Planning Policy Officer

This is an exciting opportunity to work in a rich planning environment across two varied authorities, and build on the success of an existing jointly prepared plan which covers the three administrative areas. The South Worcestershire Development Plan Review was adopted at the end of March 2026, and preparation is underway to work on the new Local Plan. Working across the District Councils of Wychavon and Malvern, your work will include:

• Supporting senior Officers in delivering our strategic sites and new settlements;
• Responding to planning queries from the public and our development management team in the processing of planning applications;
• Supporting Neighbourhood Planning across both Malvern Hills and Wychavon Districts; and
• Supporting the monitoring of the delivery of development across Wychavon and Malvern.
We are seeking a candidate that will demonstrate commitment to delivering the Council's values of great customer service, openness and accountability, innovation and improvement and fairness and respect. You will be responsible for championing and demonstrating the Council's Leadership Behaviour Framework by inspiring, communicating, collaborating and empowering yourself and others and leading by example., The two councils have a shared Chief Executive and a joint senior management team. Whilst they retain their own political structures and distinct identities, the joint management structure allows us to maximise the opportunity to deliver a wide range of good value services to our customers and communities, and operate and develop shared services, collaborative working and partnership arrangements with each other, with other councils and with key stakeholders


• A good standard of education;
• Some experience in a planning setting;
• Excellent communication skills;
• An adaptable and flexible approach with the ability to work on a variety of tasks;
• Good working knowledge of Windows based computer systems and their applications;
• Good research and analytical skills; and
• A strong customer service orientation., We value skills and an ability to do a great job over identifying personal information and that's why our recruitment process is confidential, and managers review, and shortlist applications based on the evidence you provide. What you can offer us and how you will uphold our values and behaviours is what we look for during our recruitment process. It is important to us that we work together to deliver the Malvern Hills Plan and We Are Wychavon plan so when applying for a role with us, please help us to understand how the skills and experience you can bring will help us achieve our goals.
  
  Our staff are at the heart of what we do, and as a result we are always looking to recruit, develop and retain the very best talent we can find. So, as well as a rewarding career, we offer a range of attractive benefits, such as:
• Excellent pension scheme with employer contributions
• Generous annual leave entitlement with options to purchase additional annual leave
• Committed training programme and development opportunities
• Onsite nursery with 20% staff discount
• Discounted Gym and swim membership
• Health and Wellbeing support and a Free Employee Assistance scheme including access to counselling services
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Employee Discounts with a range of companies including EE and the Kaarp discount scheme.
We are an employer that values face to face communication, collaboration and connection, therefore all our roles have an office-based requirement with some agile working as part of the role., Malvern Hills and Wychavon District Councils are rewarding places to work, with high levels of resident satisfaction and motivated staff who enjoy working for us. Located in south Worcestershire, both districts boast beautiful natural environments, a rich heritage and plenty to do and see. The districts are ranked the top two best rural places to live in the West Midlands and are amongst the top 30 in the country. We pride ourselves on being progressive organisations spending time, energy and investment on what we know matters to our residents and communities - things like supporting our town centres and rural communities, creating jobs, keeping the streets clean, reducing our carbon footprint, helping people feel safe and preventing homelessness. We are an employer that values face to face Communication, Collaboration and Connection, therefore all our roles have an office based requirement with some agile working as part of the role. Working with you Our staff are at the heart of what we do, and as a result we are always looking to recruit and develop the very best talent we can find. That's why, as well as providing a satisfying job, we offer a range of attractive benefits, generous holiday entitlements, a pension scheme, plenty of opportunities for personal development, and discounted gym membership.