Principal Whole Life Carbon Officer in City of Westminster

Job Reference: WCC623174

Closing Application on 20th Feb 2026

The Role:

As Principal Whole Life Carbon Officer you can make your own powerful contribution to Westminster’s success. You’ll join the Town Planning team and support our commitment to achieving Net Zero by reducing Scope 3 emissions associated with construction projects. With the support of the Innovate UK fund and in collaboration with Preoptima, we’re currently rolling out our Planning Application Carbon Evaluation and Reduction (PACER) digital platform – this will transform the review of whole life carbon assessments in planning, creating a robust, standardised and transparent process which will upskill officers and collate valuable data for informing policy.

It’ll be your responsibility to oversee the use and integration of this platform, ensuring consistency and accuracy of the review process, liaising with applicants and consultants to ensure its efficient use, and gathering feedback from our stakeholders with the aim of identifying challenges and improving the end-user experience. Supporting Policy Officers as they implement policy and guidance to achieve our Net Zero and Circular Economy aims will be another vital task, and we’ll also expect you to provide advice on whole life carbon requirements, and draft guidance and updates to environmental supplementary planning documents.

But your work won’t stop here – you’ll also assist the Principle Sustainability Officer in reviewing major applications and applications involving substantial demolition, support the review of carbon options appraisals submitted in pre-redevelopment audits, and critically analyse Whole Life Carbon Assessments submitted for planning applications. In addition, you’ll have a number of important budget responsibilities – these include applying and allocating funds to different functions and projects.

About You:

To be a success in this vital role you’ll have well developed technical knowledge of whole life carbon assessments, datasets and carbon conversion factors, and plenty of experience relating to the development and use of digital tools to undertake this sort of work. And as a collaborative, partnership-focused worker, you’ll have promoted awareness of climate change, net zero or environmental sustainability, and supported the uptake of net zero goals. Some knowledge of planning processes would be desirable, as would experience of retrofitting existing buildings, carbon options appraisals, stakeholder engagement and undertaking research to record the impact of interventions.

Capable of learning from experience, sharing your expertise with colleagues and upskilling the council, your superb communication abilities will see you interacting with a diverse range of stakeholders and presenting complex information clearly. This will include writing project plans, progress reports and policy recommendations, interpreting information from different sources and drawing sound conclusions. A critical and analytical thinker with good problem solving skills, you should also be able to plan your time effectively and deliver to tight deadlines.

When it comes to qualifications we’ll look for a degree in a relevant field – for example in architecture, structural engineering, building services or environmental engineering, and a post-graduate qualification or chartership in a related area would be desirable. Highly motivated, your strong commitment to environmental sustainability and the net zero transition will mean you stay up to date with the latest research and best practices in the fields of whole life carbon, the circular economy and sustainability. In addition, you should also have good knowledge of the latest innovations being employed or developed in the construction industry to reduce carbon emissions.

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.

The Council is committed to achieving diverse shortlists to support our desire to increase the number of staff from underrepresented groups in our workforce. We especially encourage applications from a Global Majority (GM), people who are Black, Asian, Brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global south, or have been racialised as "ethnic minorities" background and, while the role is open to all applicants, we will utilise the positive action provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to appoint a candidate from a global majority background where there is a choice between two candidates of equal merit. If you are from a Global Majority background you can self-declare this to the hiring manager as part of our positive action commitments.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way.

As a forward thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.

Interview date: Weeks commencing 23 February 2026 and 2 March 2026