Job Description ROYAL BOROUGH OF KINGSTON UPON THAMES - ROLE PROFILE Head of Development Management Permanent role, based in Kingston Grade M Role purpose Provide leadership to the Development Management and Enforcement functions of the Council to make a significant contribution to the positive growth and regeneration of the Borough through the innovative and practical application of development management skills. To ensure that growth and regeneration in the Borough is delivered in line with the Council’s Local Plan and associated documents. The role reports directly to the Assistant Director, Strategic Planning and Infrastructure, and is responsible for the Lead Officer, Development Management, Lead Officer, Planning Delivery and Lead Officer, Planning Enforcement. Key activities Corporate Leadership ● Responsible for setting the strategic direction and tactical operation for your service. ● Responsible for producing and delivering the service plan for your service and monitoring its delivery to align with both corporate and directorate aims and priorities. ● Responsible for establishing, developing and keeping under review the structures, procedures and working methods for your service to ensure an integrated, effective and efficient approach to the delivery of services and to maximise the use of new technology to both improve services and generate efficiency savings. Version (Draft 18 July 2019) ROYAL BOROUGH OF KINGSTON UPON THAMES - ROLE PROFILE Planning ● Keep abreast of legislation, case law, current national and local policies and guidance to offer sound professional and technical advice and guidance to all parties, including the applicants and landowners. ● To lead on and provide professional and technical expertise on the determination of planning and related applications. ● Work in a positive and proactive manner that supports and facilitates the delivery of positive outcomes on planning applications, whilst also ensuring consistency with the wider corporate aspirations of the Council, and demonstrate a respect for the views of the local community. ● Oversee negotiations to secure council objectives on infrastructure arrangements and delivery, through the appropriate use of Section 106 contributions and controls, alongside the Community Infrastructure Levy. ● To coordinate and oversee activities related to the Planning Committee, ensure appropriate support is in place for Neighbourhood Committees, and to attend other Council committees, panels and meetings as required. ● To promote the Development Management Service and contribute and assist in achieving income targets in relation to the Council’s Pre-Application Service, expedited services and the delivery of schemes through Planning Performance Agreements. ● Responsible for the efficient processing of appeals to the Planning Inspectorate within the Development Management and Planning Enforcement functions and defend the Council’s decisions. ● Exercise delegated authority for decision making where required and within the scope of the Council’s Scheme of Delegation. Service Leadership ● To oversee the work and performance of the Lead Officers. ● Ensure appropriate steps are being taken to prioritise and allocate workload amongst teams and team members. ● To undertake appraisals and one to ones of the Lead Officers and support them in undertaking appraisals for their own staff. ● To identify development needs and provide coaching and mentoring to develop the skills and knowledge across your service. ● Embed the Core competency frameworks ● Provides inspirational and constructive leadership to the DM team to ensure high performance within a networked operating model ● Facilitates change and innovation, building a team culture that encourages innovative, smart and collaborative working 1 ROYAL BOROUGH OF KINGSTON UPON THAMES - ROLE PROFILE ● Listens to, and works with colleagues to develop team goals in line with corporate strategy, and influences and motivates others to achieve this ● Assesses risk and uses data to inform choices relating to resources and financial planning ● Manages budgets and effectively monitors income Performance Management ● Monitor and manage the performance of the Development Management and Planning Enforcement teams to ensure work meets defined outcomes and any relevant targets or deadlines that have been agreed. ● Regular reporting of performance Councillors, Customers and Partners ● Present timely and relevant advice and information to Councillors generally and support effective working relationships with the Leader, Deputy Leader, relevant Portfolio Holders and Committee Chairs. ● Lead in the creation of a customer focused culture and maintain and improve the promotion of customer satisfaction across your service. ● Builds strong working partnerships across the public, private and voluntary sectors to support better engagement to the planning process for those with an interest in development for the key sites and major developments within the borough. ● Working closely with colleagues in the Contact Centre and other services, deliver excellent levels of customer service for the benefits of local communities and the reputation of the Council. ● Respond to complaints from members of the public, residents groups, the Local Government Ombudsman and Members arising from the Development Management function, or projects for which they are responsible. Core Competencies ● Self management and employing self-awareness, self confidence, self-control, self-knowledge, personal reflection, resilience and determination to work positively with customers, stakeholders, Cllrs and colleagues. Demonstrate behaviours consistent with the Core Competency Framework. 2 ROYAL BOROUGH OF KINGSTON UPON THAMES - ROLE PROFILE ● As a manager within the service the postholder will also have to demonstrate behaviours consistent with the Management Competency Framework. Digital/New Ways of Working ● Supports the use of new technologies, particularly Google, to enable modern working practices to thrive. Equality and Diversity ● Embeds equity, equality, fairness and diversity into all aspects of their work. General ● The requirements of this post could include attending meetings and other events outside normal hours as expected with a post of this nature and the postholder will need to manage their work life balance flexibly to meet the needs of the role. ● To develop, update and act on own personal development plan, and be ready to share learning with others. ● To work in accordance with RBK‘s Equal Opportunities, Health & Safety, relevant policies and legislation. ● Any other duties commensurate with the grade of the post, as may be required from time to time. The person In order to successfully deliver the responsibilities of the role, you will need to: ● Have relevant degree level qualifications in Town Planning (or related built environment discipline) and hold chartered membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), or be able to demonstrate suitable post qualification experience to meet the eligibility requirements for chartered membership. ● Have significant experience in successfully assessing and advising on planning applications. ● Evidence of management training or a management qualification (eg Certificate, Diploma or MBA) would be considered desirable. ● Comprehensive understanding of planning legislation & good understanding of related legislation including local government legislation. ● High level of political awareness & comprehensive knowledge of the operation of local government. 3 ROYAL BOROUGH OF KINGSTON UPON THAMES - ROLE PROFILE ● Extensive experience of public meetings, member level meetings or committees, plus working to complex constitutional procedures, including public hearings and legal challenges. Being an enabling council is a key principle that runs through our organisational development and is embedded in everything we do. Underpinning this are the following values: Our Values and Behaviours Over 650 staff across the council helped shape our values and behaviours. They highlight what we think is important and what sets us apart as a council. They are: ● Supportive of trying new ideas, with the courage to change direction. ● Transparent and connected in all that we think, say and do. ● Appreciative of each other, recognising and celebrating success. ● Respectful of difference and valuing diversity. Our values and behaviours will feature in everything we do – from recruitment, to learning and development, appraisals and much more. They will help us recruit and keep the best people, support our vision and shape our culture. Developing these important values is one of the first projects to be delivered from our new organisational development strategy, which sets out how we can work together to achieve the priorities in our corporate plan. Together, we have developed a set of principles that are meaningful to us and are a commitment to how we’ll work together to deliver our corporate plan. 4