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For Companies At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead and develop planning teams for major environmental projects, ensuring effective delivery and governance.
- Company: Join Arcadis, a global leader in sustainable design and engineering solutions.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, professional development, and opportunities to make a real impact.
- Other info: Be part of a collaborative team dedicated to solving complex challenges and improving quality of life.
- Why this job: Shape the future of infrastructure while enhancing your leadership skills in a dynamic environment.
- Qualifications: Experience in project planning, strong communication skills, and proficiency in planning software required.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
Overview
Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets. We are more than 34,000 people, in over 30 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.
Role description
The Arcadis Climate Adaptation programme delivers resilience projects across our clients’ portfolios, programmes and projects across England and Wales. This strategic role will develop and implement robust planning governance, processes, and systems; integrate programme schedules; and drive continuous improvement in delivery performance. Our Programme & Project Management team is seeking an experienced Senior Planning Engineer to join us as a leader who will build and mature our planning capability, while also providing hands-on planning leadership for major delivery across the environment sector and with local authorities.
In this role, you will provide expert advice to project teams and senior leadership on earned value management, resource requirements, programme risks, performance reporting, and outturn cost forecasting. You will collaborate closely with portfolio leads, discipline leads, and business stakeholders to optimise resource forecasting, align plans with delivery capabilities, and strengthen financial and schedule control. Additionally, you will support tendering activities by delivering comprehensive programme inputs, resourcing strategies, and cost forecast data that improve bid accuracy and deliverability. Your leadership will be critical in maturing planning capability, enhancing predictability, and enabling the successful delivery of complex resilience infrastructure programmes.
Role accountabilities
- Lead, recruit and develop a specialist planning team supporting major environment-sector and local authority programmes, defining roles, standards and capability uplift.
- Design, implement and embed new planning processes, procedures and tools to standardise delivery across tender, project and portfolio levels.
- Own integrated baseline programmes, WBS and schedule hierarchies, ensuring alignment with scope, milestones, regulatory requirements and client expectations.
- Oversee schedule health checks, earned value analysis and variance management; drive recovery, contingency and re-forecast actions as required.
- Produce and present timely reports on schedule performance, earned value, resource utilisation and outturn cost forecasts to inform senior leadership decisions.
- Provide strategic input to tender programmes, including programme assumptions, resource plans, risk assessments and cost forecast data to improve bid deliverability.
- Maintain portfolio-level resource forecasts and capacity plans to support business unit resourcing strategy and recruitment priorities.
- Embed planning governance, data integrity and configuration control in planning systems; assure compliance with standards and auditable baselines.
- Facilitate integrated planning and risk workshops to identify programme risks, opportunities and mitigation measures, escalating critical issues to leadership.
- Drive continuous improvement and digital adoption in planning and reporting to enhance predictability, efficiency and decision support across the business.
Qualifications & Experience
Essential
- Sufficient years’ experience in project planning and scheduling, ideally within complex infrastructure, environment-sector and/or local authority programmes and/or water sector.
- Degree/HNC/HND in Engineering, Project Management, or a related subject.
- Strong understanding of UK infrastructure delivery contexts, including governance, regulatory and stakeholder requirements across the environment sector and local authorities.
- Proven ability to lead and develop teams in a fast-paced environment.
- Proficient in planning software (e.g., Safran, Primavera P6, MS Project).
- Excellent organisational, commercial, and communication skills.
- Experience with project controls, cost engineering, and financial operations.
- Familiarity with different contracting environments and commercial models.
Desirable
- Membership of a relevant professional body.
- Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification.
Senior Planner - Water employer: Arcadis
Contact Detail:
Arcadis Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Planner - Water
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to people in the industry, attend events, and connect with professionals on LinkedIn. We can’t stress enough how important it is to build relationships; you never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for interviews by researching the company and its projects. Understand their values and recent achievements, especially in the water sector. We want you to show that you’re not just another candidate but someone who genuinely cares about their mission.
✨Tip Number 3
Practice your responses to common interview questions, especially those related to project planning and team leadership. We recommend doing mock interviews with friends or mentors to boost your confidence and refine your answers.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets noticed. Plus, we love seeing candidates who take the initiative to engage directly with us.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Planner - Water
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV is tailored to the Senior Planner role. Highlight your experience in project planning and scheduling, especially within the environment sector or local authorities. We want to see how your skills align with what we're looking for!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you're passionate about the role and how your background makes you a perfect fit. Don’t forget to mention any relevant projects you've worked on that demonstrate your expertise.
Showcase Your Leadership Skills: Since this role involves leading a planning team, make sure to highlight your leadership experience. Share examples of how you've developed teams or improved processes in previous roles. We love seeing candidates who can inspire and drive change!
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply through our website for a smoother application process. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you don’t miss out on any important updates from us!
How to prepare for a job interview at Arcadis
✨Know Your Stuff
Make sure you brush up on your knowledge of project planning and scheduling, especially in the context of complex infrastructure and environmental projects. Familiarise yourself with the specific tools mentioned in the job description, like Safran and Primavera P6, so you can confidently discuss your experience with them.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
Since this role involves leading a specialist planning team, be prepared to share examples of how you've successfully led teams in the past. Highlight your ability to develop others and create a positive team environment, as well as any strategies you've implemented for continuous improvement.
✨Understand the Bigger Picture
Demonstrate your understanding of the UK infrastructure delivery context, including governance and regulatory requirements. Be ready to discuss how these factors influence project planning and execution, and how you can align plans with client expectations and stakeholder needs.
✨Prepare for Scenario Questions
Expect to face scenario-based questions that assess your problem-solving skills and ability to manage risks. Think about past projects where you've had to drive recovery actions or manage variances, and be ready to explain your thought process and the outcomes.