Job title:

Graduate Planner

Start Date:

September 2025

Job Locations:

Cambridge and Chelmsford

Purpose:

With nearly 300 planners across the UK, we are the largest planning department in any mainstream real estate practice with a reputation for success and professionalism. We work with all types of property, but have specialisms in urban mixed use, housing, retail, major sports venues, energy, master planning, urban design, environmental impact assessment, community engagement, heritage and Section 106 agreements/Community Infrastructure Levy. We negotiate planning permissions for everything from major urban regeneration schemes to modest domestic extensions. Our department consists of planners skilled in assembling evidence and building a case to achieve planning permission from local authorities, planning inspectors and government ministers.

About this role:

As a planning Graduate you will be expected to prepare planning appraisals, undertake research and analysis, prepare planning applications, contribute to the preparation/editing of Design and Access Statements, Sustainability Statements and other planning documents. There will be a variety of exciting projects to work on, helping develop your knowledge and skills. Your input is an essential part of our working processes.

About the team:

Cambridge and Chelmsford - The East of England team sees graduates as the future of our team and has welcomed 4 new graduates into our team of thirteen professionals over the last 4 years. We are committed to providing our graduates with continuing opportunities and, having completed her Masters whilst with us, the first of these graduates has now been promoted to Senior Planner. We provide planning consultancy services across the East of England predominantly in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Our expertise includes strategic land promotion, five year housing land supply and the management of complex planning applications / reserved matters. Team members have experience giving evidence in Local Plan Examinations, major Public Inquiries and Appeal Hearings. Our objective is to provide commercially informed, positive and proactive planning advice, and we are looking to welcome a new graduate to be based in our Chelmsford or Cambridge offices.

Assessment for this role:

1. Online application
2. Panel Interview

Training:

We provide comprehensive training and revision programmes to support you passing your Royal Town Planning Institute Assessment of Professional Competency (APC) and you will be allocated a mentor to guide you through this process.

During the two year training programme you will work with people in the Planning department to build up a variety of experience and contacts to be able to meet the APC requirements, but also to cross sell and share information with our multi-disciplinary teams as you progress through the business. Experiencing a variety of teams and working styles is fundamental to developing your understanding of Savills, the market and our clients.

As a graduate, you'll also have regular opportunities to attend technical, business skills and personal development activities - including conferences, courses, lectures, networking, revision sessions and social events.

Career development:

Once you've successfully passed your APC and become a member of the Royal Institution of Town Planners (RTPI), you'll continue to receive training and career development opportunities. We ensure that your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is current and that all staff are fully up-to-date with changes to legislation and business needs.

How you’ll make an impact:

Good communication and organisational skills and a proactive approach are vital to succeed as a Planning Graduate. You will need that ability to manage a varied workload working as part of a team, while also having the ability to use your own initiative, and be passionate about delivering the best service possible for your clients.

Your skills will include:

• Strong verbal, numerical and report writing skills
• Ability to empower those around them
• A team player with leadership potential
• Ability to challenge in a positive way
• Strategic approach to problem solving
• Ability to Listen to others and Collaborate effectively
• Highly motivated
• Computer literate

Ahead of anything else, we look for individualism and diversity in our graduate intake - so it's very important at every stage of the selection process that you take the opportunity to show us what you're really like. Be honest and above all, be yourself.

Benefits:

• Permanent Contract for all graduates, as opposed to a 2 year training contract

• Interest free season ticket loan

• Pension Scheme – Royal London

• Company mobile phone and laptop

• Training and APC costs covered

• 25 days annual leave

• Employee discounts - save money using our MyRewards on thousands of discounts and offers

• Pitch your idea to our Board via the Savills Dragons Den (Innovation and growth initiative)

• Sports activities (Hockey, Netball, Skiing, Rugby, Football, Cricket, Badminton & Squash)

• Employee Assistance Programme – A 24 hour service available to all staff and completely confidential

• Discretionary bonus scheme

• Cycle to Work Scheme

• ShareSave - Save As You Earn share option scheme

Find your place to thrive:

Savills is an organisation full of extraordinary individuals. Brilliant people at the forefront of their specialisms, eager to drive progress for themselves, their colleagues and our business as part of a truly inclusive culture.

No matter the role you’re in, we all share one purpose: to help people thrive through places and spaces. This is built into our DNA, shaping the way we behave to deliver the best results. We define it by four key values.

Savills Values:

We listen:

Tell us your goals and aspirations and we’ll provide the support you need to achieve them. We appreciate the individual value of every team member and create an environment where you can reach your full potential.

We empower:

Here, there’s no limit to what you can achieve. We give you opportunities to have a real, positive impact in the community through the work you do, backed by access to our market-leading research and insights.

We challenge:

The best results happen when we question the status quo. We create an environment where you can safely challenge our thinking, bringing fresh ideas to the table to innovate as a team.

We collaborate:

When you join Savills, you become part of a 40,000-strong network of driven individuals, all sharing their knowledge and experience to push the real estate industry forward.

At the heart of it all, we deliver best-in-class insights and advice to help people make better property decisions. We're looking for colleagues who will help us on this mission. When you join Savills, our ask for you is simple – to be extraordinary, together.