Principal Town Planner

**Company Description** Work with Us. Change the World.**

At AECOM, we're delivering a better world. Whether improving your commute, keeping the lights on, providing access to clean water, or transforming skylines, our work helps people and communities thrive. We are the world's trusted infrastructure consulting firm, partnering with clients to solve the world’s most complex challenges and build legacies for future generations.

There has never been a better time to be at AECOM. With accelerating infrastructure investment worldwide, our services are in great demand. We invite you to bring your bold ideas and big dreams and become part of a global team of over 50,000 planners, designers, engineers, scientists, digital innovators, program and construction managers and other professionals delivering projects that create a positive and tangible impact around the world.

We're one global team driven by our common purpose to deliver a better world. Join us.

Due to a significant increase in planning policy project wins and new opportunities, we are looking to bring in a Principal Planner to work with senior colleagues to manage our growing workload.

We are looking for an outstanding consultant with proven experience in planning policy and strategy and project management. This is an exciting opportunity for a strategic thinker with strong interpersonal skills and a commitment to delivering high-quality work and driving business growth.

You will managing and assisting in key planning policy projects, working alongside multi-disciplinary teams and engaging directly with clients and stakeholders to secure successful planning outcomes.

You will be based in our flagship **London Aldgate Tower office**, though other locations may be considered, including **Basingstoke, Bristol, Birmingham, Cambridge, Chesterfield, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, and Plymouth.**

We operate a **hybrid working model**, giving you the flexibility to balance time between our office and working from home, depending on your needs and the requirements of the role. This position is available on either a **full-time or part-time basis**, allowing us to tailor the role to suit your individual circumstances.

**_ Here’s what you’ll do:_**

**Team Leadership and Development**
- Participate in the successful operation and management of the town planning team

**Planning Strategy and Expertise**
- Lead and assist on key planning policy projects, including supporting local authority policy and strategy development, coordination and delivery of local plan evidence studies, strategic growth studies, infrastructure strategies and other policy and strategy commissions.
- Offer strategic planning advice to other client and internal teams.
- Provide effective representation for the organisation, developing and managing relationships with clients, local authorities and other stakeholders through project work and through attendance at conferences and other networking events.
- Sharing technical knowledge and excellence.

**Project Management**
- Ensure projects are delivered successfully on budget and within programme timelines.
- Coordinate multi-disciplinary teams for seamless project execution.

**Quality Assurance and Compliance**
- Oversee the deliverables produced by the planning policy team.
- Implement and uphold quality assurance and health and safety principles.

**Business Development**
- Contribute to the business development strategy, nurturing client relationships.
- Lead and assist in the preparation of commercial tenders to secure new opportunities.

Does this sound like something you can do, and do well? If so, read on

**About our team**

AECOM is a top ten UK planning consultancy by size, employing more than 70 Chartered or Licentiate Planners. The AECOM Planning Practice projects include some of the largest, most complex and high profile development and regeneration projects in the UK for both public and private sector clients. We are a dynamic planning team and work closely with colleagues in other related disciplines, including masterplanning, landscape, environment, sustainability, transport and economics. Examples of our project work include:

- ** Sub-Regional Spatial Plans** - AECOM is a leading provider of sub-regional growth studies and evidence base for plans and policy (including our strategic planning work in the OxCam Arc, Thames Estuary, Hertfordshire and the East Midlands). For many years, we have also been thought leaders and enablers for new communities and Garden Towns (including research for MHCLG, Local Government Association and Town and Country Planning Association).
- ** Local Plans** - Providing local planning authorities with local plan evidence and support is a key area in the policy team. We have worked on the local plans of over 100 authorities in the last decade. This includes the full range of evidence base studies, secondments, critical friend support and coordinating multi-disciplinary teams to provide evi