Planning Assistant / Planning Technician

Planning Assistant / Planning Technician 
Washington
37 hours per week | Hybrid – 3 days working from home
12-month Fixed Term Contract

We are working in partnership with Northumbrian Water to recruit a Planning Assistant / Planning Technician to join their New Development Planning team. This role is well suited to someone with strong administrative and organisational skills, ideally gained within a local authority, planning, or similar regulated environment.
 
You’ll play an important supporting role in the planning application and strategic policy consultation process, helping to protect water and wastewater assets while delivering a high standard of customer service to developers, local authorities and internal stakeholders.

This is a fixed term contract; however, Northumbrian Water regularly has internal opportunities becoming available, offering potential longer-term career prospects.

Key Responsibilities 

• Support the planning application and strategic policy consultation process, ensuring information is processed accurately and within agreed timescales.
• Provide administrative and technical support to the New Development Planning team on planning applications and consultations.
• Assist with day-to-day communication with local authority planning teams, developers, consultants and contractors.
• Maintain accurate records, track applications and correspondence, and ensure data is managed in line with company procedures.
• Help manage customer, developer and local authority expectations by responding to queries and escalating issues where appropriate.
• Liaise with internal teams to gather information relating to capacity and asset protection, escalating more complex matters to senior colleagues when required.

About You 

• Proven administrative experience, ideally within a local authority, planning, housing, utilities or similar environment.
• Some experience or exposure to planning processes or planning policy would be advantageous, but not essential.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Confident communicator, comfortable dealing with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
• A methodical, detail-focused approach with good IT and record-keeping skills.

 
This role would suit someone at Planning Technician / Planning Assistant level, or an administrator with relevant transferable experience looking to develop within a planning or infrastructure environment.