Planning Officer

Salary

£32,061 - £38,220 plus £2,500 per annum premia payment and £1,239 per annum essential user car allowance

Contractual hours

37

Basis

Full time

Package

26 days paid AL pro rata for part time staff, Flexi Scheme, Excellent contributory pension scheme, Cycle to work, Health & Wellness checks, Store discounts, gym membership discount

Date posted

19/11/2025

Job reference

DEVY25N007

As a result of the creation of new posts and internal promotion we have a number of exciting opportunities available.

Chichester District is a highly attractive place to live and work, home to a number of historic towns and villages, surrounded by beautiful countryside and coastal environments. Centred on the historic cathedral city of Chichester, it is a large district stretching from the south coast to the Surrey border and includes a large part of the South Downs National Park and the tranquil Chichester Harbour AONB.

We are a busy planning service dealing with a varied range of development management work. This includes providing planning advice; dealing with planning applications and appeals; and planning enforcement. We have three area application teams, including a team that deals specifically with sites within the South Downs National Park (SDNP); a separate enforcement team; and a central administration team. All application teams deal with a range of major and minor developments.

The District is currently facing significant pressure for new development and given the need to protect the quality of the environment and the constraints of the District, this makes for an interesting and varied caseload covering urban and rural areas.

We are looking to appoint 2 full time Planning Officers to deal effectively with a caseload of planning applications, associated pre-application enquiries and appeals. Whilst ideally the post holder will have experience of handling a broad range of development proposals and be able to demonstrate a track record of negotiating improvements to planning applications and securing high quality design, applications from recent graduates will also be considered. The post holders should be positive, a good team player, well organised, have excellent communication skills, and be able to evidence an ability to deliver a rapid turnaround of applications whilst maintaining a high professional standard and a high level of customer care.

So, if you enjoy working with people; have a passion for finding solutions; and want to make a positive difference to people's lives and our beautiful district, then please get in touch. In return we offer an attractive package, which you can find out more about here:

For an informal discussion about these positions, please contact: Fjola Stevens (Divisional Manager

Interviews to be held w/c 15th December 2025.

Employee benefits include:

• Excellent defined benefits Pension Scheme
• Minimum 26 days holiday going up to 31 days after 5 years (or before with previous service) plus paid Bank Holidays
• Flexi-time (available for most positions) - potential to build up an extra 12 days leave a year
• Flexible working arrangements including working from home and 9-day fortnight options
• Employee Assistance Programme for staff and their relatives
• Cycle to Work Scheme/Car and Cycle Loan Scheme/discounted city centre parking/ Lease Car Scheme
• Health & Wellbeing initiatives including free health checks and free eye tests plus subsidised leisure centre membership
• Payment of your main professional subscription fee.
• Training and development opportunities – including funding of professional qualification training
• Staff Awards Scheme

Chichester District Council has a commitment to Equality of Opportunity in Employment. If you have a disability which makes it difficult for you to complete our application form please contact the HR Section who will assist you.