Senior Consents Manager

About the role

Great Britain's electricity infrastructure is undergoing an ambitious, exciting and critical transformation. Together with others in the energy sector, we are creating a cleaner, greener and more secure energy system, one that protects the planet and serves generations to come.

Reporting to a Head of Consents, as a Senior Consents Manager you will join a growing team of highly capable and experienced consenting and environmental professionals, all driven to develop and deliver major infrastructure projects critical to meeting Government targets and ambitions regarding Net Zero and energy security and resilience. 

You will lead, manage, and continuously build a team of Consents Officers which includes planning and environmental specialists, drawing on your technical capabilities in consenting and/or environmental assessment/management, so that you to deliver a high quality and economic consenting and environmental assessment service to your projects. You will be an experienced, strategic thinker and advisor who has had a significant influence on the successful delivery of challenging projects. You’ll be responsible for consenting  and supporting the delivery of critical multi-million or multi-billion-pound, projects, and accountable for completing the necessary consenting and environmental assessment activities to time, budget and scope including in both the planning and delivery phases of our Projects.

You will be joining a growing team of over 50 consents and environmental specialists that is responding to the challenge to deliver at least 17 major projects worth more than £16bn by 2031 as part of the Great Grid Upgrade.

We are seeking a Senior Consents Manager within the Onshore Consents Team to support the development and delivery of our projects. We are particularly focused at this time on recruiting for a role to work on the delivery phase of our Projects especially in the East of England although we do continue to have an opportunity more widely in project development role.

Onshore Consents Team

The Onshore Consents Team of consents managers, lead consents officers and consents officers is focused on the development and delivery of projects consented via a Development Consent Order (DCO) under the Planning Act 2008 that are wholly onshore. In this team you will be a Senior Consents Manager responsible for obtaining the consents required to support and ensure the development and delivery of new onshore electricity transmission projects to programme.

We have roles in the team working on both the development and delivery phase of DCO Projects but as noted above we are particularly focused at this time on recruiting for a role to work on the delivery phase of our Projects especially in the East of England although we do continue to have an opportunity more widely in project development role.

You will have major project experience and have taken a substantial lead on DCO projects (consenting or delivery) and also have infrastructure planning or policy experience to support the management of consistency and best practice across project teams.

About you

What we do isn’t just important – it’s essential to the delivery of our projects. That’s why we look to recruit experienced experts in their field. In this case, we’re looking for someone who:

• Has proven capability in leading, managing and developing a high performing professional-technical consents and environmental team for the development and delivery stages of major projects. Line management experience is desirable.
• You will be a highly motivated individual with an excellent in-depth knowledge of the UK town planning system in particular promoting Nationally Significant Infrastructure (NSIP’s) under the Planning Act, as well as practical experience of successfully delivering projects through the construction phase including leading the discharge of requirements and working with appointed contractors to ensure legal compliance and compliance with planning consent.  
• Has or is willing to gain a strategic understanding of energy infrastructure planning and policy managing consistent application of best practice on projects.
• You will have a proven track record of consenting NSIP’s, ideally with experience across all stages of the project lifecycle from options development through to onsite delivery. You will understand the differing challenges each project phase can bring and how to overcome them. 
• You will have a proven track record in developing effective external and internal networks and relationships conducive to the above, and to effectively support the development and delivery of construction projects.
• You will have excellent communication skills and have experience of working with a range of key consenting stakeholders, building strong and effective relationships. You will have previous experience of presenting complex and contentious information to large and/or challenging external audiences. 
• You will be experienced in managing complex programmes, project budgets and understand how to manage consenting and wider project risks.  Always willing to challenge ways of working, you’ll enjoy seeking and delivering efficiencies to reduce project consenting costs and risks.
• You will have a strong focus on continuous improvement and will relish the opportunity to join a new and growing team. 
• You will need a driving licence that permits you to drive in the UK to engage with other colleagues and community stakeholders and to travel to various office and project locations across the UK in particular on the East Coast. 

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At National Grid, we’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace for everyone. So if you’re excited about this role but your experience or qualifications don’t match the job description exactly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might just be the right person for our growing business in this role or another one. whether your skills are the sort we are looking for in this role.

What you'll do

Within this role you will be required to:

• Using your technical consenting and environmental capabilities, and your leadership and project management experiences to lead, manage, guide, and challenge your team to successfully deliver project consents including discharge of requirements and securing secondary consents.
• Submitting quality compliant consent applications across multiple consenting processes (e.g. DCO, TCPA and MCAA) covering a range of major electricity transmission infrastructure (e.g. overhead lines, underground cables, converter stations, substations etc.) on projects both onshore and offshore, and often interconnected and requiring co-ordination.
• Managing the post application consenting process through consideration and examination through to determination and consenting decision; then securing the approval of requirements and discharge of planning requirements/conditions.
• Work with the appointed contractors and technical specialists to review documents and drawings to discharge planning Requirements/Conditions and ensure all secondary consents are in place to deliver a project. Ensure the quality of submission in terms of accuracy and suitability and track progress through the drafting, submission and discharging process.
• Work with appointed contractors to ensure legal compliance and compliance with any planning consents.
• Compliance monitoring and sensible monitoring on site to ensure compliance with key planning documents such as Construction Management Plans.
• Consistently and effectively applying current legislation, regulations, guidance, and policies.
• Taking charge of the consenting strategy and process and having substantial understanding of the supporting environmental assessment (EIA) process for your projects.
• Building, leading and developing a high performing and effective consents team, rich in experience, diverse in background, culture, thought and approach. Also, knowing when to further support your team by sourcing effective and capable external support.
• Looking after your team, specifically their continuous and effective learning, training and development; but also their ongoing health, wellbeing, happiness and security.
• Identifying areas in consenting guidance and technical training where team members might need support, and providing the relevant training.
• Delivering all project consenting and environmental assessment activities to specification, programme and cost, to support the programmed development and delivery of projects.
• Collaborating effectively with a wide variety of Authorities and stakeholders conducive to project delivery. These will include our regulator, Ofgem; determining authorities like LPAs, PINS and the MMO; statutory consultees such as Natural England, Environment Agency and Historic England; Government departments and organisations; landowners; and residents and communities likely to be affected by our proposed projects.
• Build and lead relationships with external stakeholders including Host Authorities, landowners and local community groups and maintain strong relationships  through delivery of a project.
• Confidently, and eloquently advocating the purpose of National Grid’s projects. At events such as online webinars, public exhibitions and examinations, you will explain how our projects play a critical  role in Government targets and ambitions regarding both Net Zero and energy security.
• Managing contracts and specialist suppliers, such as environment and planning specialists, ensuring they deliver what they are meant to.

What you'll get

• A competitive salary of up to £79,000 dependent on capability.

In addition to your annual salary, you will also receive;

• Bonus

As well as your base salary, you will receive a bonus of up to 30% of your salary for stretch performance

• Pension

We offer a generous pension scheme, where we double match, which means for every  £1 you contribute, we’ll put in another £2. We will pay a maximum of 12% into your pension when you pay 6%. That gives you a total 18% into your pension every month.

• Company Car

We don’t offer a company car as standard, instead we work on an annual mileage basis of justifying a company car. We will regularly review a persons mileage and if they look likely to meet the mileage criteria then we may offer a company car to that individual.

• Annual Leave

28 days annual leave, alongside the option to buy or sell up to 5 days.

There is also the option to use up to 3 bank holidays flexibly, with the aim to provide employees the ability to take holidays that are personally meaningful to them. Up to three of the eight public/bank holidays will become “flexible” allowing employees to request to work on a holiday and swap the time off for another day during their leave year

• Share plans

You can share in our potential success through our two share plans. Our Sharesave plan is a three or five year savings scheme where you can buy shares at the end of the period at a reduced price. You can buy Partnership Shares each month through our Share Incentive Plan, and become a shareholder and receive dividends

• Family Care

We offer you a number of family friendly provisions designed to promote your work-life balance needs. Eligible employees are entitled to full pay for the first 26 weeks of maternity, adoption, surrogacy or shared parental leave, or two weeks full pay for paternity leave. If you have caring responsibilities, we offer up to six emergency backup care days each year for when your usual care arrangements fall through. You can also access a free online platform offering support and guidance to best help you combine work and family

• Additonal Benefits

You will also have access to a number of additional benefits such as our Proffessional development scheme, technology schemes, support via employee assistance lines and matched charity giving to name a few.

About us

National Grid Strategic Infrastructure has a key role to play in tackling climate change by accelerating our capacity to deliver clean electricity across the UK. We already operate the fastest decarbonising electricity grid in the world, with an ambition for zero carbon operation by 2025. And by 2035, we want to run 100% clean, green energy, all the time.

Here at National Grid, we connect homes and businesses to power, making sure supply and demand match each other. We make sure the lights are on in schools, operating theatres, and sporting arenas; we’re thousands of people working on behalf of millions of people.

Our investment in Strategic Infrastructure via the Great Grid Upgrade will mean more home grown power, greater energy security and a cleaner future.

Whatever your role, wherever you work with us, you’ll help us hit stretching targets and achieve our far-reaching goal: to secure, clean energy that supports our world far into the future. Here, you will be at the heart of energy.

More Information

This role closes on 4th August 2025, however we encourage candidates to submit their application as early as possible and not wait until the published closing date as this can vary. 

We work towards the highest standards in everything we do, including how we support, value and develop our people. Our aim is to encourage and support employees to thrive and be the best they can be. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organisation, and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds, and offer flexible and tailored support, at home and in the office. 

We're committed to building a workforce that represents the communities we serve, and a working environment in which each individual feels valued, respected, fairly treated, and able to reach their full potential.