We are looking for an Assistant DM Planner  to join Capita at an exciting time for the Breckland District Council/Capita Partnership.

Breckland sits in the heart of Norfolk within half an hour of Norwich city and the beautiful North Norfolk coast, and covers an area of 1,305 kilometres and is one the largest rural districts in England. Nestling just on the Norfolk/Suffolk border Breckland is centred round the five main market towns of Attleborough, Dereham, Swaffham, Thetford and Watton. There are also 112 parishes in Breckland but the majority of the population is centred round the five market towns.

We are currently looking to recruit a motivated individual to join our successful Development Management (DM) team based in Dereham.  As our Assistant D M Planner, you will be part of an ambitious, successful team providing our core client with high quality, timely and outcome based development management services.

As our Assistant DM Planner you will:

Manage a personal caseload of Planning applications including:

• Assessment of the need for planning permission/permitted development

• Pre-application assessments

• Planning applications, predominantly householder and those considered to be minor in nature to include prior approvals

• Appeals primarily relating to householder developments and other applications which are minor in nature

• To provide support and assistance to colleagues within the Planning Enforcement and Technical Support Teams as required

• To deal with all aspects of the Development Management processes to include site visits, consultations and negotiations

• To provide timely, well written reports and recommendations to Managers

• To provide professional advice on planning matters to clients, the public, Members of the Council, and others as necessary

• To keep up to date with current legislation and policy changes

• To negotiate with applicants and agents to obtain quality outcomes within the necessary time constraints

• To ensure excellent customer service to our clients by phone, e-mail and face to face

• Have good communication skills and ability to work with limited supervision on tasks

• Comply with Health and Safety rules for the safety of yourself and others

Your experience will include

• 5 GCSE’s at grade C/4 or above must include Maths and English

• A desire to work towards a recognised planning qualification

• Some knowledge of current legislation relating to planning

• Some experience in Development Management working within a busy team environment delivering a range of planning applications

• The ability to prioritise and manage a workload, and to work flexibly to meet the commercial and contractual requirements of the business

• The ability to use personal initiative to solve challenges

• The ability to work flexibly with a wide range of people and to work as a member of a team

• To be able to work under pressure to produce timely and high quality work

• Hold a current driving licence and access to your own vehicle

What’s in it for me?

• Salary to be negotiated subject to knowledge and experience;

• The successful candidate would have the opportunity to work either in the field, from home or another location rather than being restricted by coming into a central office but would need to be able to visit the District on a regular basis for site visits and potential client meetings

• Opportunities for training, additional experience and progression within the organisation including the potential for secondments to other sections and the potential to work on wider projects

• Live and work in a beautiful location, close to the thriving city of Norwich as well as the unrivalled Norfolk coastline.

• Potential for flexible working, subject to requirements

You’ll get the chance to follow your chosen career path anywhere in Capita. You’ll be joining a network of 63,000 experienced, innovative and dedicated individuals across multiple disciplines and sectors. There are countless opportunities to learn new skills and develop in your career, and we’ll provide the support you need to do just that. Our purpose is to create a better outcome for you.

About us

In 2009 Capita was appointed as partner to Breckland District Council to provide its Town Planning and Building Control service. Our team, based in the Council’s offices in Dereham, provides the Council with the full range of planning policy, development management and building control services. We also provide consultancy services to other councils and to the private sector, with access across the Capita Business to a full range of built environment consultancy support.

Working for Capita at Breckland Council offers the potential to progress and be involved in wider projects and provides experience of both public and private sector planning work.

What we hope you’ll do next:

Choose ‘Apply now’ to fill out our short application, so that we can find out more about you. If you have any questions you’d like to ask before applying, you can contact Charlotte Barnett @ charlotte.barnett@capita.co.uk

All interviews, assessments and background checks will continue to take place online, to completely remove the need for face-to-face contact. All Capita colleagues who can work from home should do so; and where it is not possible for colleagues to work remotely, we have taken important steps to protect those working from Capita’s offices. Social distancing, enhanced hygiene and safety measures are already in place at all Capita locations that are open to protect our colleagues and manage the risk of COVID-19. The welfare of our people is of paramount importance to us, and we’re doing everything we can to keep our colleagues and customers safe during this time.

We’re an equal opportunity employer, which means we’ll consider all suitably qualified applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or beliefs, age, sexual orientation, disability status or any other protected characteristic. We recruit and develop our people based on merit and their passion for creating better outcomes, and we’re committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.