Apprenticeships at Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service

Why should you join the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning service? 

 This is an exciting time to work in a high-profile, UK growth location with a proud reputation for the quality of new development that is delivered. Within the Greater Cambridge Planning Service, there is an opportunity for a self-motivated, energetic person to gain broad and valuable experience in the public sector.  Planning for green infrastructure combined with good place-making is of the highest priority for our team. The are a number of roles available including work on strategic and development management sites throughout the Authority’s city, towns, and villages.  Phased development of strategic sites such as Northstowe, Waterbeach, and Cambourne as well as major mixed-use, life science, and residential developments.  In addition, you will have an enthusiastic, supportive team around you to help you grow and develop your career. 

What sets us apart from other organisations is our range of projects, including meeting the planning needs of Europe’s most important biotechnology cluster, regeneration schemes providing new low-carbon districts, and developing the first joint Local Plan in an area that has the fastest-growing city economy in the country. 

Greater Cambridge offers a unique opportunity to work within the beautiful historic City of Cambridge, home to world-renowned universities, hospitals, and cutting-edge science, as well as delivering high quality modern developments within the rural areas of South Cambridgeshire. Our combined growth agenda includes a range of new settlements within South Cambridgeshire and urban extensions to Cambridge. 

Our teams have excellent relationships with local practices and work with world class architects and specialists on schemes that provide huge personal and professional reward.  If you would like to work on award winning schemes in an exciting and fast paced environment, come and join us! 

We are looking for individuals with enthusiasm and a keenness to learn. Excellent customer service skills are a must as well as being a team player.   If you have the ambition to embrace the exciting challenges of this busy Shared Planning Service, there is no better place to develop your career.

We will also provide:

• A supervisor / Mentor for the duration of Apprenticeship. They can help to guide and support the apprentice throughout their studies, such as in finding suitable projects that align with their University work.
• A suitably qualified ‘Sponsor’, who is a RTPI Chartered Member who countersigns applications declaring that they consider the apprentice to be a professional who reflects the values of the Institute.

 

Why become a Chartered Town Planner? 

 

Chartered Town Planners are professionals who work to achieve sustainable development. This means they shape the towns, cities or villages we live in by balancing the needs of people and business for homes, jobs, local facilities and open spaces with impacts on the wider environment. Chartered Town Planners therefore deal with official regulations, policy documents and masterplans for changing, improving, reusing or conserving buildings and sites and advise their customers and clients on how best to manage the development and use of land.

Typical job titles include: Planning Officer, Town Planner, Planner, Development Management , Planner and Planning Consultant.

Career progression can be to Senior Planner, Principal Planning Officer, or similar and will involve dealing with larger, more complex projects and taking on increasing managerial responsibilities.

Information about the programme with Anglia Ruskin University

Designed to provide the comprehensive training and practical experience to make a real difference in your career as an ethical town planner. You’ll gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to achieve sustainable development and shape the towns, cities and villages we live in.

This course is ideal if your passionate about sustainable development, making a difference to the spaces we live in and are looking to enhance your career as a Chartered Town Planner.

Our Chartered Town Planner Degree Apprenticeship reflects the key principles and ideas that underpin planning as a discipline. You’ll advance your knowledge, skills and expertise in sustainability and environmental planning, housing planning, plan making and policy, planning implementation, site studies and urban design amongst others.

Your learning will be directly relevant to a wide range of sectors including construction, environment, housing, energy, transport, regeneration, coastal, heritage and conservation, and minerals and waste.

The practical and applied nature of the apprenticeship means that you’ll be putting your skills and knowledge into practice as you learn, so you and your organisation will benefit straight away.

On successful completion of the apprenticeship, you will become Chartered Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (MRTPI) and use the title Chartered Town Planner.

Here is some more information about the course.

Case studies

Bonnie Kwok, Principal Urban Designer: Level 7 Senior Leader Apprenticeship

The Senior Leadership Apprenticeship (SLA) course, funded by SCDC, has provided me with the opportunity to apply what I have learnt from university directly to my day-to-day role, for example, I was able to refer to the Council’s 'Code of Governance' when I promoted and facilitated our youth engagement activities to developers, thus fulfilling the learning outcomes of the Corporate Social Responsibilities module. The SLA course has given me the opportunity to develop an insight into how best to operate in large organisations at different levels, this in turn has allowed me to further develop my leadership skills in people and projects, which benefits both myself and SCDC. I would highly recommend the L7 SLA course to anyone who wish to progress their career in the management field.

 

Charlene Harper, Technical Support Manager: Level 5 Operations Manager

My apprenticeship in Management and Leadership has been a lot of hard work but has been worth the time and effort. It has not only given me new skills but has shown me the skills I had but did not realise I had. I can see where I have been able to use what I have learnt on a regular basis.