Lead Officer (Planning Delivery) in Kingston upon Thames

About The Borough

Found in zone 6 with good transport links in and out of London, Kingston is a vibrant and diverse university town which creates the rich sense of community shared across the borough and its Residents. Kingston boasts an idyllic riverside location, good shopping and great restaurants, as well as a mix of modern and historic town centre. Kingston has lots of open parklands and cycle routes that help connect the district town centres into an enjoyable place to live and work.

We are passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

About The Role And Our Ideal Candidate

What you’ll do:

• Project manage the planning journey for high-profile, complex developments from pre-application to approval.
• Coordinate a multi-disciplinary “development team” approach, overseeing officers, consultants, and stakeholders.
• Negotiate infrastructure and community benefits through Section 106 and CIL agreements.
• Represent the Council at Planning Committees, public meetings, and act as expert witness at appeals.
• Commission specialist advice and manage procurement in line with regulations.
• Drive innovation, manage budgets, and deputise for the Head of Development Management.

What we’re looking for:

• Degree-level qualification in Town Planning (or related discipline) and RTPI chartered membership (or eligibility).
• Significant experience leading and advising on major planning applications.
• Strong project management and negotiation skills, with the ability to influence at senior level.
• Comprehensive knowledge of planning legislation and local government operations.
• A collaborative leader committed to Kingston’s values: Innovative, Open, Smart.

Join us and help deliver Kingston’s vision – creating sustainable growth, vibrant communities, and a forward-thinking planning service in one of London’s most dynamic boroughs.

About Us

Drive Kingston’s Regeneration – Lead Strategic Planning Delivery

We’re looking for a dynamic planning professional to lead the delivery of Kingston’s most significant development projects. Acting as the link between developers and the Council, you’ll manage the planning process end-to-end for major schemes, ensuring high-quality outcomes that meet community needs and corporate ambitions.

Why Kingston?

With ambitious housing targets and major regeneration projects like Cambridge Road Estate (2,000 new homes) and other strategic sites, Kingston is one of London’s most exciting boroughs for growth. This is your opportunity to shape its future and make a lasting impact.

Our Offer To You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 25-32 days, plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade.
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave.
• Three volunteering days per year in Kingston.
• Hybrid working (dependent on the role).
• Flexible and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks.
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses.
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres.
• Interest free season ticket loans.
• Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme.
• Electric vehicle leasing scheme.
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support.

Application Process

For more information and to apply, please visit www.kingstonjobs.co.uk. Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities. However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Kingston we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our STAR values.

Here at Kingston we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups. To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda. We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.