Principal Landscape Consultant

Principal Landscape Consultant

Position: Permanent, Full Time

Salary: Up to GBP50,289 per annum DOE

Location: Countywide. Flexible within London/East of England (Essex preferred) with weekly visits to Chelmsford, Essex.

About our Client:

Our Client prides themselves as a multi-disciplinary practice within Essex County Council, with expertise in ecology, arboriculture, landscape, countryside management, urban design, planning, archaeology and built heritage. They provide environmental assessment, planning, design, and management services to the public sector. They specialise in partnership working with local planning authorities in Essex, London, the East of England, South-East and East Midlands.

The successful candidate who becomes the Principal Landscape Consultant will lead the delivery and development of landscape services, including specialist planning advice, landscape visual assessments, LVIAs, design reviews, guides and codes, preparing design briefs, and specialist tasks on multi-disciplinary projects.

The role requires a qualified, authoritative subject matter expert with advanced technical skills, knowledge and experience, including legislation, policy, standards and guidance; accomplished client relationship, information management, and communication skills; and a collaborative, enterprising, and client focused approach.

Duties/Responsibilities:

Responsible for effective commercial and operational delivery of landscape services: managing a demanding caseload of the most complex and controversial development management consultations at all stages of the planning /consent process; evaluating and carrying out landscape visual assessments and LVIAs and evaluating and developing landscape strategies and schemes, design guides and codes, and design reviews, for schemes of all sizes, challenge and complexity; and complex specialists tasks as part of multi-disciplinary projects.

• Collecting, analysing, and presenting complex data, evidence (including for enforcement) and advice to recognised standards, reviewing outcomes, and assessing third party compliance.

• Leading the development and review of complex, plans, policies and guidance.

• Responsible for commercial development of our landscape offer, bidding on high value opportunities, and managing high value projects and contracts against budget, specification and indicators.

• Building a professional, client-focused culture, and high-level client relationships, maintaining commercial awareness of our industry, key markets and sectors, managing accounts and securing feedback for continuous improvement.

• Leading the development and delivery of promotional and learning material, training activities and events, engaging with networks to enhance the recognition and reputation of Place Services.

• Building a collaborative, high-performance culture, leading effective team working and improving team and personal competency, continually seeking to enhance performance and practice of self and others, securing feedback, and building knowledge and skills.

• Identify and implement improvements to the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery.

• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

Person Specification/Experience required:

• Educated to RQF level 6 (Bachelor s degree) with evidence of substantial post qualification experience.

• Strong evidence of continuing professional development and Chartered Membership of the Landscape Institute.

• Authoritative technical and subject matter expert, with comprehensive knowledge and experience of: development management and planning policy, legislation, and enforcement standards and guidance; development briefs; landscape strategies/schemes; visual assessment/LVIA; design guides/codes/reviews; and related office and site-based practices and procedures, including graphic presentation.

• Effective team management and people skills with experience of employee performance and development.

• Strong understanding of wellbeing and H&S, with ability to identify and implement safe working practices for self and others.

• Good understanding of commercial practices, with accomplished negotiation and communication skills and a track record of business development, including bid winning and the ability to inform, influence, and persuade, building client relationships and managing high value accounts.

• Able to lead specialist and multi-disciplinary project teams and manage multiple, and large scale and complex, projects from concept through to completion.

• Advanced use of a range of common and specialist software packages e.g. GIS/AutoCAD/Creative Cloud/Sketchup and/or other ICT tools, to implement complex data capture, management and presentation, high level analysis and interpretation.

Please note that the job role requires you to be mobile throughout an operational area. Therefore, the post holder will need to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle, or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means please only apply if you can actively travel with your own transportation.

Important Information

Noble Recruiting Limited is an independent, family-run recruitment agency, based in Wickford, Essex. We are an equal opportunities employer and have been acting as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and an employment business for the supply of temporary workers for over 15 years.

By applying for this role, your details will be submitted to Noble Recruiting Limited. Our Privacy Policy, explaining how we will use your information, is available on our website. Due to the high volume of applications for our roles, if you have not been contacted within 14 days, please assume that your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.