Job Title and Post Reference: Senior Planning Officer (grade 11) - Minerals & Waste - 61047334

Service/Team (if required) & Location: Dorchester, Dorset, with potential for significant home working

Salary: £32,234 - £37,890

Fixed term (if required):     

Hours (if required):                                        

Interview Date: 21 April 2021 (online)                                                    

Closing Date: 12 April 2021

Protect it. Shape it. Enjoy it. Be part of Dorset

Dorset is a beautiful and iconic area, with historic market towns and miles of stunning coast. But it’s also a place of growth and innovation, with a population of 375,000 and an economy worth over £7 billion. To serve this unique area, a new unitary council was established in 2019. Bold and ambitious, with a One Team approach, we’re taking Dorset into the future – and our Planning team is taking centre stage. The Minerals and Waste team is a specialist team sitting within the wider planning department dealing with a complex and fascinating range of issues.

We are looking for a Senior Planning Officer to fulfil a key role within the Minerals and Waste Planning Team. This is one of two roles currently being advertised in the team, one full time and the other part time, so there is flexibility to appoint the best candidates for each position on the hours that suit them.

With the Wytch Farm oilfield, Portland and Purbeck Stone quarries, sand and gravel and ball-clay extraction, Dorset has a rich and diverse geology, which throws up interesting issues. We also have a variety of waste management technologies and many environmentally sensitive areas. It all adds up to a wide variety of challenges for Officers in our Minerals & Waste team.

Large-scale proposals, wide-ranging environmental implications: you’ll enjoy a complex caseload as you assess mineral and waste planning applications. You’ll also have a hand in the preparation of the policy framework for minerals and waste matters – a task that involves public consultation and extensive liaison with partners. The team’s expertise is highly valued across the Council and beyond, so expect to give a broad range of specialist advice and help neighbouring councils with policy work too.

These are exciting opportunities enabling you to be involved in a varied and complex caseload covering the Dorset Council Area.  As senior planning officer, you will have the opportunity to deal with both the development and implementation of planning policy and the consideration of planning applications for minerals and waste proposals.

To join us, you’ll need a relevant degree (or equivalent) and ideally a postgraduate planning qualification. You’ll have considerable post-qualification experience in planning, preferably in the field of minerals and waste, and be confident dealing with complex applications, including negotiating any necessary planning obligations, presenting applications to committee and representing the Council at hearings and public inquiries. You will also need a gift for clear communication and affinity with our values: Responsibility, Respect, Recognition and Collaboration.

With a team that lives by these principles, we have a friendly workplace where you’ll be free to learn and thrive. Employee benefits are generous and include a local government pension, flexible working and continual learning and development. With beautiful beaches and countryside on your doorstep too, a Planning career in Dorset comes with everything you need.

Please clearly state on your application the position you wish to apply for.

If you wish to discuss the job vacancy in further detail, please contact Emma Macdonald, Mineral and Waste Planning Manager on 01305 228585.

A driving licence is necessary as site visits would be part of the work and quarries and waste sites are not normally located on public transport routes.

This post has a significant travel requirement and you are contractually required to have a vehicle (or transport deemed to be suitable by the council) available for use as required.

Please note Dorset Council does not accept CV’s in place of an application form as we require the same range of information from all our candidates.

To view the relevant details and apply online please visit www.dorsetforyou.com/jobs or ring the application hotline on (01305) 228535

We value diversity and welcome applications from all parts of the community.