Kent Downs National Landscape Head of Planning and Place

Kent Downs National Landscape Head of Planning and Place

Date: 2026-08-16

Location: Barnstaple, Devon, GB, EX31 1

Work Type: Any

Application Deadline: 2026-11-15T09:33:14.427

Location Details

Canterbury Rd, East Brabourne, Ashford TN25 5LL, UK

Salary

47,990 - 53,446 per year

Employment Type

Flexible

Category

Planning

Posted

2026-07-01

Valid To

2026-08-31

Apply

Kent County Council

What will you be doing?

The Kent Downs is one of the most beautiful landscapes in Britain; it is also one of the most under pressure. Covering around a quarter of the County of Kent, it is an arch mosaic of chalk hills, dry valleys, woodlands, ancient trackways, villages, castles, and churches. Our role is to conserve and enhance this natural beauty.

This is an exciting and challenging opportunity to use your land use planning skills to make a real and positive difference for the Kent Downs. You will be part of the Kent Downs National Landscape Team, a supportive, highly skilled, and highly motivated multidisciplinary team delivering our mission and vision and our projects, all members expected to work collaboratively, in an integrated way.

Your role

• You will jointly lead the Planning and Place theme of the Kent Downs Team using land use planning and design guidance as a tool to deliver our statutory Management Plan.


• You will provide planning expertise to help shape and influence development including influencing development plans; responding to consultations and planning applications, you may participate in Examinations in Public (EIPs) and Public Inquiries.


• Producing and promoting new guidance documents is also part of the role.


• We're looking for someone with considerable skills, motivation, and experience to take this important work forward.

Additional Information

We will be interviewing throughout the time this role remains open and reserve the right to close this early if we receive enough applications.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

About you

For more information, please read the job description and role profile and if you would like a conversation, please contact us.

Work that works for you and us

Let's talk flexibility! KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths, and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note - if you are interested, please apply soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.

#s1-Gen

Location: Canterbury Rd, East Brabourne, Ashford TN25 5LL, UKSalary: 47,990 - 53,446 per yearEmployment: FlexibleCategory: PlanningPosted: 2026-07-01Valid to: 2026-08-31Apply: Kent County CouncilWhat will you be doing?The Kent Downs is one of the most beautiful landscapes in Britain; it is also one of the most under pressure. Covering around a quarter of the County of Kent, it is arch mosaic of chalk hills, dry valleys, woodlands, ancient trackways, villages, castles and churches. Our role is to conserve and enhance this natural beauty.This is an exciting and challenging opportunity to use your land use planning skills make a real and positive difference for the Kent Downs. You will be part of the Kent Downs National Landscape Team, a supportive, highly skilled and highly motivated multidisciplinary team delivering our mission and vision and our projects, all members expected to work collaboratively, in an integrated way.Your role:You will jointly lead the Planning and Place theme of
the Kent Downs Team using land use planning and design guidance as a tool to deliver our statutory Management Plan.You will provide planning expertise to help shape and influence development including influencing development plans; responding to consultations and planning applications, you may participate in Examinations in Public (EIPs) and Public Inquiries. Producing and promoting new guidance documents is also part of the role. We're looking for someone with considerable skills, motivation and experience to take this important work forward.We will be interviewing throughout the time this role remains open and reserve the right to close this early if we receive enough applications.This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (#####) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate
standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification. About youFor more information please read the job description and role profile and if you would like a conversation please contact ##### usWork that works for you and us - let's talk flexibility!KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.Please note - if you are interested, please apply soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.