Assistant School Place Planning Officer (Internal Applicants Only)

PLEASE NOTE THIS POST IS ONLY OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: County Hall, Leicester LE3 8RA

Salary: £35,451 - £39,165 per annum (pro rata for part-time) (Pay Award Pending)

Working Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 7th July 2026

Interview Date(s): 21st July 2026

About the Role

We are looking for an exceptional individual to help Leicestershire to deliver our statutory responsibilities in ensuring all children can access a high-quality local school place within their local community.

Leicestershire is in a period of significant growth with thousands of new homes being built and new schools planned. This is a varied role, and the successful candidate will carry out a range of functions relating to school organisation, capital projects and pupil place plannng.

As Assistant School Place Planning Officer you will be supporting the School Organisation Team to ensure that education infrastructure can meet the demand for school places and where places are required, those places are delivered in the right place and at the right time.

This role would suit someone looking to develop their career working across the organisation towards a more strategic level in the future. You will be actively involved in the monitoring of funding for new projects, managing statutory processes, engaging with our delivery partners and key stakeholders from inception through to completion to ensure all projects delivered on time and are aligned with the communities they serve.

Further information about the delivery of school places can be found in the County Council’s School Places Strategy:

https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools-colleges-and-academies/school-organisation/school-places-strategy [https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools-colleges-and-academies/school-organisation/school-places-strategy]

The successful candidates will work in a growing team helping to ensure that there are sufficient high quality school places in Leicestershire by delivering an ambitious Children and Families Capital Programme across all phases of Education.  The work is interesting and varied and involves working closely with Schools and Academies.

About You

To apply for this post, you must:

• Qualified to degree level in related subject Project Management Qualification

or have demonstrable experience in previous roles to Support School Place Planning Officers (SPPOs) to identify and appraise the need for school places for children and young people at a local, District and County level.

• To support SPPOs in effectively engaging with District Councils, housing

developers and their agents in respect of planned new housing/SUE’s to ensure that Leicestershire receives developer contributions needed.

• To take a lead role within the team for net capacity relating to School

Organisation and Place Planning, providing high level advice and guidance where appropriate.

• To monitor requests and expenditure of S106 through Mastergov and produce

reports for SPPOs, SMT and Capital Programme Board (CPB).

• Organise and deliver key events including consultations, publicity events and

member briefings in relation to school organisation matters.

• To support SPPOs to respond to requests for information from schools, other

County Council officers, District Councils, developers, members of the public and external bodies.

• To manage areas of the Capital Programme as required.

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values [https://eism.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/lcc/pages/1004] and to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents.  You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/disability-confident-campaign].

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Ian Sharpe – School Organisation Service Manager

Telephone: 0116 305 9836

Email: ian.sharpe@leics.gov.uk [ian.sharpe@leics.gov.uk]

How to Apply

At Leicestershire County Council we’re looking for top talent from all walks of life. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whatever your background - we care about what you bring to our organisation, not just what’s on your CV. That’s why we’ve designed a recruitment process that’s fair, accessible, and focused on potential. And with benefits that support people at every age and stage of life, we make sure you can thrive - both personally and professionally.

If you share our passion to make a difference for the people of Leicestershire, we’d love to hear from you. Click the apply button to submit your application, ensuring that you upload a supporting statement that explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. Without this information, we won’t be able to assess your suitability for the role, and your application will be rejected. For tips on how to write your statement, see the How to Apply [https://eism.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/lcc/pages/1001] section on our career site.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning 0300 3030222 (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support [https://emss.org.uk/support].

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions [https://eism.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/lcc/pages/1006].

About Leicestershire County Council

At Leicestershire County Council, we're committed to making a real difference in people's lives. Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone.

Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire. Whether you're starting your career or looking for your next challenge, you'll find a place with us where your ideas are valued, and your work has purpose.

For further information on what it’s like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:

Our Recruitment Process [https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/jobs-and-volunteering/working-for-the-council/the-application-process] Our Organisational Values [https://eism.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX/pages/1004] Our Employee Benefits [https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/jobs-and-volunteering/working-for-the-council/employee-benefits] Working for Us [https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/jobs-and-volunteering/working-for-the-council/an-inclusive-workplace]