Location: Buckinghamshire County Wide
Overview
As a Planning Officer at Buckinghamshire Council, you’ll not only be offered a competitive benefits package, you’ll also be part of a team working on a broad range of projects, committed to shaping the future of Buckinghamshire for generations to come.
Our Planning, Growth and Sustainability directorate works with partners to help shape the future of Buckinghamshire. We deliver services on planning, economic growth, regeneration, strategic infrastructure, transport and property.
Our key priorities include developing the economic narrative for Bucks, creating more jobs and delivering the right infrastructure to help businesses and residents thrive. We also aim to provide a proactive planning service that is responsive, whilst making the best use of the Council’s land and property portfolio. This will, in turn, support community services and create housing, jobs, regeneration and income to support public services.
12-month FTC/Secondment
About us
Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally.
About the role
We are seeking a Planning Officer to play a dual role in delivering high-quality planning services and contributing to the development and testing of innovative digital planning tools. This position is central to the nationally significant, MHCLG-funded Open Digital Planning (ODP) programme, with Buckinghamshire Council proudly serving as one of its three founding pioneer councils.
You will play a key role in the live testing and co-design of the ODP product stack—PlanX, Back-Office Planning System (BOPS), and the Digital Planning Register (DPR). Working closely with digital partners, consultants, and software developers, you will assess how these tools perform in real-world planning scenarios, ensuring they meet the needs of planning officers, applicants, and the wider community.
Working as part of a friendly team, you’ll manage a diverse caseload of planning applications and lead on providing high-quality service through all stages of the planning process, including pre-application and planning appeals.
The role will offer a wide range of opportunities across both urban and rural environments in Buckinghamshire. A full driving licence and access to a vehicle are therefore essential to the role. This is a highly rewarding and fulfilling role - you’ll see the impact of your work in front of you.
Key responsibilities include:
1. Acting as a subject matter expert in planning to support the development of digital tools.
2. Participating in co-design workshops and user research with digital partners, consultants, and developers.
3. Testing ODP products using real planning cases and workflows and providing structured feedback to improve usability and performance.
4. Supporting the integration of ODP tools into existing planning workflows and systems.
5. Helping shape a modern, user-centred planning service through the adoption of open-source, data-first technologies.
6. Contributing to the council’s ambition to modernise the planning system through smarter use of data and emerging technologies.
7. Collaborating across teams to support staff upskilling and digital capability building.
Any-Desk
As an ‘any-desk’ worker, you’ll need to be connected to our network to access digital folders and resources, but this can either be from home or an office location when required. You will be required to work from the office a couple of times a week, depending on your role and team requirements.
About you
Relevant experience within the development management, planning or environmental sector are essential in this Planning Officer role, and you should apply if: