Planning Legal Director

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About The Role

The role

Gateley have a rare opportunity for a Legal Director to join its northern region in either the Manchester or Leeds office. This is a hands-on role with the opportunity for growth to help develop the scope of work that we already carry out for a mixture of developers and housebuilders on, projects in town and country planning, highways, compulsory purchase, planning litigation, enforcement, DCO and infrastructure matters (including compensation).

For example:

• We act for eighteen of the UK's biggest housebuilders (including Taylor Wimpey, Lovell, Vistry and Barratt) on strategic schemes in London and the Southeast - size of schemes ranging from 30 to 3,000-unit schemes including garden villages.
• We are working on building up the DCO practice with assistance from Gateley Hamer and are advising several objectors to the Lower Thames Crossing DCO, dealing with consultation responses, legal advice, negotiations with LTC and Land & Works Agreements
• We are acting for developers on planning applications, legal challenges and planning enforcement matters.

At Gateley we will encourage you to take advantage of the wide range of training and guidance available to specialists in planning and related environmental law, as well as participating in giving training to others through our seminar programme for clients and contacts of the business.

You will work closely with our National Head of Planning, Karen Howard, Matthew Scudamore and Robert Waite in developing your career to Partner level. You will be a key figure in the growth of our northern presence; and required to be actively involved in business development, attending networking and client events in the Northwest and Yorkshire.

The team

Our Planning team is nationally recognised for its depth of expertise and collaborative approach. With specialists based across London, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham and Guildford, we combine technical excellence with a forward-thinking mindset to deliver practical solutions for our clients.

We advise on all aspects of planning and related environmental law, from site promotion and planning applications to complex Section 106 agreements and compulsory purchase matters. The team handles both contentious work (appeals, call-ins, judicial reviews) and non-contentious advisory matters, ensuring clients receive comprehensive support at every stage of the development lifecycle.

What makes us different? We work hand in hand with Gateley Hamer on compulsory purchase and national infrastructure projects, creating a unique joined-up proposition in the legal market. This collaboration gives our lawyers exposure to major schemes, including Development Consent Orders (DCOs) and strategic residential developments for many of the UK's leading housebuilders.

Our Leadership

The Planning team is led by highly experienced Partners who are recognised as leaders in their field:

• Karen Howard - Karen brings extensive experience in strategic planning and development, advising on complex applications and infrastructure projects. Karen is known for her pragmatic approach and ability to navigate challenging planning frameworks.
• Matthew Scudamore - Matthew specialises in contentious planning matters, including appeals, call-ins and judicial reviews. His expertise ensures clients receive robust representation in high-profile cases.
• Robert Waite - Robert focuses on large-scale residential and mixed-use developments, guiding clients through planning obligations and negotiations on Section 106 agreements. His commercial insight adds real value to every project.

These Partners are committed to mentoring and supporting career progression, ensuring that every team member has the opportunity to grow and thrive.

The person
This opportunity is open to a solicitor with at least 8 years' PQE. Alongside fee earning, you will enjoy business development and be active within the Northwest or Yorkshire market.

Candidates will be able to demonstrate the following attributes:

• Town and country planning
• Highways
• Compulsory purchase
• Compensation
• Ideally DCO Infrastructure projects (although we can provide quality training within this area)

We would welcome:

• Drive, commitment, self-motivation and a "will do" attitude.
• The ability to exercise discretion and professionalism at all times.
• Management and development of teams
• Excellent commercial acumen
• A smile

About Us

The benefits

With support, coaching and feedback from some of the most engaging colleagues around our great development and progression opportunities will reward your commitment and loyalty. We offer a competitive remuneration package where you'll be rewarded for your individual performance with an opportunity to receive an annual bonus.
In addition, we have a wide range of learning and development opportunities via our Learn platform to develop new skills and progress your career. Our My Flex comprehensive rewards package includes options covering annual leave (and the benefit of purchasing extra days), cycle to work, critical illness benefit, employee assistance programme, group personal pension, health care, season ticket loan and many more benefits (grade dependent). Finally, with Perks At Work/Home you can select a host of retail benefits that suit your needs alongside a Community Online Academy, free courses for all from fitness to coding to languages to hip hop dance.

We are Gateley

We are forward thinking and straight talking, our approach is to find solutions to the problems that our clients face. Gateley is a legal and professional services group, we are a group of formidable experts in all areas of law and business. Passionate problem solvers, we get our kicks from finding the right answers and getting our legal and business clients where they need to be. We support more than 5,700 active clients, ranging from FTSE 100 companies to private individuals, in the UK and beyond. Being part of Gateley is not just about the expertise that you bring; it's about attitude too.

The 'Gateley Story' is the story of our people and our culture. It is what has got us to where we are today as a successful business and it's the driving force behind the Gateley Team Spirit and the values that have shaped it. We have a set of shared internal values that capture what the Gateley Team Spirit is and this includes five elements that bind us all together as one Gateley: Ambitious for Success, Forward Thinking, Room to Breathe, Trusted to Do and Working Together. Every year across the group, we recognise members of our team that have gone and above and beyond and have lived these shared values. They are recognised at our annual Gateley Team Spirit awards.

Diversity, inclusion and well being

Diversity, inclusion and well being is an important part of Gateley's culture and values. We recruit talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures, providing equal opportunities for all to join our team regardless of age, sex, race, sexual orientation, disability, or culture.

We create an exciting and rewarding place to work that aims to fulfil everyone's potential and together to achieve personal and business goals. We offer flexible working patterns to help our staff achieve a good work/ life balance and we encourage candidates seeking flexibility in their next role to apply for any of our vacancies.

We are proud to have been recognised by The Law Society as gold standard for our Diversity and Inclusion Charter and to be Stonewall Diversity Champions.

Additional Information

If you are successful in receiving an offer of a role with our company a variety of pre-employment screening checks will be completed. Our screening checks can include but are not limited to your eligibility to work, professional and academic qualifications, any criminal records, your financial stability and references from previous employers. The screening that takes place will be relevant to your role and will vary from role to role.