Project Planner

This Project Planner will report to the Lead Project Manager and will work within UK Power Networks Services based in our Gatwick Airport office but will work from other UKPN Services locations. You will be a permanent employee. You will attract a salary of £65,241 and a bonus of 3%.

Job Purpose

You will support the Project Management Team to work with Design, Delivery, and other disciplines (incl. 3rd parties). You will prepare, update and maintain project schedules. In addition to this your responsibilities will include, but not be limited to ensuring comprehensive logic linked project plans/schedules are developed, incorporating resource planning, cost estimating, earned value forecasting and reporting, ensuring plans/schedules are monitored to reflect progress and maintain accurate resource and earned value data for reporting purposes, reporting on progress, critical paths, resources and earned value, reporting risks and issues so they can be managed promptly to prevent negative impact on the project. You will provide schedule impact assessment information to support the project and portfolio change control and risk processes. Validate suppliers schedule impact assessment submissions to support the change control process and oversee the maintenance of suppliers' contract baselines. You will develop NEC / ECC contract standard 'agreed programmes' identifying impact / potential programme impact of Early Warnings, Compensation Events and Variations / PMI's. You will support the Project Managers by carrying out operations to monitor the sub-programme deliverables - Outputs. Rolling up information by sub-programme for the purposes of reporting to the Client and internally to Senior Managers / Directors.

Dimensions

UK Power Networks Services. Help with Periodic and External tenders. Approximate annual expenditure of £12M, with circa 30 live projects.

Principal Accountabilities

• Maintain schedules in Primavera P6 and consistency / alignment with approved UK Power Networks WBS/OBS/CBS.
• Review company procedures against programmes.
• Provide accurate programme data to meet UK Power Networks reporting requirements supporting Earned Value Management reporting.
• Maintain currency of programme plans and schedules at Level 4 and below.
• Provide advice on the schedule impact of proposed change and integrate approved changes into baseline updates.
• Oversee the progressing programmes, monitoring and reporting on project performance, highlighting deviations, providing early warnings and identifying and presenting project slippage recovery strategies.
• Help develop Resource and Cost Loaded Programmes.
• Validate construction methodologies, resource and cost loading, activity durations, schedule logic, float allocation and critical path identification within others' submissions to support UK Power Networks Services contract programme approval obligations.
• Working with the Lead Project Manager support the team by providing programme information relevant to budget, future annual expenditure and detailed resource requirements.
• Promote the interface between upstream planning with downstream delivery and provide forecast resource demand reports.
• Work with the Lead Project Manager and project teams to identify and incorporate risk mitigating actions into the planned work scope observing time/cost contingency levels across the baseline schedules.
• Gather and manage Lessons learned for future project execution.
• Support / facilitate schedule risk analysis on a periodic basis.
• Lead collaborative planning workshops and provide presentations, coaching and facilitation in the use of Primavera software.
• Achieve compliance with UK Power Networks project delivery and programme governance procedures.
• Identify, control, and forecast the time scales and resource requirements of projects to minimise the likelihood of time overruns.
• Work with and provide support to colleagues in project teams.
• Co-ordinating the flow of information to ensure that interfaces within projects are managed to increase efficiencies.
• Support, Encourage and Obtain agreement to the schedule from project teams and co-ordinate schedule interfaces between the different control areas.
• Work with the commercial team / project cost estimator to provide a seamless service.
• Work with the local finance team for monitoring project and sub-programme relevant information, P6 data integrity, income, expenditure.
• Work together with the respective Project Managers and Departments Heads, to ensure approved contract baseline schedules are established and maintained following the Contract Change procedure.
• Support the Project Managers on the auditing of the P6 programmes and review of client long-term plans.
• Provide guidance to the Project Managers and Departments Heads with regard to programming.
• Review progress information from sub-programmes of work and overseeing the progressing of programmes, monitoring and reporting of project performance, highlighting deviations, providing early warnings and identifying and presenting project slippage recovery strategies.
• Work with the Project Managers and Departments Heads to identify and incorporate risk mitigating actions into the planned work scope and time/cost contingency levels across the baseline schedules and facilitate schedule risk analysis on a periodic basis.
• Collate the Monthly Project Dashboard for submission into the Raglan Projects Meeting.
• Lead the Weekly Resource Meetings and ensure that the weekly plan is submitted to Project Managers, Lead Operational Engineers and subcontractors promptly.

Nature and Scope

Manage the scheduling activity upstream for future workload and support sub-programmes, lead the input of early project information in P6 to ensure that programmes are resourced and cost loaded. Be the interface between our client information and downstream delivery of sub-programmes of work. Provide / organise generic resource management information in P6 and promote reporting to the UKPNS Management team. Support the Project Managers daily to manage their project outputs. Provide schedule impact assessment information to support the project/portfolio change control and risk processes and validation of early programmes, impact assessment submissions to support the change control process and oversee the maintenance of Gate baselines.

Qualifications

Engineering-based degree or equivalent, Project Management qualification such as APMP or Prince2 is desirable.

Experience

Experience using Primavera P6 on complex construction programmes. Experience of NEC3 contractual processes and programme administration. Experience maintaining programme performance baselines and their utilisation in generating earned value-based report management. Knowledge of project planning processes and the project life-cycle. Knowledge of CDM 2015. Planning experience on Major Construction Projects. Excellent technical skills. You will communicate well at all levels to both internal and external personnel. Good oral, written and presentation skills with experience with presentation of data for analysis and review. Familiarity with standard office software including Project, PowerPoint, Access, Excel and Outlook. Work with team to obtain information and commitment to formulating schedule whilst commanding respect from all partners through technical and personal credibility. Security clearance for Airport Airside ID Pass (must have 5 years traceable work history) and Airside Driving Permit (UK Driving Licence).

Health & Safety Responsibilities

Managers and supervisors carry both legal and company responsibilities for ensuring the health and safety of their employees, those under their control and those who might be affected by the work undertaken, i.e. public, visitors and employees of other organisations. This includes briefing individuals working for them and ensuring there is the necessary understanding, competence and application of requirements to work safely and without harming the environment. Employees will ensure they understand the health and safety risks involved in their work activities and their responsibility to apply the controls needed to manage those risks to acceptable levels. Similarly where work activities can have an adverse impact upon the environment, and where there are legal requirements, employees will understand those impacts and the controls they must ensure are applied. If in doubt ask!

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.