Senior Planner in City of London

WEA Planning is a small and growing consultancy based in Archway, working across everyday, visible places in London - housing, leisure, hospitality, care and retail - alongside residential, mixed-use and commercial development. Our work ranges from household planning matters through to more complex applications and appeals.

As the business continues to grow, we’re looking for an experienced Senior Town Planner (around 4+ years’ experience) who enjoys the technical side of planning but also understands that the role is fundamentally about people - building strong relationships with clients, working constructively with local authorities, and finding practical solutions where others see obstacles. This is a hands-on role in a small team where your work moves quickly, your input is visible, and your decisions genuinely matter. If you’re looking for more responsibility, direct involvement in decision-making, and the opportunity to help shape a growing business, we’d like to hear from you.

What you’ll be doing

• You’ll take the lead on a varied portfolio of projects across residential, mixed-use and commercial development, including housing schemes, offices, retail, leisure uses such as padel and arts centres, hospitality venues including restaurants and bars, and care-related developments.
• Run your own caseload from early advice through to submission, negotiation and determination.
• Prepare and coordinate planning applications, supporting documents and planning strategies.
• Work directly with clients, architects and consultants to shape schemes and resolve planning challenges.
• Lead discussions and negotiations with local planning authorities.
• Manage pre-application discussions and responses through the planning process.
• Identify planning risks early and work proactively to resolve them.
• Support and mentor junior team members as the office grows.

A key part of the role is seeing your work move from concept to consent and into the built environment, contributing to places across London that people live, work and spend time in, with planning decisions that have a visible and lasting impact.

What makes this different

• This is a close-knit team where you’re trusted to take real ownership of your work rather than simply support others.
• You’ll have genuine responsibility for your own projects.
• Direct access to senior decision-making.
• The freedom to manage work in a way that suits you, with support when needed.
• A varied workload across residential, mixed-use and commercial schemes.
• The opportunity to influence how the business develops as it grows.

We’re still small enough for your work to be highly visible but growing quickly enough that there’s clear progression as the team expands.

What we’re looking for

• UK planning experience (consultancy or local authority).
• Strong understanding of the London planning system.
• Confidence managing projects and engaging with clients, consultants and planning officers.
• Experience working across a broad mix of sectors is encouraged.
• A genuine interest in how places function and how planning shapes them.
• Curiosity, initiative and a willingness to challenge the status quo.
• MRTPI is welcome, but experience, judgement and approach matter more.

Added bonus of previous business experience.

We’re looking for someone confident taking ownership of their work, comfortable working with a wide range of stakeholders, and able to approach planning in a clear, practical way.

To apply

Send your CV (queries@weaplanning.co.uk) and a short note covering: a project you’re proud of and something you’ve learned about working with people along the way. We’ll then arrange an informal conversation to talk through the role in more detail.