Planning Manager - Infrastructure Asset Solutions (North West)

We’ll inspire and empower you to deliver your best work so you can evolve, grow and succeed – today and into tomorrow. We offer an exciting range of opportunities to develop your career within a supportive and diverse team who always strive to do the right thing for our people, clients and communities. People are our greatest asset, and we offer a competitive package to retain and attract the best talent. In addition to the benefits you’d expect, UK employees also receive free single medical cover and digital GP service, family-friendly benefits such as enhanced parental leave pay and free membership of employee assistance and parental programs, plus reimbursement towards relevant professional development and memberships. We also give back to our communities through our Collectively program which incorporates matched-funding, paid volunteering time and charitable donations. Work-life balance and flexibility are key focus areas for us. We’re happy to discuss hybrid, part-time and flexible working hours, patterns and locations to suit you and our business.

About the Opportunity

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Planning Manager with expertise in Primavera to join our dynamic team, responsible for implementing, monitoring and controlling project schedules across our diverse portfolio. Working closely with the project controls and delivery teams, the successful candidate will drive a transformative agreed process for integrated planning at all levels, ensuring alignment with project goals and objectives. The role will play a vital part in enabling that all deliverables and tasks within the portfolio of work remain within their approved time and cost envelope, ensuring that the programme remains aligned to the clients’ strategy and affordability.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Owner of the Planning Function within the Infrastructure & Asset Solutions business unit supporting the Planning Team & Projects Managers in delivering the scope of complex projects to time, cost, quality, and compliance.
• Take an involved role in the delivery and progression of major projects within the portfolio to enhance project performance and drive business outcomes.
• Provide expertise and produce tender plans together with associated basis and documentation to set projects up for success.
• Maintaining performance and contractual baselines, producing critical path analysis on fully resourced and cost loaded project plans, monitoring changes, and reporting on early warnings and variations.
• Ensure all planning responsibilities and outputs are undertaken by SQEP individuals, providing quality and assurance checks to ensure accuracy, completeness, and compliance with contractual requirements.
• Lead planning and scheduling meetings to review progress, identify potential issues and implement corrective actions where needed.
• Produce milestone and performance reports to present progress across core deliverables to senior leaders.
• Conduct regular audit checks of project schedules to ensure strong governance and successful management of business deliverables, risks, benefits and opportunities.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Strong leadership skills, experienced in leading teams and advising senior colleagues to enable delivery of our business goals.
• Established expert and advanced project planning professional with a track record of delivering projects to time and cost quality standards across all stages of a project lifecycle.
• Proven track record of implementing effective schedule management and change control processes.
• Good understanding of NEC contracts, with the ability to understand multiple contractual arrangements and supporting program methodologies.
• Demonstrable skills to exert influence, with the ability to challenge and drive momentum across all levels.
• Strong knowledge of best practice policies, processes and procedures required to execute a strong, effective management framework.
• Experienced user of Primavera and Microsoft Office applications and experienced in risk procedures and the delivery of quantitative schedule risk analysis.
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills, with well-developed presentation style and experience of senior level presentations.

Any offer of employment will be strictly subject to the relevant security requirements for the role being met. This means that you will need to have, or be able to obtain, Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) clearance and either Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV) clearance. The security clearance process may require non-British nationals or dual nationals (i.e. those with British and another nationality) to be subject to additional evaluation, depending on nationalities held and the nature of the work to be carried out.

Our Culture

Our values stand on a foundation of safety, integrity, inclusion and diversity. We put people at the heart of our business, and we genuinely believe that we all succeed by supporting one another through our culture of caring. We value positive mental health and a sense of belonging for all employees. We aim to embed inclusion and diversity in everything we do. We know that if we are inclusive, we’re more connected, and if we are diverse, we’re more creative. We accept people for who they are, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, mental health, race, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, and whether you’re pregnant or on family leave. This is reflected in our wide range of Global Employee Networks centred on inclusion and diversity. We are committed to offering a career within one company and recognise the exceptional talent we have in our people. As our business evolves, we want to inspire and empower you to develop your career so you too can evolve, grow and succeed – today and into tomorrow.