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Closing Date 2026-01-02 Job Title: Senior Infrastructure Planner (Internally known as Senior Town and Country Planner) Location: Falmer – Hybrid Working Salary: up to £60,000 depending on experience Hours: 37 hours per week Shape the future of major infrastructure across the South East We’re looking for an experienced planning professional to play a pivotal role in securing the permissions and consents needed to deliver Southern Water’s £8bn capital investment programme (2025–2030). As part of the Enabling Team within Capital Delivery and supporting our Planning & Consents Lead, you’ll influence how our most high-profile infrastructure schemes come forward. Your expertise will directly support long-term resilience, environmental improvement, and regulatory compliance. This is an ideal next step for a Senior Planner seeking more strategic influence, wider business exposure, and the opportunity to shape planning practice across a large, regulated utility. What you will be responsible for: You’ll lead the planning and consent strategy for complex, high-value capital projects, ensuring they can be delivered efficiently and responsibly. You will: Provide authoritative planning advice to Capital Delivery and the wider business Lead development proposals from early feasibility through submission, negotiation, to consents Manage pre-application engagement, Section 106 negotiations, conditions, and commencement processes Drive collaboration with internal stakeholders including Asset Strategy, Legal, Engineering, Finance, and Health & Safety Build and maintain strong working relationships with LPAs, statutory consultees, and landowners Prepare clear, high-quality reports, briefings, and presentations Shape continuous improvement through guidance, templates, best practice, and process optimisation What you’ll bring to the role: Essential 5+ years’ experience in a town and country planning role Degree (or equivalent) in planning or a related discipline Experience within a local authority planning department or private consultancy Strong understanding of UK planning legislation and development management Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment Desirable Experience within infrastructure, utilities, engineering, or environmental sectors Chartered MRTPI status or working towards it About Southern Water Southern Water is at the forefront of transforming Britain’s water industry, investing significantly to enhance resilience, sustainability, and service excellence. With £7.8bn planned investment for 2025-30, this is an unparalleled opportunity to join a business committed to delivering a generational shift in the way water services are managed. At Southern Water, we believe diverse perspectives drive innovation. If you’re passionate about making a positive impact and think you can bring value to our team, we’d love to hear from you—even if you don’t tick every box. "At Southern Water, we believe diverse perspectives drive innovation. If you’re passionate about making a positive impact and think you can bring value to our team, we’d love to hear from you—even if you don’t tick every box. Your unique skills and experiences could be exactly what we need." If this role isn’t quite what you’re looking for but are keen to be contacted about opportunities at Southern Water, you can register your details here: Introduce Yourself (myworkdaysite.com- Introduce Yourself) Our Commitment to Diversity We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, or any other protected characteristic. If you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know. #LI-Hybrid #LI-SC1 Our purpose is big. Our impact is huge. And we know that every single one of us has the power, through our actions, to positively change society and the environment for good. It’s why careers with us have real meaning. Because, if you’re driven and ambitious, we can offer you huge opportunities for personal growth, professional development and constant innovation. Forever evolving. Forever focused on doing the right thing, we empower and encourage everyone to play to their strengths and to help us shape a fair and positive future for all. We believe in Water for Life. If you do too, Dive Right In. Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, because delivering water for life is our core purpose. To achieve this, we need 24/7 support in place to resolve incidents quickly and efficiently. All our employees understand the importance of out-of-hours incident support – because when problems appear, fixing them is our top priority. That’s why our people join together and support when and however needed to make sure our customers get the service they deserve. Joining the Southern Water family means you’ll become part of our incident support team. During your interview, your manager will speak to you about any incident support rotas that apply to your position. Does this opportunity excite you but you’re not 100% sure if you meet all the requirements for the role? Or are you concerned that ‘normal’ office hours aren’t possible given your personal circumstances? Whilst we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we’ll try to find a practical solution. So why not engage with us and find out more about this role?