Lead Officer - Planning Enforcement 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:

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for Kingston’s Planning Enforcement function.
• Act as the Council’s senior professional expert on planning enforcement legislation, policy and case law.
• Lead on the most complex, sensitive and high-profile enforcement investigations across the borough.
• Ensure enforcement decisions are robust, defensible, proportionate and clearly aligned with public interest tests.
• Oversee and, where necessary, personally lead investigations into breaches including unauthorised development, listed buildings, HMOs, short-term lets, advertisements, and non-compliance with conditions and Section 106 obligations.
• Direct the preparation and service of formal enforcement notices and legal actions.
• Lead on enforcement appeals and prosecutions, acting as expert witness at hearings, inquiries and court proceedings where required.
• Work closely with Legal Services to agree appropriate enforcement strategies and litigation routes.
• Lead the implementation, review and ongoing development of Kingston’s Planning Enforcement Plan.
• Build strong relationships with Members, residents, community groups, ward councillors and external agencies.
• Provide professional leadership, mentoring and quality assurance to enforcement officers, promoting consistent, fair and lawful decision-making.
• Support service modernisation, digital working and continuous improvement, deputising for the Head of Service on enforcement matters when required.

What we’re looking for:

• Degree in Town Planning or a related built-environment discipline (or equivalent professional qualification).
• Chartered Member of the RTPI (or eligible for chartered membership) or membership of an appropriate professional body.
• Significant experience in planning enforcement, ideally within a London borough or comparable urban authority.
• Proven track record leading complex enforcement cases, appeals and prosecutions.
• Strong experience advising Members and senior officers in politically sensitive environments.
• Expert knowledge of planning enforcement legislation, policy and case law.
• Excellent judgement, negotiation and communication skills, with the ability to manage conflict and maintain public confidence.
• Experience acting as expert witness at appeals or court proceedings (highly desirable).

Join us and safeguard Kingston’s built environment - leading a confident, professional enforcement service that protects communities, heritage and the integrity of the planning system.

About Us

Protect Confidence. Uphold Standards. Lead Enforcement Excellence. We’re looking for an experienced and authoritative planning enforcement professional to lead Kingston’s Planning Enforcement function. This is a senior, highly influential role, ensuring development across the borough is lawful, responsible and consistent with the public interest, while protecting amenity, heritage and community confidence in the planning system.

Why Kingston?

Kingston operates within one of London’s most complex planning environments, balancing growth and regeneration with heritage protection, residential amenity and environmental standards. The borough faces increasing enforcement pressures including unauthorised development, HMOs, short-term lets, listed buildings, advertisement control and non-compliance with conditions and legal agreements. This role sits at the heart of these challenges, shaping a firm, fair and trusted enforcement service.

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. Penna are managing this recruitment campaign on our behalf as our trusted Recruitment Partners. 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. The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.