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    4. Graduate Planner 2025
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    Kickstart your planning career in one of London’s most exciting boroughs! Southwark Council is looking for ambitious planning graduates to join our Planning Applications Team and play a pivotal role in shaping vibrant, inclusive communities.

    These are exciting times for the London Borough of Southwark with many developments taking place along the River Thames, at the Council estates at Elephant and Castle, at the former Surrey Docks at Canada Water, and through to Peckham and Camberwell.

    What you’ll do

    • Diverse Caseload: Manage a variety of smaller planning applications, gaining hands-on experience in site inspections, policy interpretation, and decision-making.
    • Analysis & Reporting: Assess planning merits, interpret development plans, and prepare clear, well-written reports recommending approval or refusal.
    • Customer Engagement: Provide expert planning advice, handle planning applications, and contribute to planning policy, and transport strategies.
    • Impactful Work: Help shape Southwark's future through innovative and community-focused planning.
    • Supportive Environment: Be part of a team that values growth, collaboration, and excellence to deliver high-quality, client-focused outcomes for stakeholders.

    Key requirements

    We're looking for a motivated Graduate who is ready to take ownership of a variety of planning tasks. Ideally, you bring a blend of the following to the role:

    • Hold a degree in town planning or a closely related field.
    • Enthusiastic about creating sustainable and vibrant spaces that benefit our community.
    • Skilled at understanding technical plans and documents.
    • Able to explain complex planning issues clearly to a range of stakeholders.
    • Can handle a busy workload with efficiency and focus.
    • Build a strong foundation for your planning career with guidance and support from experienced professionals.
    • This role offers flexible home working blended with travel into our London Bridge office 3 days a week.

    About Southwark

    As a council, we are successful, passionate, and forward thinking. We are committed to tackling injustice and inequalities and rebuilding our local economy following the pandemic, ensuring that our residents and businesses are central to everything we do.

    As a diverse central London borough, Southwark faces a range of challenges, which we aim to address through the delivery of the Borough Plan. We are looking for candidates to join our team to help us continue to make Southwark an inclusive borough for all our communities.   

    Southwark Council is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds. We monitor our recruitment practices to check that we are employing people in a fair and non-discriminatory way. We also publish annual workforce reports. We are proud to have a workforce that reflects the diversity of our borough.

    Interview Date: W/C the 9th of June 2025