Town Planner (Strategic Land & Mixed-Use) - Manchester

About the Client

Our client is a substantial, privately owned property investment, development and strategic land company, boasting a national portfolio of industrial, office and trade-park assets, plus over 5,000 acres of land, with roughly 1,500 acres currently in mixed-use promotion.

They are seeking to strengthen their in-house planning capability to support their ambitious land promotion pipeline, industrial / commercial development projects, and strategic partnerships with landowners, local authorities and communities.

The Role

You will be a key member of the Strategic Land & Planning team, reporting to the Land / Planning Director. Your work will span from policy and strategy through feasibilities and promotion, to delivering consents and seeing over projects into implementation. You will often act as the bridge between internal teams (development, asset, technical) and external stakeholders (councils, communities, housebuilders, technical consultants).

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the promotion of strategic land for residential, commercial or mixed-use development, including site identification, feasibility studies, option appraisal.
• Prepare planning applications, outline and reserved matters, securing consents in line with policy and legislative frameworks.
• Engage with local authorities, parish/town councils, statutory consultees, community groups, and stakeholders to build consensus and manage expectations.
• Advise on planning policy, emerging policy changes, and how these may affect the business’ land promotion strategy.
• Oversee technical inputs (environmental, highways, ecology, heritage etc.), coordinate consultants, manage budgets and schedules.
• Support site acquisition strategy and delivery of planning promotion agreements, joint ventures, or conditional / unconditional land purchases.
• Contribute to the growth of the planning team through mentoring, helping shape process, performance and delivering planning-related business development.

What We’re Looking For

• Chartered or substantive planning qualification (e.g. MRTPI) or equivalent experience.
• Several years' post-qualification experience, ideally within strategic land promotion, planning applications & consent work, mixed-use or residential development.
• Strong knowledge of the UK planning system: local plans, national policy, infrastructure delivery, viability, environmental and technical constraints.
• Experienced in stakeholder management: working with local authorities, communities, technical consultees, landowners.

Ready to apply? Please contact Neil Ellerton of Penguin Recruitment on 01792 365 108 or send a copy of your CV to neil.ellerton@penguinrecruitment.co.uk