Planning and Environment Partner | Melbourne

▸ Genuinely strong Planning and Environment pedigree

▸ Growth Mandate

▸ Collegiate partnership The Firm

Our client is a leading Australian law firm, and a recognised leader in the planning and environment space. The firm is consistently ranked by Doyle's Guide and Best Lawyers in planning and environment law — with recognised strength across major project approvals, environmental and native title advisory, development facilitation, and planning litigation. It has established national and international client relationships, a deep bench across its planning and environment practice, and the infrastructure to support a partner who arrives with momentum.

The firm has a commitment to planning and environment as a core practice, a national and international client base, and a partnership that is collegial, commercially engaged and genuinely invested in the success of incoming partners.

Full details of the firm — including partnership structure, client base and strategic direction — can be provided confidentially to suitable candidates who wish to progress.

The Opportunity

VIXA is working with a firm that is actively investing in its planning and environment capability — and is seeking a partner who brings both technical depth and a portable client following to accelerate that growth. Sustained investment in infrastructure and precinct-scale development, an increasingly complex planning and environmental approvals landscape, and continued growth in renewable energy, industrial and residential development pipelines are driving robust demand for planning and environment work across the Victorian market.

This role suits a Partner who is commercially astute, client-focused and ready to operate collaboratively within a partnership where lawyers are respected, supported and engaged in each other's success.





The Role The incoming partner will ideally have experience across a combination of the following (depending on specialisation) — planning and development approvals, including permit applications, panel hearings and VCAT proceedings; and/or environmental advisory, including contamination, native vegetation, cultural heritage and regulatory compliance; and/or planning and environment litigation, acting for developers, government or objectors.

The role carries leadership responsibilities, including supervision and mentoring of junior lawyers and active participation in the partnership.

About You

We are seeking an experienced Planning and Environment Partner who is ready for a strategic move and can demonstrate the following:

- 8–25 years' post-admission experience with a substantive planning and environment focus
- Deep technical capability across planning approvals, environmental law, or planning litigation (native title and cultural heritage not critical but advantageous)
- A portable practice with a current book of business exceeding $1M+
- Established client relationships with developers, government agencies, infrastructure proponents or corporate landholders
- A track record of business development and the profile to continue building at a new firm
- Experience from a top-tier, leading mid-tier or well-regarded specialist planning and environment firm
- The commercial instinct and interpersonal credibility to operate effectively within a collegiate partnership

How to Express Interest Please reach out to Scott Francis, Managing Partner,



at VIXA Partners to explore on a confidential basis.

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 0481 205 057

Web: vixa.com.au

VIXA Partners is a specialist executive legal recruitment firm focused exclusively on Partner placements across Australia's top-tier and upper mid-tier firms. We operate across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra.

Scott Francis, Managing Director of VIXA, brings over 25 years of direct experience inside Australia's leading law firms — as a lawyer for 20 years in top-tier and international firms, and as National Executive Talent Manager at one of Australia's leading top-tier firms (responsible for partner recruitment nationally), and as an admitted lawyer in New South Wales, Queensland and New Zealand. He is recognised as a dispute resolution lawyer in Legal 500 Asia Pacific, and is an accredited Executive Leadership Coach.

This depth of first-hand experience — inside the firms, inside the roles, inside the partnerships — means VIXA provides genuinely informed advice that goes well beyond what a conventional recruiter can offer. We understand the strategic needs of law firms, the nuances of key practice areas, and what it takes to assess cultural fit, client portability and long-term earnings potential at the partner level.

Our approach is consultative, relationship-driven and unhurried. We take the view that a lateral partner move is one of the most significant professional decisions a lawyer will make — and we treat it accordingly. Candidates are encouraged to ask every question, take their time and reach a decision that is in their best interests.

No information about you will ever be shared with any party without your express consent. Your details, your enquiry, and the existence of any conversation between us will remain strictly confidential.

📌 Planning & Environment Partner | Melbourne
🏢 VIXA | Executive Legal Recruitment
📍 Melbourne