront of development regeneration in London, with an ambitious programme of investment in the borough’s places, people and infrastructure. Our programme is based around economic growth and investment in our 15-minute neighbourhoods, working with and securing benefit for local communities while responding to the economic recovery challenges of the pandemic and the impact of the Climate Emergency.

About the role:

We are looking for someone who has the drive and energy to help deliver this ambitious agenda within the Majors Planning Team by supporting the renewed emphasis on high quality architectural design, residential accommodation and public realm. You will have an appreciation and critical understanding of planning legislation and national and regional policy; confident in tackling new challenges and flexible in your approach to your work to allow you to adapt and meet the needs of the service. You will be a strong team player who can contribute positively to the team and be able to demonstrate initiative and good judgement in making recommendations on a wide range of planning matters. You will be a knowledgeable and experienced Planner with relevant experience of dealing with major pre- and planning applications. You will have your own caseload of applications, often dealing with more complex planning issues including pre-application and possibly appeal work as required. You will be capable of developing good working relationships with a range of stakeholders, including the need to respond sensitively to the needs of the community and to deliver a service around the needs of our customers.

Key Responsibilities:

• You will be responsible for managing a varied caseload of planning applications, pre-applications requests and appeals.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Masters Degree in Urban and Town Planning or relevant degree and planning service experience.
• Eligibility for membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute.

Terms and conditions:

• Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
• Satisfactory declaration of interest;
• Continued professional body registration;
• As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives:

• Promoting equality of opportunity
• Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage
• Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels.
• Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all.

Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Sonia Malcolm at sonia.malcolm@walthamforest.gov.uk. If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

Fraud Awareness Notice: The London Borough of Waltham Forest only advertises vacancies via our official website and approved recruitment platforms (e.g. Jobsgopublic). We will never ask for payment or request sensitive personal or financial information as part of our recruitment process.