Graduate Town Planner - Belfast - Start October - December 26

AECOM · Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

  • Junior
  • Full-time
  • Posted 2026-09-23
  • Confirmed live on 25 September 2026

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Job description

Job Description
Our Belfast-based Planning and Stakeholder Engagement team deliver projects across Northern Ireland, Ireland and the UK. We have a fantastic graduate opportunity available with an immediate start date.
About our Team
AECOM’s Planning & Stakeholder Engagement team are involved in delivering some of the largest, most complex and high-profile infrastructure schemes and development and regeneration projects across the UK & Ireland, supporting both public and private sector clients. We are a dynamic team that works closely with colleagues across a broad range of complementary disciplines, including masterplanning, architecture, civil engineering, transportation, landscape architecture, environmental impact assessment (EIA), ecology, heritage, and project management
Projects
As a Graduate Town Planner at AECOM, you will have the opportunity to contribute to a diverse range of projects, primarily across Ireland and Northern Ireland. Our team is actively involved in key market sectors including energy, data centres, water defence and transportation, providing exposure to impactful infrastructure and development projects from day one.
You will also have the opportunity to support major infrastructure projects in the UK, including Development Consent Order (DCO) applications, offering valuable experience on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.
Alongside this, the team are currently leading on planning applications for a diverse portfolio of projects, including electricity transmission and distribution, renewable energy generation, data centres, airport expansions, railways, city-scale heat networks and much more. Many of these projects also involve supporting stakeholder engagement and consultation activities as part of the planning and consenting process.
Here's what you'll do:
Joining AECOM offers excellent opportunities for career progression within a positive and collaborative culture where learning and professional development is actively supported and promoted.
From the moment you join as a graduate, you will be paired with an experienced member of the team who will mentor and guide you through your initial period working on live projects. Beyond this, you will receive ongoing support and development from your line manager and the wider team, ensuring you are fully supported as you build your skills, confidence, and professional experience.
As a Graduate you will play a role in supporting a wide variety of projects, engaging directly with clients, communities and stakeholders to support consultation and secure successful planning outcomes. Work portfolios are managed to ensure that all staff have the opportunity to experience a breadth and depth of projects (including plan-making, development management and infrastructure projects).  
AECOM supports graduates working towards Chartered Membership of the RTPI / IPI and we provide structured, comprehensive training and mentorship to our graduates undertaking the Assessment of Professional Competence.
We provide regular in-house knowledge-sharing and technical development sessions, alongside opportunities to network with other planners and professionals at industry events, helping you to develop your skills and enable you to achieve your career ambitions.
The main duties of this role will be to:

• Provide technical inputs to land use planning projects, working within multi-disciplinary teams of planners, environmental specialists, landscape architects and engineers to deliver a diverse range of multi-disciplinary projects including land development, infrastructure planning, policy planning and strategic development planning projects.

• Supporting the preparation and coordination of planning applications across a range of projects, including infrastructure, large scale residential, leisure and mixed-use developments. This will for example include writing planning statements or policy appraisals and liaising with the client and other stakeholders to achieve successful planning outcomes.

• Carry out planning research and due diligence analysis to assist with the identification of planning risk and opportunities.

• Support others in the team to identify and pursue business development opportunities and support the growth of the business through new and repeat clients. Contribute to proposals and qualification documents to secure new commissions.

• Represent the organisation professionally, developing and managing relationships with clients, local authorities and other stakeholders through project work and attendance at conferences and other networking events.

• Participate in the successful operation of the town planning team, including sharing technical knowledge and promoting best practice.

• Support stakeholder engagement and consultation activities associated with planning and infrastructure projects, including preparing consultation materials, assisting with stakeholder mapping and helping to coordinate engagement events

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