Spencelooker Recruitment Ltd
Head of Planning
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Director / Associate Director – MRTPI
Manchester | Hybrid | Highly Competitive Salary + Bonus & Benefits
SpenceLooker Recruitment has been retained exclusively by a leading Top 10 UK property consultancy to appoint a Regional Head of Planning for the North West, as part of the continued expansion of its highly successful Planning & Development business.
Our client has an excellent reputation across the North West, with an established team advising some of the region’s most active housebuilders, developers, investors, and landowners on major residential, mixed-use, commercial, regeneration, and strategic land projects.
This is an outstanding opportunity for an established Director or ambitious Associate Director who would relish the opportunity to lead and grow an existing regional planning team, supported by the resources, client base, and multidisciplinary capabilities of one of the UK’s leading property consultancies.
Importantly, this is not a start-up planning proposition. The successful candidate will inherit an established team, strong client relationships, and an existing workload, with a clear mandate to further grow the North West business.
The Opportunity
The successful candidate will take responsibility for the leadership and continued growth of the North West Planning & Development team, combining senior-level client work with team leadership and business development.
You will:
- Lead and further develop an established North West Planning team.
- Provide strategic planning advice to major housebuilders, developers, landowners, and investors.
- Lead significant planning instructions across residential, mixed-use, commercial, regeneration, and strategic land projects.
- Advise clients on planning strategy, development potential, site promotion, Local Plans, and planning policy.
- Build upon an established regional client base, strengthening existing relationships and generating new instructions.
- Identify and convert new business opportunities to deliver sustainable revenue growth.
- Recruit, mentor, and develop planning professionals as the regional team continues to expand.
- Collaborate with other property disciplines to generate multidisciplinary instructions and cross-selling opportunities.
- Play a key role in the wider growth and strategic direction of the consultancy's national Planning & Development business.
- Represent the business at a senior level with clients, local authorities, stakeholders, and the wider property industry.
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About You
- MRTPI-qualified Planner with significant private-sector planning experience.
- Currently operating at Director, Associate Director, or equivalent senior level.
- Strong knowledge of the North West property, development, and planning market.
- Proven experience advising housebuilders, developers, landowners, and investors on significant development projects.
- Strong existing relationships within the North West development market.
- Commercially minded, with a demonstrable ability to win work and develop long-term client relationships.
- Strong leadership credentials with the ability to mentor, motivate, and grow a successful team.
- Ambitious and entrepreneurial, with the desire to take greater responsibility for the growth of a regional planning business.
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We are equally interested in speaking with an established Planning Director looking for a high-profile regional leadership position or an ambitious Associate Director ready to step up and lead a team.
Why Consider This Opportunity?
This is a rare opportunity to take a genuine regional leadership position within a major national property consultancy, without having to build a planning business from scratch.
With an existing team, established workload, and excellent relationships with many of the North West's leading developers, housebuilders, and landowners, the foundations for further growth are already firmly in place.
For the right individual, the role provides the autonomy and profile of leading a regional planning practice, combined with the brand, resources, national client base, and cross-selling opportunities of a Top 10 UK property consultancy.
Package & Benefits
- Highly competitive Director / Associate Director salary
- Performance-related bonus
- Comprehensive benefits package
- Hybrid working
- Significant autonomy and regional leadership responsibility
- Genuine long-term career progression
Executive Search
SpenceLooker Recruitment has been exclusively retained to undertake the executive search for this senior appointment. The search is being conducted on a strictly confidential basis, and we welcome discreet approaches from established Directors and ambitious Associate Directors who would like to understand more about the opportunity.
For a confidential discussion, please contact David Collins on 07879 620573 at SpenceLooker Recruitment.
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