our team

We know we are different to our competitors. We dare to be different; we are not afraid of risk and we try new methods of working and we are always open to fresh ideas; we are innovative. We offer our staff the opportunity to take control of their destiny of their career in a nurturing environment. We challenge ourselves and the emphasis is on talent and not structure. We are a team with a genuine camaraderie between all staff and this means that we are all invested in the growth and development of the business. We have a work hard have fun ethos where we celebrate success and enjoy company days out.

opportunities as an employee

We are one of the most exciting Planning and Development Consultancies in the UK. From our base in the heart of Bedford we tap into clients working in all industries, but focus on Residential (C3 and C2).

We work on Urban Extensions of several hundred new homes but also assist our smaller clients on their more modest, yet equally important schemes. We endeavour to help everyone we work with to ensure that we understand and satisfy their needs, delivering results that exceed expectations. We don’t just offer planning advice, we deliver creative visions for our clients’ sites.

We offer an increasingly diverse range of services to our clients. This includes traditional planning consultancy advice, land agency, public consultation, s106 negotiation and viability work, and negotiation between parties to achieve planning success.

Graduate traineeship at Optimis Consulting

The role is designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge required to excel in a career in the planning and development industry. Whether you already know what you want to specialise in, or know you want to work in the industry, but are not sure what area, we can tailor our programme to suit you. You will have the opportunity to rotate through 3 of our departments, specifically Planning, Strategic Land and Ecology to develop the breadth of your knowledge of the industry. We will also support you in choosing a specialism and developing your expertise.

The role is initially part time changing to full time upon successful completion of a probationary period, which we anticipate would take around 6 months. You will be based at our head office in Bedford working on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays though there will also be lots of opportunities to attend site meetings and surveys out of the office environment. For more details see the job description.

Why Optimis?

Optimis is an award-winning planning, development and ecology consultancy providing a bespoke service to a range of private clients.  We aim to deliver customer-focussed, commercially-sound advice.

Covering Bedfordshire, Greater London and the south east, our primary focus is residential planning, with a portfolio of work spanning the full spectrum of development projects, ranging from large scale developments with national house builders to smaller unique domestic projects.

We are a small friendly team offering an enjoyable and fulfilling environment in which to work and learn.  Optimis is able to offer unique access to clients and projects, from which junior members of the team especially benefit, and in this context career progression is supported and strongly encouraged.

We have enabled many graduates to begin their careers at Optimis and our graduate programme was considered excellent by the Royal Town Planning Institute, for which we won the RTPI Learning Partner Award in 2020.  RTPI President Sue Manns FRTPI said at that time:

“The Optimis Consulting graduate programme encourages and supports young planners to gain a wide variety of skills and to develop a range of specialisms.  The programme’s prioritisation of CPD over lockdown was particularly impressive, as are the variety of volunteering opportunities on offer which help graduates to make an impact in fields beyond planning.”

We are also a Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) Registered Practice. Our Registered Practice status demonstrates our high standards within the ecological and environmental management profession, and recognises our ability to share our knowledge and expertise with others.

What can you bring to Optimis?

We are looking for an enthusiastic person, one who works well in a small team and can contribute in all areas of the business, to support colleagues and take responsibility.  Someone keen to experience a range of learning opportunities, but also to learn about being a private consultant working within a competitive commercial environment.

For an informal discussion of the role or to make an application (CV and covering letter), please contact jenni@optimis-consulting.co.uk.