Senior / Principal Planner

We are pleased to share a great opportunity for an experienced Senior / Principal Planner to join our high performing Investment, Development and Planning (IDP) team based in London.  

The Senior / Principal Planner will collaborate with the Planning team, and associated Hubs, in negotiating and securing planning permissions across the Watkin Jones Group, including responding to planning queries from the business efficiently, and undertaking any other tasks required necessary to achieve the wider business objectives.  The role requires the use of specialist town planning experience, skills and knowledge related to our core ‘residential for rent’ tenures.

The Senior / Principal Planner role sits within a Hub which comprise a blend of skillsets and experience including acquisitions, planning and technical development expertise. The Hub Members work together as high-performing autonomous teams, implementing Group Strategy – identification and appraisal of development opportunities, and maximising the conversion of those opportunities into development projects.

The position is based in our London office in Soho Square and will include travel to sites / clients as required.

About you

We’re looking for someone who is educated to a degree / diploma or masters’ level in Town Planning and It’s important that you’re a full member of the RTPI for at least two years with knowledge of planning rules, procedures, guidance, and legalisation with a particular focus on residential for rent. You’ll need to be able to demonstrate a understanding local authorities and statutory bodies in relation to planning (plan making and decision taking) and be able to act assertively to support a point of view. You need to be able to prepare information for reports / appraisals and be comfortable to present information in accurate, logical format.

IDP is a high performing team so the ability to work to tight schedule with competing priorities to deliver projects on time and in line with the design specifications / client requirements and be comfortable to hold accountability of significant workstreams and / or projects.

What we can offer you

Watkin Jones offers an in-house Learning & Development team to support you with personal and professional development including vocational qualifications, as well as a discretionary annual bonus, 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays (increasing after 2 years’ service by 1 day up to a max of 29 days per annum), a health cash plan, discounted gym memberships, exclusive shopping discounts and a contributory pension scheme.

Watkin Jones’ success to date has been based on our emphasis on building relationships of trust, our customer focus, and our forward-thinking structure. Our intention is to create ‘The Future of Living’, which to us means high quality rental homes, community focus and sustainably driven development.

About Us 

Watkin Jones Group is the UK’s leading developer, builder and manager of residential for rent homes, with 52,000+ homes developed and in-build across 135 schemes. Our operating arm, Fresh, manages over 20,000 units across 64 schemes, reflecting approximately £1.7bn of assets under management, giving us unique and unrivalled insight into what tenants and investors desire.

Our company was established in 1791 and has been building homes since 1927. More recently, we listed on the AIM market in 2016 with a market cap of £255m (current market cap c. £550m). In FY2020 we generated gross revenue of £354m and a Gross Profit of £75.9m. Our position in the market is based on a ‘capital light’ model, where we typically work with institutional forward funders.