Senior Development Planning Advisor – Bangor

Are you a planning professional with strong technical expertise and a passion for shaping sustainable development?

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is seeking a Senior Planning Advisor to lead on complex, high-profile casework within our Development Planning Advice Service (DPAS). This is a unique opportunity to influence major development proposals across Wales—including infrastructure, housing, transport, and agriculture — ensuring environmental priorities are at the heart of decision-making.

In this role, you’ll provide expert advice to Planning Authorities, Welsh Government and applicants, drawing on topics such as conservation sites, European Protected Species, flood risk,  water quality, air quality, contaminated land, and landscape. You’ll collaborate with technical specialists across NRW to deliver robust, evidence-based guidance that supports sustainable outcomes. Your expertise will directly influence how development takes place in Wales – ensuring it aligns with national priorities for climate, biodiversity, and natural resource management.

We’re looking for someone with substantial experience in planning, environmental management or ecological consultancy. You’ll lead on complex and high profile cases, mentor colleagues, and contribute to shaping NRW’s strategy and guidance.

To succeed, you’ll need excellent communication and analytical skills, a collaborative mindset, and the ability to influence at a strategic level. Your work will contribute directly to improving the economic, social, environmental, and cultural well-being of Wales.

This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced planning professional to make a lasting impact and help grow a respected, forward-thinking environmental planning service.

As an organisation we support flexible working.  You will be contracted to the NRW office in Bangor and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact Bryn Jones at [email protected]

Interviews will take place through Microsoft Teams between 3 – 10 December 2025

Successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. Appointments are normally made within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date. 

What you will do

• Oversee and provide assurance of advice to Local Development Plans and other sub-regional strategies and plans, including the advice on strategic environmental assessment of such plans.
• Produce advice to nationally significant infrastructure projects or complex, high-risk development proposals ensuring NRW advice is robust, evidence based and delivered to deadline.
• Contribute professional judgement and assistance to decision-making in respect of strategic and complex individual development proposals and plans managed by other team members.
• Assure information prepared in relation to challenges against NRW development planning advice.
• Attend appeals and inquiries.
• Provide operational input to the development of NRW policy, process and guidance.
• Ensure that NRW policy, process and guidance is consistently applied within the team.
• Develop and maintain effective customer relationships (internal and external).
• Influence local development projects and strategies early in their evolution.
• Responsible for the technical development of team members.
• Provide functional advice and experience to multifunctional place planning such as Area Statements.
• Contribute to the development of the teamwork plan.
• Manage and deliver continuous Improvement projects for the Service.
• Maintain auditable records of actions and outcomes to justify and demonstrate that all legal and procedural requirements have been met.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

1. Excellent knowledge and substantial experience of environmental assessment and development planning processes.
2. Excellent understanding and significant experience of the development sector.
3. Experience of community liaison and public engagement activities in relation to major projects.
4. Able to communicate and negotiate effectively with stakeholders at senior management levels.
5. Excellent written and spoken communication skills and an ability to represent both the technical and strategic aspects of Development Planning work to non-specialists, both within NRW and externally, in a concise and effective way.
6. Able to analyse complex information and situations, solve problems and make sound judgements.
7. Able to coach and mentor others effectively.
8. Able to manage projects and lead virtual task groups.
9. Strong and effective self-management and organisational skills.

Welsh Language level requirements 

• Essential: Level B2 – Upper intermediate level
• Desirable: Level C2 – Higher proficiency level

Benefits

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme)
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.

Please keep reading

We’re passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.  

We are committed to equal opportunities, and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.  

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards.  Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills.