Role: Senior or Associate Environmental Planner (Full time, Permanent)
Location: London/Bristol/Reading Flexible (hybrid working offered)
About us
With over 2,000 people working in integrated regional teams across Stantec UK and 25,000 worldwide, we plan, design, deliver and manage the development and infrastructure needed to support the creation of sustainable, healthy and prosperous communities.
Our inter-disciplinary teams combine high quality, innovative and sustainable design with strong commercial awareness and are skilled at guiding developments of all types, from contemporary residential schemes to the refurbishment of listed buildings or development of major integrated urban regeneration schemes. We believe that nurturing the communities we create, serve and employ is fundamental to success. So, while we work to help the communities around us thrive, our own people thrive too.
We are committed to supporting, fostering, and investing in our employees’ successes. We are leaders in our field for investment in staff development, graduate and apprentice programmes, STEM initiatives, and the progression of future business leaders. We create exciting opportunities for the development of our staff and, as one of our employees, you’ll be able to maintain and develop your skills, learn and adapt to change, and identify opportunities for growth within our global career framework.
The opportunity
Our growing and busy Infrastructure and Environmental Planning team has an exciting opportunity for a talented, commercially minded and experienced Senior or Associate Environmental Planner to join them as part of the team’s ongoing growth strategy. The team operates nationwide and provides leading services to the energy, infrastructure, residential and commercial sectors. As such, there is an expectation to travel to our other offices and for project meetings nationally, when required. This is an exciting opportunity for a talented and enthusiastic candidate to help both develop and deliver opportunities, building on the team’s success to date, and to assist in raising the team’s profile and establishing client contacts in the local market and to play an integral supporting role in the management and development of the team.
The successful candidate will have excellent technical knowledge and understanding of environmental impact assessment best practice and the ways in which this applies to the UK Planning system. They will have proven experience of all stages of the EIA process (screening, scoping, EIA management & coordination, preparation of Environmental Statements (ES)) and post-submission/determination, ideally within the Town & Country Planning and Development Consent Order (DCO) regimes. Experience in other environmental planning services including Sustainability Appraisal (review of and promotion of strategic land through the Local Plan process), sustainability statements, health impact assessment, equalities impact assessment and advice relating to Habitats Regulations Assessment would also be desirable.
Projects include Kingsnorth Power Station (EIA strategy advice and ES for an industrial development with flexible energy uses in a highly sensitive location), Wisley (EIA management, climate change assessment and health & wellbeing strategy for a new sustainable community), several large scale solar and battery storage projects under the Development Consent Order regime and Friary Park estate (EIA, health impact assessment and equalities impact assessment for a c. 1,000 home estate regeneration scheme). We have varied and challenging projects to get involved with, and therefore the ability to manage projects and mentor and develop junior team members is important, and ideally the candidate will be well networked in the local market with client contacts and have the capability and entrepreneurial flair to help further grow the business in a collaborative and supportive team environment.
As a key role in a project team responsible for multiple technical disciplines and the delivery of complex and highly scrutinised documents, the candidate should have excellent written skills, be a team player, have the ability to influence others, manage multiple tasks and projects and be able to maintain quality under pressure.
To have an impact in the role you will:
- Develop client relationships, network and raise the team’s profile to assist with generating work
- Run planning projects by managing and co-ordinating Environmental Impact Assessments and associated processes for a range of developments;
- Undertake site visits;
- Produce documents, letters and reports for all stages of the EIA process, and other related assessment work, from inception through to completion whilst providing a quality and timely service to clients;
- Produce high quality written reports including policy representations, Health Impact Assessments, Equalities Impact Assessments etc. a
- Review other technical documents for planning alignment, quality and robustness;
- Manage the EIA process from inception to completion including writing the ES introductory and concluding chapters, preparing the Non-Technical Summary;
- Liaise with and manage other professionals, for example, landscape architects, transport engineers, architects, Local Authority representatives;
- Attend project meetings and lead EIA team meetings;
- Review technical reports and manage and deliver the project to programme and budget;
- Provide regular briefings to the project lead or Director responsible for the service;
- Assist with providing internal and external training as required and contribute to marketing initiatives; and
- Assist with the mentoring and development of junior team members.
To succeed in the role, it is likely that you will:
- Have a relevant degree and membership of a relevant professional institution, preferably being a Chartered Environmentalist;
- Have a mix of real estate and energy/infrastructure EIA experience;
- Have proven experience of all stages of the EIA process;
- Have a good knowledge of the planning system/process;
- Have experience in the Strategic Environmental Assessment/Sustainability Appraisal process;
- Have strong EIA project management experience;
- Have an excellent knowledge of environmental planning case law and understand the implications for day to day practice;
- Have excellent communication skills, both verbal and written;
- Be commercially minded;
- Be motivated, committed and have an eye for detail;
- Be used to working with minimal supervision and have a strong ability to use their own initiative;
- Be personable and a strong team player;
- Have an interest in supporting the development of others;
- Have an interest to engage in business development activity and networking;
- Be willing to travel nationally as required; and,
- Hold a full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle.
We believe that it is our people and their individual talents that make us special. We work within a friendly, inclusive, and supportive culture and one of high support and high challenge, where we are not afraid to take on new and greater responsibilities and are each individually encouraged to grow and flourish both personally and professionally, with genuine career opportunities based on merit. We create a working environment that offers flexibility, adopting a hybrid approach to agile working and offer a wide range of benefits including a generous pension scheme, life assurance, private health care and a flexi-benefits package allowing you to choose benefits that are truly valuable to you, including the opportunity to buy and sell holiday.
How to apply
If you would like to be considered for this exciting opportunity and have the required skills and experience, then we would be delighted to hear from you. Within your application, please include details on your availability to start the position should you be successful and information on your current reward package.
If you require any further information, please contact Katrina Wheadon (Recruitment Adviser) katrina.wheadon@bartonwillmore.co.uk or Ruth Hoggett (Recruitment Manager) ruth.hoggett@bartonwillmore.co.uk.
At Barton Willmore, now Stantec, we are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made during the recruitment process, then please inform a member of our Recruitment team.
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