* Please note, you will need to merge your personal statement and CV into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and personal statement. If you experience any technical issues, please contact recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk.

If you experience technical issues during the application process we have found using a different browser or device in the first instance can be a quick fix.

If those don't work please email the Resourcing Hub at recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk with your application and/or CV before the submission deadline. Any applications received after the deadline may not be considered.

The Resourcing Hub will issue updates via email and sometimes they may filter through to junk folders. Please do check your junk folders regularly for any missed correspondence.

Are you interested in how we can create happier, healthier and more sustainable places?

The Office for Place is a newly established non-departmental public body that will develop and share evidence, advice, tools and learning to support the creation and stewardship of places that are beautiful, sustainable, popular, and healthy.

It has its origins in the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission Report ‘Living with Beauty’ which has influenced national planning policy and, through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, the requirement for all local authorities to produce a design code for their area, developed through local community involvement and engagement.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of an organisation whose objectives are to:  

• Catalyse a fundamental change within and across all levels of government, communities, and the development, planning and design industries, to support the creation and stewardship of popular, healthy, beautiful, and sustainable places.

• Help neighbourhoods, communities and public servants working on their behalf, to ask for and deliver new places, and manage existing places, to be popular, healthy, beautiful, and sustainable.

• Support public sector planners and the British design and development industries to be amongst the best place makers in the world aided by improving UK and international data on happiness, health, popularity, and sustainability.

To help meet this challenge, we are seeking an urban or architectural designer to support the delivery of a range of innovative tools, templates and products to help local authorities, developers and other planning and development stakeholders to design better, and higher quality, places.

You will be joining a new organisation at the beginning of its journey, with an independent chair and a board of non-executive directors.

You will be able to meaningfully shape the programme of work that the OfP delivers from the earliest stage, helping Office for Place to build its credibility as an expert voice in design, planning and placemaking.

The Office for Place will be subject to the standard review of public bodies which will take place after 3-5 years to ensure continuing delivery for government and the taxpayer.

You can find out more about our work here: Office for Place - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

An information session to find out more about our work and the Urban Design roles currently being advertised will be held on Wednesday 2nd October at 4:30pm and Monday 7th October at 12:30pm. To register please contact contact@officeforplace.gov.uk.

We are currently working in a start-up phase and will be recruiting to a number of roles across different disciplines, we expect all appointed candidates to work flexibility across the organisation and to recognise that job roles may be adjusted as the organisation grows to full capacity over the coming year.

The successful applicant will initially be recruited into the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and will be subject to a TUPE transfer in the second half of 2024. Terms and conditions for the new organisation are to be confirmed but will be no less favourable than DLUHC.

A fundamental objective of the Office for Place is to support local authority planning officers and the sector more broadly, to deliver the homes that the country needs, in places where people want to live.

Much of the Office for Place’s work will be to support planning professionals, and therefore we are seeking an urban designer with strategic planning experience, including developing and implementing design codes. Being experienced urban designers, we expect people in these roles to advocate for, and support, local authority planning officers to better understand the benefits and impact of effective placemaking and the production of design codes.

The role and responsibilities include:

• Bringing urban design expertise to support and inform the delivery of relevant and useful urban design digital tools, collaborating with the team to understand, scope out, design and build products like downloadable design code elements.

• Deliver consultation exercises with the sector on emerging tools, working across OfP, government and other design and planning professionals to ensure that any tools and products meet the needs of OfPs key stakeholder base and add value.

• Support the launch and maintenance of the digital design code library and ensure that the content is relevant for planning officers and urban designers, and that the right digital infrastructure is in place from day one.

• Provide expert design advice and support to local planning authorities and Office for Place officials on the tools and products needed to support better design and placemaking.

• Represent the Office for Place with the necessary credibility and sector experience at external sector events with built environment professionals or the developer industry.

• Work closely with external stakeholders, including government officials, to ensure that our work is relevant to the needs of local authority planning officers, is evaluated, and responds to demand and feedback.

• Work with other specialists and teams in the Office for Place to share professional insights that will inform their work.

• Report on your work to the Office for Place board, seeking their direction and responding to their feedback.

This role is a key part of the Service Delivery Team, ensuring that the support offer to local authorities and other in the sector is of high-quality and addresses existing gaps whether those be in guidance, capability or expertise.

Therefore, experience gained within the urban design and architecture sector will be essential.

You will have a qualification in town planning, urban design, or architecture with relevant professional experience in urban design and planning at a strategic scale, and knowledge of national development, planning and placemaking issues.

You will have demonstrable experience of working in or closely with a local planning authority. Experience developing and implementing design codes is beneficial but not essential.

You will need to demonstrate an understanding of the distinct stages of the planning process, particularly in relation to large scale development, to be able to effectively judge the effectiveness of design and planning policies produced by local authorities and to promote innovation and best practice.

You will need to have demonstrable experience of working with Adobe Creative Cloud and CAD to create 2D and 3D visuals and infographics.

You will have an ability to deliver projects to time and budget, requiring strong project management skills and experience of working with delivery partners or stakeholders, and / or having oversight of external suppliers.

You will be an initiative-taking, self-starter who can think strategically and is able to solve complex problems.

You will be confident using evidence and insight in your work, making effective decisions informed by feedback from multiple stakeholders.

You will possess excellent communication skills and be confident in speaking publicly and engaging with local authorities, communities, and the planning and development sector.

You will need to report to the Executive Team and the Office for Place board, presenting authoritatively and concisely to inform decision-making.

You will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of, and willingness to deliver, the Office for Place aims and objectives.   

We particularly welcome candidates from an ethnic minority background and other underrepresented groups to apply, as we work to continually improve our ability to represent the places and communities we support through our work.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £41,679, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £12,074 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role

• An environment with flexible working options

• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

As part of our pre-employment checking process we will be using your CV to confirm your job history. Please note that by providing us with your CV you are consenting to us using the information enclosed as part of the checking process. 

CV and Cover Letter Declaration 

We recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - this is called name blind recruitment. 

Please remove references to your: 

• name/title

• educational institutions

• age

• gender

• email address

• postal address

• phone number

• nationality/immigration status

You will need to merge your CV and covering letter into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and covering letter. 

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that your application would be viewed by different assessors. 

At sift, through your CV and covering letter we will be assessing: 

Experience 

Technical Ability 

Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page long, with 3 pages allowed 4 your CV (4 pages total).

In your CV and covering letter, please include: a. why you are interested in the role. b. how you meet the criteria set out in the job description and person specification. c. a minimum of two case studies of your recent work, including images which demonstrate your technical design and visual communication skills.

The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of experience, technical and behaviour based questions as listed in the advert.   

Candidates will be expected to deliver a presentation at interview stage the details of which would be provided upon invitation.

In full the campaign will test the below Success Profile Elements: 

Experience: Yes - Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description 

Technical: Yes – Technical questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description. 

Behaviours: Seeing the Big Picture, Working Together, Communicating and Influencing, Making Effective Decisions

Please contact the vacancy manager if you have any questions about the role.   

We do not consider direct CV applications – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs: 

Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign 

Senior Planning Officer salary 

• The salary for this role is £41,679 (National). 

• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If you apply for a role that requires a transfer of location, for example if you are transferring from London to a National location, your salary will be adjusted in accordance with our policy on transfer between HQ pay ranges.   

Please note that the average employer pension contribution is based upon the National minimum salary for this role. Should your agreed starting salary for this role be different, the average employer pension contribution will be calculated accordingly. If you are a Secondee, this will not apply as you will remain on your home organisation’s terms and conditions.   

Benefits 

Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018: 

Any move to MHCLG from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk. 

For further information about the benefits available to MHCLG employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack. 

Location 

• Stoke-On-Trent

There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role. 

At present, a minimum of 60% of your working time will be spent in your contractual office location. Requirements to attend other office locations or off-site meetings will be counted towards this. You will be asked to express a location preference during the application process. There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis, if you are successful for the role. 

Sift and Interview dates   

Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 14th October 2024 with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. 

Reserve List 

In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details on a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@communities.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list. 

Before starting your application it’s very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the MHCLG candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules 

Candidate Pack Information 

Please see attached Candidate pack for further information. 

Internal Fraud Database 

The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned. The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to MHCLG as a participating government organisations. MHCLG then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented.  

For more information please see- Internal Fraud Register 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals

• nationals of the Republic of Ireland

• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK

• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)

• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020

• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Job contact :

• Name :Holly Lang

• Email :holly.lang@officeforplace.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email :recruitment@communities.gov.uk