School Planning Officer in Stevenage

The School Planning team commissions schools and school places as part of the Local Authority’s statutory duty to ensure a sufficient supply of school places across the county. It strategically plans school capacity across an area, engaging with headteachers, Governing Bodies and Academy Trusts to negotiate the right number of school places to meet demand through the adjustment of admissions numbers, expansion and contraction of school size, opening new schools as well as school closures, leading and coordinating statutory processes round school reorganisation.

We formulate the Local Authority’s education infrastructure response to long term housing growth proposals ensuring land is secured for new school provision as part of District Council Local Plan making processes. The team leads on planning new school provision within areas of new strategic housing growth across the county whilst also engaging in discussions with schools in existing towns and villages about the right number of school places to meet local demand, working with multi-disciplinary teams across the organisation including Admissions, Property, Finance, Growth & Infrastructure colleagues.

This role involves leading on school planning activity, with a focus on major projects and county wide programmes of work, as well as working alongside other School Planning Officers to deliver on specific projects. You will be responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient school places within the designated programmes of work and projects.

You will devise strategies from data analysis and other intelligence, formulating deliverable proposals through multi-disciplinary working and negotiating with school leaders, Governing Bodies and Trusts. You will lead on statutory proposals in line with relevant legislation and draft reports to support member decisions through the political process. You will produce evidence-based need cases to identify and secure land as part of strategic local plan making processes and feed into negotiations to secure funding contributions from developers to mitigate the impact of new housing on education infrastructure within your projects. You will work collaboratively with other teams and organisations to ensure the programmes of work and projects are delivered on time and to budget.

Essential:

• Qualifications to include at least 2 A levels and / or equivalent work experience.
• Demonstrable critical thinking skills with the ability to analyse complex datasets and draw well-founded conclusions.
• Demonstratable skills in project management.
• Experience of strategic thinking and planning.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences both in writing and verbally.
• Evidence of sound and effective negotiation skills demonstrating the ability to influence outcomes in challenging situations.
• Experience of successfully achieving positive results through working collaboratively with others.
• Strong organisation skills, able to work self-directed under pressure.
• Demonstrable good understanding of the complexities of operating in a political environment.
• Driving license and access to a car.

Desirable:

• Qualified to degree level.
• Previous school planning experience or similar/associated roles such as town planning.
• A good understanding of school organisation and the role of the Local Authority as commissioner.

This is a varied role, working with a number of different teams across the organisation as well as externally engaging with District Councils, School leaders, Governing Bodies, Academy Trusts and the Department for Education, whilst also working with elected Members to secure support for school planning proposals. It is a great opportunity for you to further develop your analytical, critical thinking and negotiation skills and gaining a deeper understanding of the school place planning landscape in Hertfordshire.

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is Level 12.

To hear more about this opportunity please contact Kate Leahy (Head of Service) on 01992 555864 or Mark Green (School Planning Manager) on 01707 292669.

Interview Date: 17th June 2026

Benefits of working for us

How To Apply: As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert/job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Additional Information:

Disability Confident: We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Safeguarding: This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Driving Required: You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.

English Fluency: The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post.