Urban Design Tools Manager, Office for Place

Job summary

Are you interested in how we can create happier, healthier and more sustainable places?

The Office for Place is a newly established non-departmental public body that will develop and share evidence, advice, tools and learning to support the creation and stewardship of places that are beautiful, sustainable, popular, and healthy.

It has its origins in the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission Report �Living with Beauty� which has influenced national planning policy and, through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, the requirement for all local authorities to produce a design code for their area, developed through local community involvement and engagement.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of an organisation whose objectives are to:

� Catalyse a fundamental change within and across all levels of government, communities, and the development, planning and design industries, to support the creation and stewardship of popular, healthy, beautiful, and sustainable places.

� Help neighbourhoods, communities and public servants working on their behalf, to ask for and deliver new places, and manage existing places, to be popular, healthy, beautiful, and sustainable.

� Support public sector planners and the British design and development industries to be amongst the best place makers in the world aided by improving UK and international data on happiness, health, popularity, and sustainability.

To help meet this challenge, we are seeking an urban or architectural designer to support the delivery of a range of innovative tools, templates and products to help local authorities, developers and other planning and development stakeholders to design better, and higher quality, places.

You will be joining a new organisation at the beginning of its journey, with an independent chair and a board of non-executive directors.

You will be able to meaningfully shape the programme of work that the OfP delivers from the earliest stage, helping Office for Place to build its credibility as an expert voice in design, planning and placemaking.

The Office for Place will be subject to the standard review of public bodies which will take place after 3-5 years to ensure continuing delivery for government and the taxpayer.

You can find out more about our work here: ).

Job description

We are currently working in a start-up phase and will be recruiting to a number of roles across different disciplines, we expect all appointed candidates to work flexibility across the organisation and to recognise that job roles may be adjusted as the organisation grows to full capacity over the coming year.

The successful applicant will initially be recruited into the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and will be subject to a TUPE transfer in the second half of 2024. Terms and conditions for the new organisation are to be confirmed but will be no less favourable than DLUHC.

A fundamental objective of the Office for Place is to support local authority planning officers and the sector more broadly, to deliver the homes that the country needs, in places where people want to live.

Much of the Office for Place�s work will be to support planning professionals, and therefore we are seeking an urban designer with strategic planning experience, including developing and implementing design codes. Being experienced urban designers, we expect people in these roles to advocate for, and support, local authority planning officers to better understand the benefits and impact of effective placemaking and the production of design codes.

The role and responsibilities include:

� Bringing urban design expertise to support and inform the delivery of relevant and useful urban design digital tools, collaborating with the team to understand, scope out, design and build products like downloadable design code elements.

� Deliver consultation exercises with the sector on emerging tools, working across OfP, government and other design and planning professionals to ensure that any tools and products meet the needs of OfPs key stakeholder base and add value.

� Support the launch and maintenance of the digital design code library and ensure that the content is relevant for planning officers and urban designers, and that the right digital infrastructure is in place from day one.

� Provide expert design advice and support to local planning authorities and Office for Place officials on the tools and products needed to support better design and placemaking.

� Represent the Office for Place with the necessary credibility and sector experience at external sector events with built environment professionals or the developer industry.

� Work closely with external stakeholders, including government officials, to ensure that our work is relevant to the needs of local authority planning officers, is evaluated, and responds to demand and feedback.

� Work with other specialists and teams in the Office for Place to share professional insights that will inform their work.

� Report on your work to the Office for Place board, seeking their direction and responding to their feedback.

Person specification

This role is a key part of the Service Delivery Team, ensuring that the support offer to local authorities and other in the sector is of high-quality and addresses existing gaps whether those be in guidance, capability or expertise.

Therefore, experience gained within the urban design and architecture sector will be essential.

You will have a qualification in town planning, urban design, or architecture with relevant professional experience in urban design and planning at a strategic scale, and knowledge of national development, planning and placemaking issues.

You will have demonstrable experience of working in or closely with a local planning authority. Experience developing and implementing design codes is beneficial but not essential.

You will need to demonstrate an understanding of the distinct stages of the planning process, particularly in relation to large scale development, to be able to effectively judge the effectiveness of design and planning policies produced by local authorities and to promote innovation and best practice.

You will need to have demonstrable experience of working with Adobe Creative Cloud and CAD to create 2D and 3D visuals and infographics.

You will have an ability to deliver projects to time and budget, requiring strong project management skills and experience of working with delivery partners or stakeholders, and / or having oversight of external suppliers.

You will be an initiative-taking, self-starter who can think strategically and is able to solve complex problems.

You will be confident using evidence and insight in your work, making effective decisions informed by feedback from multiple stakeholders.

You will possess excellent communication skills and be confident in speaking publicly and engaging with local authorities, communities, and the planning and development sector.

You will need to report to the Executive Team and the Office for Place board, presenting authoritatively and concisely to inform decision-making.

You will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of, and willingness to deliver, the Office for Place aims and objectives.

We particularly welcome candidates from an ethnic minority background and other underrepresented groups to apply, as we work to continually improve our ability to represent the places and communities we support through our work.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of �41,679, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes �12,074 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Learning and development tailored to your roleAn environment with flexible working optionsA culture encouraging inclusion and diversityA with an employer contribution of

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