Principal Planner
Team: Strategic Plan Partnerships/Planning Policy, Strategic Growth
Job Family: Enabling - CBG13
Salary: £51,471 - £55,585 per annum pro rata
Hours: 29.6 (4 days)
Location: You will be expected to attend a CBC office location as often as needed to carry out your role, which will be no less than once per month
Contract Type: Hybrid - up to 12-month fixed term / secondment opportunity for maternity leave cover
Closing Date: 31st March 2026
Interview Date: 16th & 17th April 2026
About the role
A secondment opportunity has arisen at a Principal level within the Strategic Growth team. This is a Fixed Term, Maternity Cover post for up to 12 months, starting in April 2026 and will cease when our colleague returns from maternity leave.
This is an exciting time for Central Bedfordshire. As one of the largest Unitary Authorities in the country, our unique geographical location means we are at the focus of national conversations around growth. The government has reintroduced the Oxford to Cambridge Corridor as a priority area for development and economic investment, which along with potentially significant investment in infrastructure, with schemes such as East-West Rail, has the potential to act as a great catalyst for future growth in Central Bedfordshire. We also have the new Universal Studios resort being delivered right on our doorstep and the prospect of a New Town at Tempsford.
Working within the Strategic Growth team, you will be responsible for helping to deliver the Council's statutory and non-statutory planning functions, and amongst other projects, you will take the lead in relation Site Assessment following our Call for Sites, ensuring that the new Planning Regulations are met, and the delivery of our Strategic Land Availability Assessment (SLAA) in support of the new Local Plan.
The new Local Plan is in the early stages of development and will be one of the early front-runners delivered under the new Planning Regulations. Now is a great time to be joining the team! You will be involved from the early stages right through to examination and adoption.
Your Role
As a Principal Planning Officer, you will be part of the Strategic Plan Partnership and the Planning Policy teams within Strategic Growth, supporting Managers, Principal and Senior Officers as well as managing your own workload. Your ability to communicate effectively, work under pressure, prioritise and manage workloads to meet identified deadlines all to a high standard, is therefore essential.
You will play a big part in helping to achieve the Council’s priorities and objectives. With both internal and external customers depending on your skills, you will find your greatness using your professional expertise in a strategic as well as local environment.
You’ll work across the full range of Planning disciplines, and with a variety of customers, including Councillors and developers looking to you for specialist support and guidance, it’s vital that you understand and uphold best practice.
You will have a relevant Masters Degree (or equivalent qualification), be a Member, or working towards becoming a member, of the Royal Town Planning Institute and have relevant experience working in a forward planning environment within a local authority.
With emerging political and commercial awareness, and good communication skills, you will have a desire for helping to influence others and working in partnership and be committed to evidence-based decision making.
There are excellent opportunities for career progression within Central Bedfordshire Council. We are a recognised RTPI Learning Partner, demonstrating our commitment to the training and development of our staff.
Our Offer
We have a number of rewards and benefits available to our staff, to view these please visit our Rewards and Benefits page
Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer. We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies in this Recruitment Pack.
Our Competency Framework and Qualification Guidance are to be read in conjunction with our Recruitment Pack.
Would you like to chat about the role? Contact Lynsey Hillman-Gamble, Strategic Plan Partnership Manager, on 0300 300 5247 or email
lynsey.hillman-gamble@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council's policy to only consider applications made via our online application system and we therefore thank you for not submitting your application offline.
Our National Careers Service team offer a free monthly workshop covering CV writing and how to complete the statement sections of the Central Bedfordshire Council online application form. This MS Teams workshop is open to anyone from the UK and lasts around 1.5 hours. Please book your place here.
More information about this service can be found here: Support getting into work or learning | Central Bedfordshire Council
Please note we are unable to offer sponsorship for our roles. Successful applicants that may require a visa will need to consider the options for obtaining and/or maintaining the legal right to live and work in the UK.