Policy Officer (Planning) WCC621304

Job Details:

Salary range: £41,580 – £45,399 per annum. Salary negotiable depending upon experience.
Work location: Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, SW1E 6QP
Hours per week: 36
Contract type: Permanent
Closing date: 19 June 2025 
Interview date: Week Commencing 14 July 2025 

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF DAPHNE’S INSIGHT

Corporate Services in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories, where passionate and expert professionals go above and beyond for their colleagues every day.

Daphne, our champion for people with learning difficulties, is a real beacon. She doesn’t just advocate for colleagues with these difficulties, she teaches managers how to identify and understand the conditions and support their teams at work. Daphne has an innate ability to see the human behind every situation, helping them capitalise on strengths and overcome challenges to be their very best. With her empathy and expertise, she’s a natural. But then, a lifetime of managing her own dyslexia and dyspraxia brings with it unique insight. Our people – and ultimately residents – benefit every day.

Please view the extraordinary story of Daphne’s Insight here.

The Role:

As a Planning Policy Officer, you can make your own contribution to Westminster’s success. Working within the wider Policy and Strategy team, you’ll play a vital role in shaping the future of planning in one of the most complex and high-profile urban environments in the UK. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the Partial and Full Reviews of Westminster’s City Plan and to support the delivery of Supplementary Planning Documents that provide important policy guidance across the borough.

A key focus of your role will be leading the council’s work with Westminster’s 21 Neighbourhood Forums. You’ll provide expert planning policy advice and hands-on support to help local communities develop and adopt their Neighbourhood Plans, ensuring they align with the city’s broader strategic objectives. This includes supporting Forums with technical planning matters and helping them prioritise infrastructure needs and local priorities.

You’ll also contribute to a wide range of planning policy work, supporting the delivery of statutory stages of both local and neighbourhood plan production – including managing public consultations and coordinating with internal and external stakeholders. Using research and data, you’ll help to develop robust policy evidence and assess the effectiveness of existing policies, making recommendations to senior officers and councillors to support future direction.

This is a role that offers genuine scope for impact and development. Whether you’re coordinating engagement, shaping policy content, or analysing planning outcomes, you’ll be helping to influence the next phase of development across the City of Westminster. You’ll work collaboratively, apply best practice, and champion inclusive approaches to planning in line with the Westminster Way – ensuring that local voices are reflected in how we shape our city.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

You are a collaborative and motivated individual with a strong understanding of the planning system and the role it plays in shaping local places. With experience in building partnerships and productive working relationships across a range of stakeholders and levels, you are confident working both independently and as part of a team to deliver shared outcomes.

You bring excellent analytical and research skills, with the ability to interpret complex information and data, draw meaningful insights, and present evidence-based recommendations to senior officers, managers, or stakeholders. You have a talent for using data and research to support the design and development of innovative policies and strategies.

Ideally, you have experience in spatial planning or development policy, and may have worked in or alongside a local planning authority, contributing to policy preparation and implementation. You understand the workings of local government and are aware of how planning fits into wider council priorities.

Your communication skills – both written and verbal – enable you to engage, influence, and build consensus with a range of audiences. You are able to present complex ideas clearly, develop robust policies, and contribute meaningfully to collaborative discussions. Politically aware and well-organised, you can prioritise competing deadlines, apply sound judgement, and respond effectively to shifting priorities.

You are also flexible and proactive, able to think strategically while maintaining excellent attention to detail. Proficient in MS Office and comfortable using technology to support agile working, you may also have experience with Adobe’s design suite or a willingness to learn. Above all, you are driven by a commitment to inclusive planning, strong policymaking, and helping to shape places that reflect the needs of their communities.

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit  https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties

As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.