Senior Planning Lawyer; Environmental

Our Real Estate Planning team are widely regarded as one of the best in the UK, advising on some of the most iconic and ambitious developments in the country. From offshore wind farms located 40 kilometres out to sea, to major residential schemes including new garden villages and regeneration programmes, to transformative rail, road and airport projects, and complex waste and mineral developments — we're involved in all of it.

This is your chance to help shape the future of nationally significant infrastructure and development.

Our national team delivers a full spectrum of planning expertise, working on some of the most challenging and high‑profile mandates across the residential, commercial, infrastructure, environmental and waste sectors. We also handle contentious work including Judicial Review and Lands Chamber proceedings. As our workload continues to grow — not just in volume, but in ambition and complexity — we're looking for someone with strong experience in planning, infrastructure and environmental work, and a genuine enthusiasm for helping to develop and strengthen our fantastic team.

As an environmental planning specialist, you'll play a central role in securing consents for nationally significant and complex developments, with a particular focus on net‑zero‑enabling projects. You'll lead legal reviews of EIA strategy and documentation, SEA/HRA, and ensure environmental outcomes are effectively secured through conditions and s106 (including BNG and nutrient neutrality). You'll help shape DCO/NSIP applications, support examinations and stakeholder engagement, and take the lead in managing environmental risk through appeals and JR.

You'll also be working alongside a market‑leading energy and infrastructure practice. If you bring hands‑on experience across these areas and a confident understanding of the NPPF and current reforms, we'd love to hear from you.

To be successful in this role, you'll need as a minimum:

• A legal qualification with 5+ years post admission experience gained within a planning team.
• Experience working on large scale infrastructure projects with a focus on environmental planning.
• Have lead on legal reviews of environmental impact assessments.
• Knowledge of habitat regulations and application assessments.
• Broader planning experience across a range of consenting regimes including DCOs, TWAOs, HROs and planning permission.
• Sector experience in transport (specifically Rail and light Rail) and Energy (Renewables and Energy transmission) would be advantageous.