Your new role
Are you an individual who can lead with passion, influence others and has good interpersonal skills?
Looking for a role where you can use your experience of transport and spatial planning?
Then National Highways has the role for you!
We’re looking for a Planning Manager – Spatial Planning to join our Network Planning Division to:
Lead our policy approach, as a statutory planning consultee, to spatial planning.
Work with government departments, other public infrastructure providers, and Operations regional teams, to ensure we enable well planned and well sited development around the strategic road network.
Coordinate with others in the team on activity that enables the company to fulfil and demonstrate the role it plays in supporting economic growth.
The role will also involve the management of studies and research projects to inform the future of the SRN and the approach that National Highways should take to prepare for new technological, environmental, legislative, economic, and demographic scenarios. You’ll collaborate with teams across National Highways and our stakeholders to understand our customers’ future needs of the SRN and the role spatial planning can play to meet these needs.
The role will work on a hybrid basis and will involving travelling to other National Highways locations as and when required.
What you’ll be leading on
- Developing and embedding our policy approach, as a statutory consultee, to spatial planning
- Evolving our strategic approach through understanding and interpreting the impact of latest developments in technology, environmental and societal trends, and respond to current, and anticipating future, government policy.
- Commissioning and managing work with consultants, academia and wider public/ private sector that enriches our policy approach to spatial planning
- Leading external communications and engagement with a range of key stakeholders, road users and interest groups: for example, government departments, Network Rail, Homes England.
- Directing and influencing multi-disciplinary teams across National Highways and key stakeholders, to ensure how the company operates and evolves its network is in line with our strategic vision and plans.
To be successful you’ll need
- Sound knowledge and understanding of transport planning and spatial planning, ideally with chartered planner status (or be working towards chartership)
- Evidence of partnership working with a collaborative approach with strong stakeholder management, engagement, strong presentation and influencing skills with wide range of internal and external stakeholders
- Good experience and understanding of developing policies or strategies, with the ability to convey complex information to a wide audience.
- Capability to operate strategically at national and/or sub-national level in strategy development or related environment
- Experience of working successfully in a Programme or Project Management environment, with demonstratable evidence of leading people to successful delivery of large scale, complex and/or high-risk projects.
- Experience of leading and managing other staff and co-ordinating workloads across teams, including those not directly managed, to achieve maximum efficiency.
A bit about us
Our directorate plays a critical role in National Highways. We set the course for strategic roads, enabling the company to deliver economic and social benefits through meeting the needs of our customers and clients, as well as our regulatory obligations. We are the focal point within National Highways responsible for providing the corporate strategic planning function for the organisation.
We deliver critical analytical support, provide strategic direction for our customer service imperative, partner with colleagues across the business to devise and deliver communications activities, and we shape, lead and drive the overall transformation of National Highways.
Why you should join us
At National Highways we believe in a connected country. We are passionate about creating a culture where colleagues feel connected, included and enjoy greater wellbeing to achieve this. We’re proud that as an organisation we are continually striving to do better and actively encourage and support our colleagues to do the same with their careers.
So, if you put safety first, take ownership of your work, show passion for what you do, work effectively in a team, and demonstrate integrity in how you do it – then you’ll be a great fit for our organisation.
An informal blended working approach has been adopted for many of our roles across National Highways. We offer many different ways to work flexibly and we’re open to discuss part-time working, job shares, and flexible start and finish times.
Please wait until the interview stage before asking us about flexibility, and we will explore what is possible.
- Our total reward package includes basic salary, the potential for a performance related bonus
- Contributory pension scheme with employer contribution of up to 10%
- Annual Leave starting at 26 days (plus Bank Holidays) rising by 1 day each year up to 31 days (plus Bank Holidays)
- Flexible hours and blended working between base location/home
- Life assurance of 4 times annual salary
- Health and wellbeing support, including an Employee Assistance Programme, available 24/7 365 days and network of mental health first aiders. Plus access to a wellbeing app to enhance your self-care 24/7, Occupational health service and flu vaccines
- A cycle to work scheme for the purchase of a bicycle and equipment for healthy, low carbon travel
- Significant investment in your career development, through learning and development, talent management, coaching, mentoring and on job experience
And we are
- Family friendly with enhanced maternity leave and pay, paternity leave (15 days), shared parental leave, adoption leave. Plus access to financial support for holiday play schemes and paid special leave (up to 5 days pa), eg for caring responsibilities
- Money friendly with access to a discounts platform including over 3000 discounts for supermarkets, eating out, leisure, holidays. Alongside a financial wellbeing programme
- Community friendly – offering paid leave to volunteer, 3 days basic/year plus an extra 3 days to support the national Covid effort
If you are successful, it is key to know all offers of employment are subject to satisfactory completion of our pre-employment checks which include:
- Right to work check
- 3 year employment history references
- DBS criminal record check
- Social media and adverse journalism check
- Driving licence check (if applicable)
- Fit to work questionnaire (for all), followed by a medical check (if applicable)
We reserve the right to close before the advertisement expires
