About Us

The Planning & Development service is shaping the places our residents and businesses use every day.  We do this by working with and holding developers or land owners to the high standards in our bold Local Plan and the London Plan.

The newly established Development Delivery team is building on the aspirations of our residents and members.  We want to ensure our residents can benefit from genuinely affordable homes, have access to beautiful and truly accessible public spaces, can secure the new jobs being created in a range of industries, and have access to the social infrastructure for everyone to thrive. Our strategic sites will create new communities that must truly connect with their neighbours. 

The Development Delivery team want to forge more productive relationships with stakeholders to help with the delivery of development alongside adequate infrastructure.  Our borough is growing and so is our team.

About the Job

These roles are critical in ensuring that when a developer or landowner makes a submission to the local planning authority or the CIL collecting authority there is someone to scrutinise the information. We need people to make judgements on what is being submitted to the council.  We want the best for our residents.  Our team need to ensure that where development is happening there is commensurate infrastructure and council services.

We need colleagues who have a keen eye for detail and will correctly calculate, account for, reconcile and report on the monies paid as developer contributions.

We also want to ensure that once development progresses that people buying or selling properties are helped promptly with conveyancing queries.

There will be an opportunity to hone your skills, perfecting and then enhancing the way we do things – we hold ourselves to high standards and want all new starters to the team to do the same.

On the horizon we have the return of planning and CIL collecting functions from the London Legacy Development Corporation’s (LLDC) area around the Olympic Park and part of Stratford, we anticipate forming new relationships with a range of stakeholders and some heightened interest in what our team does.

This job descriptions cover both CIL and planning obligations tasks and there are roles in both teams.

For CIL

For the professional administration of the CIL collecting authority function the team calculate and collect monies in line with the regulations, case law and appeal decisions using our back office system Exacom and source data from IDOX’s Uniform, and update information to the local land charges register.  The team spend considerable due care and attention in supporting applicants with claims for relief and exemption, ensuring the robustness of the regime is maintained. 

The team administer multiple charging schedules; facilitate claims for relief and exemption; report on the collection process; gate keep the expenditure of monies to align with corporate priorities and contribute towards bringing our residents in to the process particularly through our People Powered Places.  

In relation to financial matters the team collect, allocate and reconcile income and undertake quarterly reporting to TfL and the council’s capital and assets oversight board.  Annual statutory reporting is supported by a report to members of the strategic development committee.  

The team will update the 2014 CIL charging schedule and collaborate with the newly established Infrastructure Planning team. 

For Planning Obligations

The team is responsible for the financial and non-financial matters associated with compliance with deeds of planning obligation.  This involves casework for assessing and making judgments of submissions on a range of planning related themes from sustainable and active transport, socio-economic development, public transport, financial viability, affordable housing and other matters.  

In relation to financial matters the team collect, allocate and reconcile income; the team also assess and act as gatekeepers of the governance process to release monies for expenditure.  Quarterly reporting to TfL and the council’s capital and assets oversight board is required and annual statutory reporting is supported by a report to members of the strategic development committee.  

The team must negotiate outcomes with a range of stakeholders to support the delivery of intended planning outcomes including but not limited to developers/land owners and their representatives; internal service areas; infrastructure providers and members.  

A particular focus for this year will be assimilating data from the LLDC and knowledge sharing activities with colleagues and new stakeholders.

About You 

You are a passionate and informed advocate for the council in relation to your developer contributions expertise as an MRTPI planner or working towards membership of the institution.  You will be keen to learn and develop.

You will be confident in preparing and presenting reports to a range of audiences to inform, influence or engage on planning obligations, planning policy and community infrastructure levy matters.

You will have an engaging approach to form transactional relationships with developers, agents and internal stakeholders to facilitate the best outcomes for our team and our residents.

We are keen to see your enthusiasm to innovate and enhance the way we already do things, improvement is an iterative process and whenever you join the team we want your contributions on this.

You will be confident in your own abilities but not afraid to be honest if something does not go to plan. 

As a non-negotiable you will be committed to the achievement of equality, diversity and inclusion in both employment and service delivery.

https://www.newham.gov.uk/downloads/file/7556/developer-contributions-officer-planner-senior-planner-jd-3829-

Additional Information

Closing date: 9/9/24

Interviews: 23-27 September 24

To complete a successful application please carefully review the person specification and ensure you offer examples of your experience.

Should you require any help or advice with your online application, please contact the Recruitment Help Desk on: 0203 373 0909.
Should you wish to have a confidential conversation about this job you may contact the Hiring Manager Jennifer Bishop Assistant Director Development Delivery on  02033731168  or Jennifer.Bishop@newham.gov.uk.

The council is committed to the development of colleagues.  During the course of your employment, subject to you meeting entry requirements and based on the exigencies of the service, the Development Delivery team will support the progression of an apprenticeship achieving a chartered town planning standard at level 7.

If you are currently on an apprenticeship levy funded course please contact us so we can discuss how this could be transferred to Newham.

We are committed to creating an inclusive, anti-racist environment for all. When you apply for a job at Newham, your application is considered on its merits regardless of your age, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender identity or sexual orientation. If you share our vision and values, and you bring the experience and skills we need, that’s all that matters to us.

The London Borough of Newham has important responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. If you are appointed to a job that involves working with these groups, you may be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Please attach your supporting statement, explaining in no more than x2 A4 sides why and how you meet the criteria for this role; and confirm if your application is at Planner or Senior Planner level. 

The Senior Planner role will require working independently on complex casework related to developer contributions and a deep and thorough knowledge and understanding of:

implementing the CIL charging and collecting authority functions; and/or 
facilitating compliance with deeds of planning obligation.
We practice anonymised recruitment. Please ensure that you remove all personal information from any documents that you upload.

The personal information we have collected from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found by https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn.

ABOUT US
The London Borough of Newham is located only 5 miles east of London. It is well positioned with access to all major networks in London and the south east.  It is well connected  by public transport with, bus, tube and DLR. When the Crossrail service opens it will call at Custom House close to our council offices and also Stratford station and from there to central London. The London City Airport which serves major European cities is located at Royal Albert Dock. Newham has the youngest overall population in the country. It was one of the six host boroughs for the 2012 Summer Olympics and contains most of the Olympic Park including the London Stadium. It has a thriving arts quarter with the Theatre Royal Stratford East offering excellent entertainment for all the family. There is the University of East London which has two campuses in Newham, one in Stratford and another next to the regenerated Royal Albert Dock. It also has a large Westfield shopping Centre in Stratford which has all the major retailers there.

Newham has a large housing regeneration programme that will build over 1,000 new council homes by 2022.