Job Description

The Masterplanning Lead for Expanding Heathrow is responsible for sustaining, governing, and safeguarding Heathrow’s long‑term Masterplan to ensure that future airport development is strategically aligned, deliverable, and appropriately phased. The role requires deep subject‑matter expertise in masterplanning legislation, principles, and practices, ensuring that Expansion proposals are consistent with strategic objectives, protected development corridors, and the airport’s long‑term operational capability. It also provides strategic guidance on how Expansion decisions impact the Masterplan, influencing design and delivery choices to maintain alignment with Heathrow’s long‑term growth vision.

This role acts as a visible and trusted point of coordination for both internal stakeholders and external partners, serving as the key link between masterplanning functions and expansion delivery teams to protect Heathrow’s future development pathways. It leads technical governance and scheme evaluations, ensuring the integrity of the Masterplan is upheld and implemented across both business‑as‑usual activities and Expansion programmes, supporting consistent, resilient, and future‑proof development outcomes.

• Lead and maintain the governance framework for Heathrow’s long‑term Masterplan, ensuring consistency across scheme‑development evaluations, public consultations, and change‑control processes. Act as a key interface with the CAA, planning inspectors, and airline stakeholders to protect Heathrow’s strategic interests.
• Drive the integration of Heathrow’s expansion activities with all relevant masterplan areas, ensuring terminals, airfield, surface access, and supporting infrastructure are aligned into a credible and deliverable pathway for future capacity growth.
• Safeguard critical land, infrastructure corridors, and operational zones required for expansion, resolving conflicts early with capital, property, and operational teams.
• Provide technical leadership to maintain and refine the Masterplan across terminals, airfield layout, surface access, cargo, maintenance, utilities, and operational facilities.
• Define and maintain Heathrow’s long‑term phasing and strategic schedule, ensuring alignment with demand triggers, capacity constraints, regulatory timelines, cost estimates, programme feasibility, and non‑Expansion programmes.
• Protect the scope and integrity of all Masterplan components as they progress through business cases and capital delivery, ensuring continuity of strategic intent across the full lifecycle of projects.
• Lead Heathrow’s engagement with international bodies such as IATA, ICAO, and ACI to influence emerging standards and regulatory frameworks. Represent Heathrow in technical working groups and strategic industry discussions to ensure expansion plans reflect global best practice, safety requirements, and design guidance.

• Significant experience of developing airport masterplans.
• Excellent knowledge of Heathrow Masterplan and the UK’s ANPS.
• Significant experience in handling the integration and coordination of infrastructure projects.
• Interpersonal skills to lead and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Good knowledge of Heathrow’s operation, capacity and forecasting processes.

Ideally, you will also have

• MEng in Civil Engineering.
• Certification in Airport Planning.
• Good understanding of major programme set up and CAPEX delivery process.

There’s something so special about working at the world’s most iconic airport. Its sights. Its sounds. Its constant air of excitement. Heathrow is an amazing backdrop to a career filled with unique opportunities.

Every day, you’ll discover a world full of fresh possibilities and end the day buzzing with stories to tell, as you encounter people from all cultures, nationalities and experiences. A world full of pride for what we do and no end of exciting career prospects to explore.

It brings out the best in all of us. And inspires everyone to deliver on our ambitious plans. Together, we’re working to welcome millions more passengers while ensuring aviation can continue to be a force for good by leading global efforts in sustainability.

Join us on that journey and we'll help you achieve your ambitions too. Supporting you to learn, encouraging you to be yourself, backing you to achieve more than you might ever have imagined. Because there’s no place like Heathrow.

Our rewards

We offer competitive salaries and excellent benefits that will support you now and in the future. As well as performance-based annual bonuses and our longer-term Share in Success Bonus plans, we also offer generous annual leave allowances and market-leading pensions. With family friendly policies, access to private health insurance and a wide range of wellbeing tools, we’ll support you to be at your best inside and outside work. And of course, we’ll provide varied learning and development opportunities too. Here you’ll find everything you need for a fulfilling career journey that can take you in exciting directions.

Working Location

Our Hybrid working approach offers the opportunity for colleagues in some roles to work from home for an average of two days a week, providing the flexibility to work in an agile way whilst ensuring we deliver for the operational needs of HeathrowWorking arrangements vary from team to team and will be confirmed during the recruitment process. You’ll need to be based in the UK and within a commutable distance to Heathrow.

Sustainable Travel to work

Heathrow’s Sustainable Travel Guide sets out easy and sustainable travel options that everyone can access.

Equal Opportunities

As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all. We believe that diverse talent makes us stronger – not least because we welcome passengers from all corners of the globe, every single day. Heathrow is an accessible place to work. With five diversity networks, we champion inclusivity and celebrate individuality.