TerraQuest
Role: Planning Application Validation Technician
Location: Birmingham or Belfast, in line with our Agile Working Policy. You will need to be able to work from our Birmingham or Belfast office 2 days per week/office to be attended as often as business needs require.
Salary: Competitive
Who we are...
TerraQuest Solutions Ltd is an award-winning and market-leading specialist provider of planning, land, property, and business solutions. We are an established and trusted organisation that is renowned for its expertise in providing innovative and cost-effective solutions to both public and private sectors. Our team delivers bespoke, flexible, and efficient services through a process-orientated delivery structure. We pride ourselves on strong customer relationships evidenced by the high proportion of referrals and repeat business.
Why work with us…
We are a Living Wage Foundation accredited employer, committed to supporting the well-being and development of all our people. With competitive salaries, enhanced Family Friendly policies; a fabulous suite of benefits (including: Pension; Life Assurance; Employee Assistance Programme; option to buy additional annual leave in addition to 25 days plus Bank Holidays); true flexibility with our Agile Working approach, and superb training and development opportunities, we really care about our team!
What we need...
Due to a period of sustained growth and our commitment to supporting a growing workforce, we are looking to recruit a Planning Technician to join our driven Delivery Team.
Reporting to the Project Manager and Assistant Project Manager and working within the Professional Services Team, you will receive continual support to contribute and achieve within this role! The Planning Technician will register and validate a range of planning applications including, Other, Minor and possibly Major applications as part of a team, delivering end to end or capacity-based planning validations (PAVS) services for Local Planning Authorities.
What you will be doing…
- Processing planning application validations against a 24- or 48-hour turnaround target, operating in a fast-paced and motivating environment.
- Determining and deciding whether the application is invalid or valid (referring to the Senior Planning Technician or Assistant Project Manager where necessary for guidance and support).
- Negotiating amendments to application submissions by communicating with the applicants/agents via telephone, email, letter, contributing to high-quality services.
- Checking of additional information submitted for planning applications, providing knowledge to best influence applications.
- Checking/identifying consultation on planning applications.
- Allocating applications to planning officers based on schema, enabling collaborations amongst various teams and colleagues.
- Using the Councils back-office system to update applications and conduct GIS checks.
- Answering queries from applicants/agents regarding applications, providing opportunities to support client-facing interactions.
- To meet all daily production targets and update project documentation including Daily Production and Quality Logs, to contribute to the success of the wider team and company.
What we are looking for…
Candidate experience and skills required:
- Ability to read/understand plans.
- Capacity to plan the day’s workload from the outset and make appropriate adjustments when required, requiring strong organisation skills and a proactive response to the evolving nature and workload of this role.
- Ability to work in close cooperation with team colleagues for positive integration.
- Confident in dealing with difficult customers and achieving positive outcomes.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Proficient in use of Microsoft Office – Word, Excel, Outlook.
- Work to deadlines and within a production team environment.
- Have attention to accuracy and detail in performing own tasks and to quality check others work to provide collective support.
- A can-do attitude, consistently delivering to time, quality and cost.
- Ability to deliver excellent customer service at all times.
Preferable (but not mandatory) experience includes:
- At least 6 months experience of the planning applications subject area and experience working within Planning Authority/Private Sector
Please apply for more information and please do not be discouraged if you do not host all the experience and skills required. If you have the majority of skills, relevant experience and a positive and professional working attitude, we would still like to hear from you!
TerraQuest Solutions Ltd is committed to promoting equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment and to creating an inclusive working environment in which individuals are treated with dignity and respect.
We ensure that no job applicant, employee, or worker receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, political opinion, sex, or sexual orientation.
TerraQuest Solutions Ltd operates in compliance with the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998. We monitor the composition of our workforce in accordance with the Fair Employment (Monitoring) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999, and where applicable, submit annual monitoring returns to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI). All monitoring information is held securely and processed under the legal basis of compliance with a statutory obligation, in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. We do not rely on employee consent and ensure all personal data is treated with the utmost confidentiality and integrity.
TerraQuest aims to use this data to help identify and address any patterns of underrepresentation and to inform positive action measures where appropriate, fostering a workplace culture that embraces diversity and fair participation.