Principal Consultant

Location: Westminster or home-based

The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. We work on behalf of our member councils to support, promote and improve local government.

We are a politically led, cross-party organisation that works on behalf of councils to ensure local government has a strong, credible voice with national government. We influence and set the political agenda on the issues that matter to councils to help them deliver local solutions to national problems.

We also provide councils with the tools and resources to respond to challenges present and emerging, and support improvement across the sector.

We value diversity and encourage applications from all sections of the community to this high-profile role.

The Local Government Association, working in partnership with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and Natural England, is helping councils to improve their planning services. The Planning Advisory Service (PAS) delivers help, advice and training to officers and councillors across England that is designed to help them understand and respond to the Government's reform agenda.

PAS has been operating since 2004 and has a well-established reputation for the quality of its work. We work to improve the capacity and capability of local government teams with an ever-expanding selection of skills, experiences and professions.

We are a majority home-working team but some of us are based at our office in Westminster. Our work can require regular visits to regions and councils that will sometimes require staying away from home. In line with our funding this role is initially offered as a fixed term post until 31st March 2026 although secondments and part-time workers are very welcome where appropriate.

The Principal Consultants are the lead practitioners for PAS projects. Each project needs to be delivered to time and budget whilst meeting the needs of councils and our funders. You must bring expertise within the local government sector. You will have experience of managing successful projects and programmes through to delivery. You will also be keen to broaden your knowledge and experience as you support the PAS team, often working on the newest areas of reform. Experienced, credible and confident you will have excellent analytical, project and communication skills.

You don't need to be a qualified planner, but you do need to understand the policy context and what the planning system is designed to achieve. It's important that you can work in new policy spaces where lots of the detail does not yet exist. A lot of our work is co-designed with local authority practitioners, so you need to be comfortable leading teams of experienced and senior people.

All candidates will benefit from some technical expertise in planning alongside deeper knowledge of a related area like enforcement, development management, planning law, transport planning, ecology, or AI and digital. Applicants will need to be confident working with elected members and officers at all levels of local government. Critically, candidates will need to be creative, innovative, and really want to see the change that they will be helping Councils to deliver.

You must have the right to work in the UK, the LGA are unfortunately unable to offer sponsorship visas. Evidence for the right to work in the UK will be requested at the interview stage.

If you would like to be considered for the role, please complete the online form and include a supporting statement detailing how you meet the criteria for the role before the closing date.

We are specifically assessing candidates against the following criteria:

1. Understanding of Local Government and the LGA's values
2. Understanding of the planning system and the reform agenda
3. Experience of problem solving and working in partnership with a range of stakeholders
4. Experience of improvement and project management
5. Experience of public speaking, report writing, analysis and procurement
6. Bringing relevant skills and knowledge that complement and widen the PAS team's strengths

Closing Date: 5pm, Monday 5 May 2025

Interview Date: Thursday 15th and Friday 16th May 2025 in person at 18 Smith Square

At the LGA we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Our recruitment decisions are based on fair, open competition, with appointment on merit. The LGA are proud to be awarded a "Disability Confident Leader". If you require a reasonable adjustment, which is a change to the format or conditions of the recruitment process to accommodate any disability-related needs you may have, please contact us via

• LGA annual leave entitlement is 29 days, rising to 31 days after three years' service and to 33 days after five years' service, plus all UK public holidays (pro rata for fixed term and part time contracts).
• Flexible & agile working - office-based staff are required to work in the LGA's London office two days per week as a minimum, subject to business need and this may vary significantly between different roles and from week to week.
• Future development - face-to-face and virtual courses are scheduled in line with developmental goals
• The LGA offers 24/7 access to a free, confidential employee assistance programme managed by Health Assured. This service is also available for Dependants.
• Family friendly policies

For more of LGA's benefits and working with us, please view our webpage

Our Values and Behaviours are there to give us an understanding of who we are as an organisation and who we want to be. They are a framework to help us understand:

• how we work with each other
• how we work with our members and stakeholders
• our expectations for ourselves and each other

Our values are:

Collaboration - We value collaboration, to pursue shared goals by encouraging and utilising diverse perspectives and working with internal and external colleagues across the organisation.

Inclusion - We value inclusion, where everyone feels valued, understood, and supported to contribute meaningfully.

Ambition - We value ambition, reflecting our desire to achieve best possible outcomes for local government, communities, and individuals.

Respect - We value respect, to ensure fairness, recognition, and shared accountability.