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Assistant Director: Chief Planner

Employer
Wirral Council
Location
Brighton Street, Wallasey, Merseyside, CH44 8ED
Salary
£72,180 - £80,200
Closing date
26 Jul 2020

AD2 - 36.00 Hours per week

There has never been a more exciting time to join Wirral Council as a senior leader in our place-shaping team. During the last 12 months, we have made excellent progress in developing an ambitious Local Plan which provides the spatial blueprint for driving the regeneration of east Wirral, enhancing towns and neighbourhoods across the Borough and protecting our unique coastline and countryside.

At the heart of the regeneration programme is the creation of a green, sustainable, waterfront community along the left bank of the world-famous River Mersey. This is one of the largest, most aspirational regeneration programmes in the country, which will not only transform the quality of life for our communities but will be key to addressing the health inequalities which exist within the borough.

The role of Assistant Director: Chief Planner is pivotal to achieving our place-shaping agenda and regeneration ambitions. We are seeking someone who understands the concept of taking a development team approach to major projects, who is confident to engage developers and partners in the early stages of design, and who leads by example in meeting customers' high expectations.

You will have a varied role from day one - we are making good progress with our regeneration programme and have a number of unique projects for you to be involved in. We are also developing the next phase of our Local Plan having completed an extensive consultation at the start of 2020 which received over 20,000 responses.

We are seeking someone who has experience of successful leadership of a large local government planning team, and who is excited to serve Wirral's unique combination of urban, rural and coastal communities. Above all you will act as an ambassador for the Council and Wirral as a place, working with and alongside a range of stakeholders and partners to ensure the effective delivery of high-quality place-shaping and regeneration strategies.

If successful you will be joining a talented, supportive and ambitious team in the Regeneration and Place Directorate.

In return, you can look forward to an impressive package of benefits and an organisation committed to celebrating the diversity of our workforce and collaborating to make the most of our differences. We support our people. We develop and invest in our people. We know that together, we can achieve the best for our community. Your career aspirations are important to us. We want to know what matters to you.

This is a 'specified' politically restricted post.

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Jenny Woods, Recruitment and Resourcing Manager jennywoods@wirral.gov.uk

Please note, given the current situation with Covid-19 the role will be undertaken from home with appropriate technology and equipment.

Selection process details

To apply for this role please complete the online application form including your CV and a personal statement by midnight on Sunday 26 July 2020. Within your personal statement we want to hear about you and your experience, but we also would like to assess your suitability against our behaviours documented in the Competency Framework guide. There are seven behaviours in total, but we have asked for examples on just three at this stage, detailed below:

Your personal statement should be no longer than 2500 words and should:

1. Outline how you feel you suitable for the role. Include your personal skills, qualities and experience and provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the criteria set out in the job description

2. Provide an example of when you curated a vision and engaged stakeholders effectively to make this a reality (Behaviour - Leadership)

3. Provide an example of when you have made a difficult decision which you have had to defend whilst maintaining engagement and credibility with stakeholders (Behaviour - Decision making)

4. Provide an example of when you have had to change direction and/or revisit strategic priorities to respond to an emergent issue to deliver a successful outcome (Behaviour - Change Orientation) 

More information can be found in the Competency Framework guide.

Shortlisting

Applications will be shortlisted by the recruiting director. Where possible our recruitment team will provide feedback. However, we may not be able to provide feedback at the application stage to all candidates.

For this role personality psychometric testing (Facet 5) will be used. If shortlisted, candidates will be required to undertake a personality questionnaire and will receive feedback from an accredited practitioner prior to the assessment centre. The profile will be used to gain a greater insight into candidates and to inform questions.   Candidates will be assessed based on their answers to these questions and NOT on the personality psychometric results.

Assessment centre

Shortlisted candidates will take part in further assessment activity which may include peers, stakeholders, and our senior leadership team.

Final stage

The final stage of the process will be an interview with an Elected Member panel.

Interviews will take place in August 2020.

The Candidate pack provides further details in relation to the role and the selection process details.

Applications can only be accepted through Wirral Council's Jobs page following registration. Forms received via the post will not be processed.

All applicants invited to interview must evidence their right to work in the UK. Details of required documents can be found by clicking the link at the bottom of Wirral Council's Jobs page.

The job description and other supporting documents will not be accessible once the vacancy's closing date has passed so if a copy is required you should download it now from Wirral Council's Jobs page.

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