Senior Environmental Planner

Job Title

Senior Environmental Planner

Department

Environmental and Social Planning

Reporting to

Director of Planning, Australia & New Zealand

About
Lightsource bp

and we’re on a mission to become a global leader in onshore renewables, anchored by our proven track record in solar development.

For over a decade we’ve been actively working to diversify the way our world is powered with sustainable and responsible renewable power. We work to safely deliver affordable, reliable, large-scale onshore renewable and energy storage solutions to help the world decarbonise.

Our growing business is constantly innovating and investing to help drive the energy transition. Our people and projects are focused on supporting long-term sustainable growth and energy security.

Lightsource bp operates with five core values: Safety, Integrity, Respect, Sustainability, and Drive.

We seek to attract and hire individuals who share our commitment to creating a safe workplace, uphold the highest standards of integrity, and demonstrate respect for colleagues, communities, and the environment. Our recruitment process promotes sustainability by valuing long-term growth and responsible practices, while seeking candidates with the drive to innovate and lead in the global energy transition.

Together, these values shape how we engage, assess, and welcome talent to join us in delivering renewable energy and storage solutions.

Lightsource bp was fully acquired by bp in 2024.

What you’ll do
(the role)

Summary

We are looking for a Senior Environmental Planner with a bit of spark and drive, keen to work client side in the renewable energy industry in Lightsource bp’s in-house Planning Team. You will lead on all planning aspects of a project’s life cycle, from initial site selection, planning application preparation, local authority liaison, stakeholder engagement, pre and post construction work, with oversight from the Head of Planning on strategy and approach.

We encourage close collaboration across teams and you will work closely with other internal teams, including business development, design, construction, asset management and structured finance.

You will also be part of the wider global environmental planning community at Lightsource bp, with the opportunity to get involved in company level initiatives that interest you.

Duties and responsibilities

• Providing planning advice to inform decision-making on-site selection and approaches taken on development consent applications and stakeholder engagement.
• Managing the development application process, including: project managing external consultant teams; monitoring of planning and environmental project budget and spend; reviewing and signing off content; collaborating with the internal Business Development, Design and Construction teams to define project design and detail, ensuring these respond to planning, environmental and stakeholder challenges.
• Working closely with the Community and Stakeholder Engagement Manager on stakeholder engagement for your projects – including attending virtual and in person community engagement sessions, building relationships with government authorities and other key stakeholders, and working with community and liaison consultants.
• Undertaking handovers to Construction and Asset Management, to ensure planning, environmental and social obligations during construction and operation are clearly detailed and understood.
• Assisting with construction and operation planning compliance assessments.
• Undertaking due diligence for potential acquisition targets.
• Providing input into Team and Department strategy.
• Developing strong relationships with internal team members and being involved in maintaining relationships with key external stakeholders.

Who we’re looking for

Knowledge

• Comprehensive working knowledge of the federal, state and local planning systems across Australian and New Zealand jurisdictions.

Experience & Education

• Experience in planning (5+ years) – ideally with client or consultancy experience
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, and an ability to build relationships and trust with a wide variety of stakeholders.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Commercial acumen and entrepreneurial values.
• Ability to manage complex project issues, managing time, setting priorities and organising the complex logistics of planning activities and outputs.
• Experience in ground mount solar PV, wind and/or other renewable energy/infrastructure projects.
• Understanding of the project development life cycle from early stage to COD.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to travel.
• Degree level planning qualification (or equivalent) required.
• MPIA an advantage.
• Fluent English essential.

Why you’ll make a great member of the team

Work & General skills

• Excellent technical, project management and communication skills with experience working with multi-disciplinary project teams.
• Driven with a hands-on proactive approach to business, and the ability to be flexible and adapt rapidly.

Why you’ll want to work for us

Our company is a place where you can be yourself and grow; a place where your ideas and opinions matter.

Be you

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive community, where every individual is valued and treated with respect.

Be responsible

Our culture is driven by our core values. From operating safely to ensuring our solar projects are responsible and promote biodiversity. 

Be recognized

Alongside a competitive salary, we offer a variety of benefits including annual bonus, retention bank, health insurance, pension and other local benefits.

Be inspired

Beyond your day-to-day working life at Lightsource bp, there’s a variety of initiatives that will contribute to your own personal development. Initiatives to get involved with including our charitable causes, supporting our solar honey project or our sustainability initiatives.

Our Core Values

Lightsource bp truly cares about creating a sustainable future through safe, responsible and meaningful low carbon energy projects. Our core values of Safety, Integrity, Respect, Sustainability and Drive are the guiding principles for everything we do. 

https://www.lightsourcebp.com/careers/