Team Leader (Design and Projects)

Team Leader (Design and Projects)

Leeds is one of the UK’s fastest growing cities and is the main driver of a City Region with a £64.6 billion economy and a combined population of 3 million.

This brings exciting opportunities through new development and investment, to re-shape places within the City Centre and the Inner City and deliver sustainable new places, including through significant urban expansions.  These are delivered through a range of Council projects and programmes and the plan-making (including Neighbourhood Planning) and development management functions of the Town and Country Planning system.

The City has also recently declared a Climate Emergency with challenging targets to be net zero carbon by 2030.  In achieving this, Leeds is thinking outside of the box and looking for innovative planning solutions to sustainable development in a modern northern economy.  The City also aims to be a healthy and caring city for all ages, where people, who are the poorest will improve their health the fastest and have access to the wider economic growth.

Leeds is characterised by a distinctive green and blue environment with two-thirds of the district being Green Belt and a range of major parks and greenspaces peppered throughout the City as well as waterways for wildlife.  This attracts businesses and investment, will help address the Climate Emergency and resilience of biodiversity and supports well-being and recreation, which is even more fundamental in planning for healthy and resilient post-pandemic communities.  As an industrial city Leeds also has a significant legacy of brownfield and contaminated land alongside examples of high quality heritage and innovative historic design solutions.  The work of the Environment & Design Group brings all these factors together to inform the current and future shape of the City and district.

About the role

We are looking to appoint a dynamic and enthusiastic team leader to provide high quality direction and advocacy for the Design and Projects Team, within the Strategic Planning Group.  This position will provide leadership for the range of services provided within the Design and Projects team working collaboratively with other teams within the Group along with other Council services to bring together these functions to help deliver a planning service which is fit for the challenges of today and tomorrow. 

The successful candidate will be taking the lead on providing design expertise for the Development Management process and policy development, as well as advocating for high quality design and place making covering matters such as sustainable design & construction, quality spaces, regeneration initiatives, cradle-to-grave living and health and wellbeing, helping to deliver innovative, inclusive and sustainable development for the people of Leeds.

The successful candidate will act as a champion for design and sustainable development through work with internal and external stakeholders including developers, residents groups and Elected Members and so must have a proven track record in delivering strategic level, high quality projects and setting up and managing design review panels. From the City Centre, through to the inner city areas and out to the suburbs, employment zones and open countryside Leeds has a hugely diverse mix of areas within which people live, work and play and you must be able to clearly identify what makes these areas good or bad, and how new development or other projects can build improvements and provide communities with resilience in facing a changing climate.  You must also be able to work very closely with other specialisms such as heritage, landscape, ecology, contamination, asset management and regeneration to provide fully thought out solutions.

This is an exciting opportunity to help drive forward innovation and new climate change solutions within the Council and with both small and large developers.  This is an important time for design as it is central to the Government’s proposed changes to the planning system and will require new approaches to be implemented and advocated by the Team.  The Council is also undergoing change in terms of becoming more efficient in how we provide our services, encompassing both technical and human resource change.  The implementation of successful change management processes, will therefore be key to the role.

About you

• You will be able to demonstrate your leadership qualities through the delivery of complex projects, both as a driven individual and as a leader who can utilise the skills of colleagues.
• You will have extensive experience and a track record of working on large-scale, strategic projects and delivering positive change across communities.
• You will be able to demonstrate knowledge of climate change and its impacts, and you will be able to demonstrate innovation and creativity in tackling these impacts through design and place-making.
• You will be able to utilise a wide range of digital tools to deliver projects and will need to demonstrate the ability to provide expert advice and guidance both informally and in formal settings to a wide range of stakeholders.
• You will need to demonstrate good leadership skills, motivation and development of team members and the ability to adapt to a changing work environment.
• Above all, you will be an ambassador for design quality for the City of Leeds and will have the vision to see how the complex elements of the service can be brought together to form a dynamic, flexible and highly performing team.
• You will be technically qualified to degree level and be eligible for membership of a relevant professional body.
• Learn, grow and develop as a leader

At Leeds we are committed to supporting our managers and leaders to grow and from day one we’ll support you to succeed through ongoing learning and development. This will include opportunities to gain a relevant leadership qualification.

For an informal discussion about this role please contact Victoria Hinchliff Walker, Group Leader for Environment & Design.  Telephone 0113 3788027

To apply online for this post, please visit the Leeds City Council jobs site: https://leeds.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/5441?c=leeds

We promote diversity and want a workforce that reflects the population of Leeds. Leeds City Council is a Stonewall Top 100 employer, a Mindful Employer and a Disability Confident Leader.

All new Leeds City Council appointments are made subject to the satisfactory completion of a six month probationary period.