Senior Planning Officer
As a Senior Planning Officer in Development Management you will play an important role in determining the Council's planning applications and helping to meet our objectives of delivering sustainable development within Cheshire East.
We are looking for a professional team player with the skills and experience to successfully manage a caseload of planning applications and provide pre-application advice. We provide a flexible and supportive working environment with hybrid options to work from home and the office (Crewe or Macclesfield), and a range of employee benefits.
Looking for the next step in your career? You will join the team at a very exciting time with guaranteed involvement in major planning applications.
Organisation Cheshire East Council Location Crewe, Macclesfield Job Category Place Grade CEC NJC - Grade 9 Salary Min £39,152 per annum Salary Max £41,771 per annum Hours per week 37 Weeks per year 52.143 Employment Type Permanent Closing Date 28/09/2025 Ref No E3259 Documents
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Cheshire East is an amazing place to live and work. As one of the largest employers in the borough, we are able to offer you a wide range of challenging and rewarding career opportunities.
At Cheshire East Council we are working for a brighter future – together and our commitment to you is that our workplace culture will provide a shared purpose, a well-led organisation with valued people succeeding together as one team and one council to deliver the best service for our customers and communities.
If you want to be part of our award-winning council and contribute to our ongoing success, have the flexibility and drive to enable us to innovate, are committed to working as part of a team and striving to deliver exceptional service wherever you can, we would especially like to hear from you.
As an equal opportunities employer, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and want our workforce to reflect the diversity of our local communities so that we can all work for a brighter future - together.
We are seeking a Senior Planning Officer to join our high performing Development Management team, which is at the heart of delivering high quality sustainable development in Cheshire East. Our unique geography and heritage provides an unrivalled variety of planning experience, ranging from small scale rural schemes to urban regeneration, housing developments and strategic infrastructure projects.
You will have responsibility to manage a caseload of planning applications, negotiate with developers at pre-application stage, present to planning committee and represent the council at Appeal. You must have excellent interpersonal and communication skills to effectively collaborate with all stakeholders in the planning process. Your training and professional development will be fully supported.
You must be organised with excellent report writing and IT skills. The successful candidate will demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of current local and national planning policy and have a track record of negotiating improvements to development proposals through the planning application process.
You should be qualified to degree level within Planning or a related discipline and be working towards or eligible for RTPI membership. You must possess leadership skills and have a customer focused approach. Ability to travel throughout Cheshire East and a full UK driving license are required.
We provide a flexible and supportive working environment with a range of employee benefits including:
2. Enhanced annual leave: 34 days annual leave (inclusive of bank holidays) from day 1, increasing to 39 days after 5 years service.
3. Enhanced public pension: a career average pension (contributions built at a rate of 1/49th of your yearly pensionable pay).
4. Flexible Working: 37-hour standard full time week with flexi time and hybrid / remote working arrangements.
5. Purchase of annual leave: The ability to purchase up to 10 days extra annual leave each year in addition to your normal annual leave entitlements.
6. Green Car Scheme: drive an electric or hybrid vehicle through a salary sacrifice arrangement, providing a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional vehicles.
7. Cycle to work scheme: receive Income Tax and National Insurance savings of up to 25-39% off the retail price of a bike and safety equipment package (savings dependent on the value of your chosen package and your tax status).
8. Employee Assistance programme: a completely free to use and confidential assistance service for all employees to help staff manage, reduce and overcome the impact of life issues which they may experience from time to time, both within work and their personal life.
9. Virgin Media and Vodafone discounts: exclusive discounts on Virgin Media Broadband and O2 pay monthly plans.
10. Discounted gym memberships: Access to corporate membership prices for Everybody Leisure.
11. A range of other benefits including retail and theatre discounts through the Vivup portal.
The role enables home and office working, with a location base of either Crewe or Macclesfield.
PLEASE NOTE: We review applications on a rolling basis which means we may close vacancies earlier if we receive sufficient applications. Early applications are welcomed. Interviews are likely to take place during October 2025.
Please ensure you check the email account (including junk/spam boxes) from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.
If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date then it is likely that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion, however please do not be discouraged from applying again.
Please quote job reference number in all correspondence.