Town planner : Employers and vacancy sources

Many planners are employed by local authorities (city, district, borough and county councils) in England, Scotland and Wales, and in London they also work for the Mayor’s Office in strategies for the regeneration and development of the city. They work in a range of departments, including development control, regeneration, policy and forward planning. In Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Planning Service  performs a similar role to local authorities. A list of local authorities is available from the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Online Planning Directory .

Planners also work for the Planning Inspectorate , which deals with refusal of planning permission and inquiries into local development plans in England and Wales, as well as the Scottish Government  and the Welsh Assembly Government , which are responsible for the planning systems in Scotland and Wales respectively.

Other public bodies that employ planners include:

• National Parks , the Environment Agency (EA) , the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)  and Natural England - all with responsibilities for protecting the natural environment;
• The Highways Agency (HA)  
• British Waterways  
• England's Regional Development Agencies (RDAs)  and the Homes and Communities Agency  - involved in urban regeneration;
• Transport for London  
• Planning Advisory Service , which helps local authorities to provide better quality planning services.

Qualified planners also work in the private sector and over half of Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)  members work in consultancy. Planners either work on their own as independent consultants or for a firm providing consultancy services. Some private consultancies specialise in a specific area of planning (for example planning law, tourism or sustainable development), while others specialise in more than one area and often employ professionals from other related jobs, such as architecture and surveying, to work alongside planners on large projects.

Other private sector companies such as house-builders, water, gas, electricity and telephone companies, as well as major retailers, also employ planners. See the RTPI’s Online Directory of Planning Consultants  for contact details of around 500 consultancies.

Experienced planners may also work in colleges and universities as teachers or lecturers on planning-related courses.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Planning Resource Jobs  
• Regeneration Jobs   
• Contract Journal   
• Guardian Jobs  - Wednesdays
• Local Government Jobs   
• Architects' Journal  - occasionally
• Opportunities: The Public Sector Recruitment Weekly    
• Building4jobs  
• PiLjobs  

Directories such as the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Online Directory of Planning Consultants , the RTPI Online Planning Directory  and the Directory of Local Councils  provide useful contact details for speculative applications.