Kent Downs National Landscape Head of Planning and Place

Role Responsibility

The Kent Downs is one of the most beautiful landscapes in Britain; it is also one of the most under pressure. Covering around a quarter of the County of Kent, it is an arch mosaic of chalk hills, dry valleys, woodlands, ancient trackways, villages, castles and churches. Our role is to conserve and enhance this natural beauty.

Apply Early

We are looking to appoint to this role as soon as we find the right candidate and will therefore be reviewing applications on an ongoing basis. Suitable candidates may be invited to interview shortly after submitting their application, so we strongly encourage interested applicants to apply as early as possible and not wait until the advertised closing date.

This vacancy will remain open while we continue our search for the right candidate; however, we reserve the right to close the advert early if a suitable appointment is made or if we receive sufficient applications.

This is a readvertisement, previous applicants are still being considered and need not reapply.

Your Role

This is an exciting and challenging opportunity to use your land use planning skills to make a real and positive difference for the Kent Downs. You will be part of the Kent Downs National Landscape Team, a supportive, highly skilled and highly motivated multidisciplinary team delivering our mission and vision and our projects, with all team members expected to work collaboratively and in an integrated way.

You will jointly lead the Planning and Place theme of the Kent Downs Team, using land use planning and design guidance as a tool to deliver our statutory Management Plan.

You will provide planning expertise to help shape and influence development, including influencing development plans, responding to consultations and planning applications, and participating in Examinations in Public (EiPs) and Public Inquiries where required. Producing and promoting new guidance documents is also a key part of the role.

We're looking for someone with considerable skills, motivation and experience to take this important work forward.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description and Person Specification.

Applications for both full and part-time working will be considered.

About the Company

Work that works for you and us - let's talk flexibility!

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note - if you are interested, please apply soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.