Planning Infrastructure Team Leader

Job Advert

Location: Hybrid (Home / Abbey House, Abingdon Oxfordshire)

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: Full time, 37 hours per week

**Salary**: £50,764 - £55,789 per year, Grade 8

**About the role and what we’re looking for**

We’re looking for a dynamic, innovative, solution-focussed professional planner with experience of infrastructure planning in an area with significant planned growth. Working within our planning policy team you will identify and plan infrastructure to accompany growth and support planning policy development. If you are committed to high quality customer service and ready for an exciting new challenge, this could be the role for you.

The successful applicant for this role will join the councils at an exciting time to contribute to the work of the planning policy team. The team is working on a Joint Local Plan for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse, and you will lead on developing the next infrastructure policies for South and Vale councils, with an increasing focus on connectivity and sustainable modes of transport, to help address the climate and ecological emergency.

You will represent South and Vale councils in Oxfordshire wide work on the Oxfordshire Infrastructure Strategy (OxIS) and on nationally significant infrastructure projects like the proposed strategic reservoir being promoted by the water companies near Abingdon. The role will also require forging strong relationships with major partners, particularly Oxfordshire County Council, the healthcare providers and the Environment Agency, to help ensure delivery of key infrastructure to support planned growth.

**Main duties and responsibilities**

To support the head of service and service manager by:

- carrying out, and where relevant leading, production of planning policy documents, the infrastructure delivery plan and other relevant project and funding bid documents
- informing and writing papers for cabinet, council, committees etc.
- ensuring strong and robust line management of the team
- overseeing planning monitoring
- leading on Community Infrastructure Levy policy
- overseeing work on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects such as the strategic reservoir proposal and lead on consultation responses such as on water resources
- managing consultancy contracts for specialist work and projects
- pro-actively managing complex and cross-organisational infrastructure studies and projects
- preparing and presenting evidence for the Councils at hearings and inquiries
- working closely with stakeholders, local councillors and other organisations
- ensuring high quality standards and consistency in the provision of professional advice

**About you**

Your essential skills, knowledge and experience
- significant experience of working in planning, including planning policy or transport work
- excellent project management skills
- skills and knowledge to plan and organise workload for staff
- excellent customer service skills, including provision of readily understood professional advice to customers and stakeholders, using tailored language specific to their level of understanding needs
- able to communicate ideas and expectations clearly and succinctly, using plain language
- good negotiating skills, actively listening to others’ viewpoints and explaining the organisational perspective
- able to manage a team, providing constructive feedback on performance, and encouraging individuals to take training opportunities
- ability to research concepts / projects, use own initiative and carry out activities with mínimal supervision
- able to demonstrate the ability to successfully deliver complex and challenging programmes of work through effective partnership working in a political environment
- good knowledge of transport, planning policy and legislation relevant to transport scheme development

**Your essential qualifications**
- a degree or diploma in Transport or Town Planning, a related discipline or equivalent level of experience
- significant experience of working in infrastructure planning and/or planning
- chartered member of CILT, RTPI or equivalent

**If you have the following
- it’s a bonus
- policy formulation
- project management qualifications
- Experience of local plan examinations and/or planning appeals
- Knowledge or use of transport modelling packages

**About us**

Our vision and values are important to the councils and we expect you to support them and embed them in the way we work.

**Our vision**

We are seen as being customer-focussed, approachable and business-like. We are honest and open and are renowned for providing high quality cost effective services.

**Our values**
- We act with integrity and show respect
- We are all accountable
- We are passionate about our business
- We strive for simplicity
- We love success

**The benefits we offer**:

- A basic 24 days annual leave per annum, rising to 29 days after five years. You also have all the bank holidays to look forward to