Head of Planning EMEA in London

Lead and control the full real estate lifecycle across the EMEA region, ensuring alignment, consistency, and timely delivery across all stages from preconstruction through to handover. This role drives scheduling excellence, production control, and reporting transparency across a growing portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

• Real Estate Lifecycle & Programme Leadership
  • Lead end-to-end planning across the real estate lifecycle: scheduling, project controls, test fit, design, preconstruction, and construction.
  • Partner closely with the Country Director, Regional Design Director, and EMEA Real Estate & Development Senior Director to ensure alignment at all stages.
  • Drive schedule standardisation across the EMEA portfolio using consistent methodologies, tools, and best practices.
  • Oversee project schedules to ensure they are realistic, accurate, and achievable.
  • Monitor performance, identify deviations, and provide early warnings with clear mitigation strategies.
  • Develop and optimise detailed construction programmes from preconstruction to handover.
  • Ensure projects meet Client “Ready for Service (RFS)” contractual milestones on time.
  • Champion “Design for Speed” under the Rapid Project Delivery (RPD) framework.
• Production Controls
  • Partner with Country Directors to monitor and manage regional production schedules.
  • Oversee execution of production controls to maintain on-site efficiency and avoid delays.
  • Collaborate with the Regional Commissioning Lead across all live projects.
  • Ensure commissioning aligns with programme timelines and quality standards.
  • Maintain integrated commissioning schedules within construction programmes.
  • Track key commissioning milestones against delivery targets.
• Market & Geographical Planning
  • Develop location-specific schedules based on regional market conditions.
  • Adapt programmes to reflect local construction methodologies, resource availability, regulatory environments, and supply chain and labour constraints.
  • Apply regional insights to ensure schedules are realistic and achievable.
  • Own the creation and management of interactive project dashboards across the region.
  • Track key metrics including progress, commissioning, design quality, and HSE (Health, Safety & Environment).
  • Lead all internal and external reporting processes.
  • Provide clear, timely updates to senior leadership and stakeholders.
  • Highlight risks, issues, and mitigation strategies within reporting outputs.
  • Ensure consistency, transparency, and accuracy across all reporting.
• Team Leadership & Stakeholder Collaboration
  • Lead and develop a team of internal planners and external consultants.
  • Provide coaching, mentorship, and drive best practice adoption.
  • Engage and educate senior stakeholders on planning and scheduling importance.
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with commercial, design, country leadership, construction delivery teams, HSE, and legal.
  • Act as the regional point of contact for all planning and scheduling matters.
  • Support the expansion of the EMEA portfolio.
  • Ensure planning processes and production controls are scalable.
  • Optimise systems and tools to handle increasing project volume.
  • Identify early risks relating to scheduling and production.
  • Develop and implement mitigation strategies with project teams.
  • Act as the escalation point for schedule-related challenges.
  • Resolve issues proactively to maintain project momentum.
• Design Integration & Schedule Governance
  • Align closely with Design Director to incorporate design changes.
  • Update schedules and baselines to reflect design revisions, procurement changes, and construction challenges.
  • Track and communicate the impact of changes on timelines.
  • Ensure schedules remain accurate and up to date.

Key Outcomes

• On-time delivery of projects aligned to RFS milestones.
• Improved scheduling consistency and accuracy across EMEA.
• Increased transparency through robust reporting and dashboards.
• Reduced delays through proactive risk identification and mitigation.