Town Planner

We're looking for a commercially minded and proactive Town Planner to support the delivery of the M&S UK Property Strategy and Store Rotation Programme. Working across acquisitions, asset management, estates, and development projects, you will lead planning activity from inception through to consent, ensuring planning risks are managed, opportunities are maximised, and projects are delivered efficiently. This role is critical in enabling store growth, renewals, relocations, and investment across the estate. This is a support centre mobility role which means your time will be split between our office based in our M&S Waterside Support Centre and the other traveling where required., All the details What You'll Do

Lead and manage planning applications, securing timely and commercially effective planning consents across the UK estate.

Work closely with internal teams and external consultants to support acquisitions, asset management, store renewals, relocations, and new store developments.

Build strong relationships with local planning authorities, landlords, developers, elected officials, and community stakeholders to support successful outcomes.

Identify planning risks and opportunities early, providing clear updates and recommendations to project teams and senior stakeholders.

Support the wider property strategy through planning policy engagement, consultant management, and continuous improvement of planning processes and best practice.

The Opportunity Are you an experienced Town Planner looking for a new opportunity with an established, growing team? Do you want to work on a variety of exciting projects, that offer fantastic career development possibilities? If so, then Stantec could be for you! We are looking to recruit a number of Planning professionals at various different levels to join our expanding teams across the UK. We have planning teams based in Bristol, Taunton, Cardiff, Birmingham, Reading, Kings Hill, London, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow. If you are interested in being considered for our open vacancies or would like to share your interest in Stantec for the future, please submit an application with us. Click on the link to read more about projects we are involved with: https://www.stantec.com/uk/services/town-planning About You

You will ideally be a chartered MRTPI town planner, or working towards it.

You will have proven planning experience either from a consultancy, private sector or public sector environment.

We deliver a wide range of projects but a track record in residential, mixed-use, strategic, commercial and energy projects is particularly advantageous.

You will have experience of preparing, submitting and negotiating planning applications of a variety of sizes and type.

For more senior hires, experience of lodging appeals and appearing at informal hearings is advantageous.

You will have proven experience in coordinating internal and external project teams, ensuring quality assurance on projects.

You will have the ability to build and maintain client relationships, providing quality advice and service.

You will ideally have local knowledge of, and a track record of working in the region you are interested in joining. However, relocators will be considered.

Ideally hold a full UK driving licence and have access to a car., An experienced planning professional with a strong understanding of the UK planning system and development process.

A confident communicator who can influence stakeholders and represent M&S professionally with both internal and external partners.

A proactive problem solver, able to navigate complex planning challenges and identify practical solutions.

Highly organised and commercially aware, with the ability to manage multiple projects and competing priorities.

A collaborative team player who thrives in a fast-paced environment and enjoys building strong working relationships.

What You Will Bring

Proven experience managing planning applications and delivering successful planning outcomes within retail, property, or development environments.

Strong knowledge of planning policy, development management, and the wider UK property landscape.

Experience managing external consultants and ensuring delivery of high-quality advice and value for money.

Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage confidently with councils, developers, landlords, and project teams.

A commercial mindset, with the ability to balance planning, operational, and business objectives while driving projects forward.

About Stantec The Stantec community unites more than 31,000 employees working in over 450 locations across 6 continents. We have been working with our clients and communities in the UK for over 150 years. We plan, design, deliver and manage the development and infrastructure needed to support the creation of sustainable, healthy and prosperous communities. Our teams provide effective and relevant solutions, translating our clients' vision into valued consents, deliverable plans for projects and programmes, and efficient designs for delivery, based on technical excellence and deep market insights. We deal with today's challenges, but also keep a fairer, better tomorrow in sight, looking at how we deliver clean growth, support radical changes in our economy and meet the needs of future communities. Stantec provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants for future and current employment and prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race

People culture: We're proud of our friendly, inclusive and collaborative environment where everyone feels valued and driven to succeed

Award winning workplace: Named in the top 50 companies to work by Glassdoor 2025. Recognised by Corporate Knights as one of the world's top 10 most sustainable companies 2025. Named 'Best Place to Work' and 'International Consulting Firm of the Year' at the NCE Awards 2024.

Growth: We're on an exciting growth journey across the UK & Ireland - we want you to be part of it!

Great Benefits: Competitive salary, bonus schemes, enhanced pension plan, annual leave with the option to buy/sell additional days, private medical insurance, group income protection & life assurance included as standard as well as discounted gym membership and lots more

Flexible working: Enjoy a healthy work-life balance with our hybrid approach to flexible working

Professional development: Industry leading training and development as well as paid for professional subscriptions, colour, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, genetic information, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. We prohibit discrimination in decisions concerning recruitment, hiring, referral, promotion, compensation, fringe benefits, job training, terminations or any other condition of employment. Stantec is in compliance with laws and regulations and ensures equitable opportunities in all aspects of employment. Building an inspired, inclusive work environment that attracts, supports, and develops world-class talent is a crucial key to our success. If you are excited by this role but worry that your experience doesn't exactly align, we encourage you to apply. At Stantec we want you to perform your best at every stage of the recruitment process and are committed to ensuring it is accessible to all. If you need any support or require adjustments to be made then please contact careers.UK& [email protected] we will talk
to you about how we can support you.

Marks and Spencer, What's In It For You Being a part of M&S is exactly that - playing your part to bring the magic of M&S to our customers every day. We're an inclusive, dynamic, exciting, and ever-evolving business built on doing the right thing and bringing exceptional quality, value and service to every customer, whenever, wherever and however they want to shop with us. Here are some of the benefits we offer that make working for M&S just that little bit more special…

20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third-party brands for you and a member of your household.

Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days.

Discretionary bonus schemes awarded based on how you achieve your personal objectives and our performance as a business.

A generous Defined Contribution Pension Scheme and Life Assurance.

A dedicated welcome to our teams with a tailored induction and a wide range of training programmes to develop your skills.

Amazing perks and discounts via our M&S Choices portal to maximise your financial and personal wellbeing.

Industry-leading parental, adoption and neonatal policies, providing support and flexibility for your family.

Access to a fantastic range of wellbeing support for all colleagues, including our 24/7 Virtual GP and PAM Assist for you and your family.

A charity volunteer day to support a cause you're passionate about through a dedicated day away from work.

Everyone's welcome We are ambitious about the future of retail. We're disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We're transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen. We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together. If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.