Strategic Planning Graduate

Your future is shaping London's future. Are you looking for a career where you can shape London's future? We're looking for people who are passionate about helping London grow in a sustainable way, and become a more attractive place to live, work and visit.

How long: 2 Years

Where: London/Hybrid
Hybrid working within this role enables a balance of 50% of time split between the office and home over a 4 week period. Hybrid working arrangements can evolve subject to business requirements.

Salary: £28,500 rising to £30,000 in year 2

What you'll need

A minimum of a 2:2 degree in any discipline.

What you'll be doing

As a graduate, your two year development programme will be made up of four placement rotations across up to five teams. Our aim is to equip you with the range of skills and experience you need for your successful career within strategic planning.

We also understand that everyone's career is different, so every graduate's journey is unique. Here's an idea of what yours could look like:

Placement 1 - Strategy and Planning - 6 month placement

This team sets the strategic direction of the city's transport. We are proud to be at the forefront of the organisation's efforts to transform the capital's transport to create a city where people choose to walk, cycle or use public transport and can do so free from the harmful effects of air pollution. In doing so, we play a vital role in addressing the climate emergency. You could be placed in areas such as developing the strategy to achieve net zero carbon for road transport by 2030, planning the delivery of London's Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy or making freight transport safer, cleaner and more efficient for London.

Placement 2 - Local Communities and Partnerships - 6 month placement

This team builds connections with London's diverse communities, local businesses, and political stakeholders.

Through effective engagement and consultation, we help TfL understand the needs, wants, and sometimes frustrations of living, working or playing in London. By harnessing these relationships, and the intel we gather from this, we make sure our decision makers can reflect on community and stakeholder feedback to make the best possible future transport decisions for London.

Our engagement and consultation work stretches across every facet of TfL's transport remit. From reshaping the bus network, to building new tube lines to major policy decisions on Congestion Charge and ULEZ.

You will support or team of engagement and consultation specialists to work with and strengthen relationships with local politicians and community leaders. This will involve supporting local engagement activities, researching key local policy areas, and supporting the delivery of local and pan London consultation delivery. You will also work with our community engagement and consultation leadership team to identify and build new proposals, projects, and initiatives to strengthen how we work with young Londoners, the seldom heard, and other underrepresented community groups.

Placement 3 - Strategy and Innovation - 6 month placement

This team helps TfL get ready for the future helping the business set its strategy, decide what to spend money on and then solve challenges that might otherwise prevent delivery.

You will be involved in setting our Business Plan - what we are going to do to deliver the transport strategy - and the shorter-term targets to ensure we make the progress we need to over the next year.

You will be involved in solving some of TfL's major challenges by partnering with major companies and start-ups to trial innovations which change how we work, and also working across different parts of TfL to unblock the knotty problems that prevent us from achieving our outcomes.

Placement 4 - Chief Customer and Strategy Office - 6 month placement

In Customer and Strategy, we cover a broad range of disciplines. We devise strategies, plan for London's future, undertake research and engagement, and provide insight and data. The Office for the Chief Customer and Strategy Officer is at the heart of the department. As part of this placement, you'll have the opportunity to shadow the Chief Customer and Strategy Officer, working alongside them on their priorities for our organisation.

In Customer and Strategy, a broad range of disciplines are covered. We devise strategies, plan for London's future, undertake research and engagement, and provide insight and data. The Office for the Chief Customer and Strategy Officer is at the heart of the department. As part of this placement, you'll have the opportunity to shadow the Chief Customer and Strategy Officer, working alongside them on their priorities for our organisation.

You'll also learn about the governance processes which set out the processes and structure for the organisation, working with the team to prepare for Executive Committee sub-groups and various Boards and Panels.

As part of this placement, you'll work closely with the other Offices across TfL and the Greater London Authority; preparing briefings, reports and correspondence. No two days are the same and you'll be working alongside a team of experts in their field.

Placement 5 - Spatial Planning - 6 month placement

This team lead TfL's work with the Greater London Authority, boroughs and developers to integrate land use and transport planning to solve London's biggest challenges including achieving net-zero and tackling the housing crisis. We develop and influence policy, secure third-party funding, masterplan changing areas of London, and make the case for transport investment.

You will be involved in developing the London Plan (London's overarching spatial strategy) and shape local/area plans to deliver mode shift in practice, lower car ownership, reduce carbon and drive future fares revenue growth via sustainable development.

You will be involved in planning many of the biggest and most challenging development and regeneration opportunities in London as well as early feasibility on new interchanges with a focus on sustainability and inclusion. This will involve making a compelling case to government and others for transport investment.

Where can this career take you

We would expect that graduates from our programme would be well placed to apply for City Planner, Business Strategy Planner and Engagement Officer roles in our teams, or alternatively be well placed to take up other strategic roles across TfL.

Five years after rolling off our programme, and having gained further experience and skills, programme graduates may well have successfully applied for more senior roles, such as:

  • Principal City Planner
  • Business Strategy Managers
  • Engagement Specialists

For individuals with strong strategic skills, there's a number of possible career paths at TfL from leading our specialist planning and engagement teams, to managing Executive Offices or business planning processes.