Principal Town Planner in London

We’re looking for a skilled and experienced Principal Planning Consultant to join our market-leading Planning Resilience team at Capita. As the Principal Planner, you’ll lead on major planning applications, provide expert advice, and help drive service improvements for our Local Authority clients. With access to a wide range of projects and a supportive team of over 200 planning professionals, this is a chance to make a real impact—on your career and the communities we serve. This role is open to applicants across the UK and Northern Ireland.

What you’ll be doing:

• Process major planning applications in a timely manner, producing robust reports and recommendations to achieve desired and deliverable outcomes.
• Undertake pre-application discussions on major proposals, some under Planning Performance Agreements.
• Prepare and present evidence on appeals for external clients.
• Contribute to the delivery and improvement of business management systems, procedures and processes.
• Provide support and guidance to peers and more junior staff and ensure contemporary planning issues and legislation are cascaded and understood.
• Support the growth of the team by making a positive contribution to business development, securing repeat work and applying a commercial lens to all work undertaken.
• Provide consistently high-quality professional advice on planning matters to clients, members of the public, councillors and others as necessary.
• Negotiate with applicants and a wide range of stakeholders in order to obtain high-quality outcomes within given time constraints set out in our contractual arrangements with clients.
• Provide concise, accurate, justified and timely reports and recommendations on major planning applications and pre-application discussions applying current legislation and policy changes as appropriate.
• Keep up to date with current and emerging policy development at a local, regional and national level so that clients are in a strong position to benefit from existing policies and potential changes.
• Be involved in service improvements and our business operations to ensure resilience, competitive edge, efficiency and effectiveness going forward.

What we’re looking for:

• Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute.
• Minimum of 7 years of relevant experience, including proven expertise as an expert witness at Planning Inquiries.
• Demonstrable experience working as a Principal Planning Officer or Consultant in the public sector is essential; experience across both public and private sectors would be advantageous.
• Proven ability to lead on Planning Performance Agreements (PPAs).
• A high level of knowledge, understanding and application of current and emerging planning legislation.
• Full, clean UK Driving License with the willingness to travel to meet our client requirements.

Benefits:

• Starting salary: £40,000 per annum, negotiable depending on experience.
• 23 days’ holiday (rising to 27) with the opportunity to buy extra leave.
• The opportunity to take a paid day out of the office, volunteering for our charity partners or a cause of your choice.
• A discretionary annual bonus / car allowance or company car – if applicable.
• Auto-enrolment to our company pension, life assurance, a cycle2work scheme, 15 weeks’ fully paid maternity, adoption and shared parental leave, paternity pay of two weeks…and plenty more.
• Voluntary benefits designed to suit your lifestyle – from discounts on retail and socialising, to health & wellbeing, travel and technology.
• Access to our Employee Network Groups, which represent every strand of diversity and allow colleagues to connect and learn from each other on an open, inclusive platform.

About Capita Local Public Service:

Capita Public deliver services and solutions that keep the UK government including local councils running and improving services to the public. Capita Local Public Services (LPS) is a £170m business with 3,000 staff working in a matrix operating model to deliver services to over 50 clients, encompassing both Local Government and Community Health (NHS). Capita has a long and rich history working with Local Government and the NHS and both markets are central to our growth strategy for the next 5 years.

Unlock Your Potential with Capita:

At Capita, your career can take you wherever your ambition leads. You are part of a diverse network of talented, forward-thinking professionals working across a wide range of disciplines and sectors. We’re committed to your growth — offering exciting opportunities to expand your skills, explore new paths, and advance your career.

What we hope you’ll do next:

Choose ‘Apply now’ to fill out our short application, so that we can find out more about you.

Equal Opportunities:

At Capita, we’re committed to providing an inclusive, barrier-free recruitment process and working environment for everyone. We want everyone to have the best chance of succeeding as they move through their application and start their career with us. We are an equal opportunity and Disability Confident employer; we want to hear from you if you’d like to discuss any adjustments you might need during your recruitment process.