Senior Planner in Liverpool

Some planning roles ask you to keep a schedule up to date. This one asks you to be the hub of coordination, controls and governance across a complex, multi-programme portfolio, helping shape how a nationally significant energy programme is delivered, with planning as the tool that gets you there, not the end in itself.

CPC Project Services is a growing, employee-owned consultancy working across some of the UK's most complex capital projects, infrastructure and strategic programmes. We're looking for an experienced Senior P6 Planner / Programme Planner to join us at an exciting stage of a major, long-term energy and infrastructure programme.

This isn't a case of stepping into someone else's spreadsheet. You'll be joining at an early stage, with genuine scope to influence how planning, controls and governance are established, developed and used to support senior decision-making. You'll help define what great coordination and control looks like, both on the programme and as CPC's wider business grows.

The role - This is not simply a planning and scheduling role. We're looking for someone who can bring together information across multiple programmes and workstreams, understand the wider business context, challenge assumptions, manage interdependencies and support effective delivery at a portfolio level. You'll use Primavera P6 and wider programme controls to understand what's really happening, where performance is changing, where priorities are competing, where dependencies or resources are creating constraints, and where leadership needs to intervene.

You'll work closely with senior programme, delivery, operational, commercial and functional stakeholders, turning information across the portfolio into insight, options and recommendations that support governance, high-level briefings and major business decisions - not simply status updates.

You'll be responsible for:

• Acting as the central point of coordination across multiple programmes and workstreams
• Creating a single, integrated view of delivery, priorities, risks, dependencies, resources and constraints
• Ensuring activity remains aligned to wider business objectives
• Providing constructive challenge where programmes are drifting, priorities conflict or dependencies are putting delivery at risk
• Identifying trends, emerging issues, opportunities and potential impacts across the portfolio
• Understanding resource demand, capacity constraints and competing priorities across the business
• Developing, maintaining and interrogating complex programmes using Primavera P6
• Analysing programme performance, progress, critical paths, dependencies, risks and emerging issues
• Translating complex, multi-programme information into sharp visual tools - dashboards, charts, heat-maps and one-page graphical briefings that let senior, non-technical stakeholders grasp the picture in minutes, not hours
• Supporting senior leadership with clear insight, options and recommendations
• Leading governance, reviews and performance discussions across the portfolio
• Helping drive accountability, action and follow-through across programme teams
• Supporting intervention and recovery where delivery is at risk
• Supporting the development of programme structures, reporting frameworks and programme controls

What we're looking for - We're looking for someone technically strong in P6, but equally strong in curiosity, communication and commercial thinking. You'll bring experience coordinating or overseeing multiple concurrent programmes and workstreams - not just managing a single project schedule in isolation. You'll be comfortable building an integrated view of delivery, risk and priority across a complex portfolio and challenging programme teams and senior stakeholders where necessary.

You will also bring:

• Significant Primavera P6 experience
• A strong understanding of programme controls, critical path, dependencies and performance
• Experience working on major projects, programmes or capital investment environments
• Experience analysing programme performance and understanding the reasons behind variance
• Experience working with senior programme, project, commercial and business stakeholders
• A demonstrable track record of turning dense programme data into sharp, graphical materials - charts, dashboards, one-pagers - that land clearly with senior, non-technical audiences
• Confidence producing management information and communicating complex information clearly
• The ability to turn detailed analysis into clear messages, options and recommendations
• Commercial awareness and an understanding of resource, cost, capacity and competing priorities
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• The confidence to challenge information and people constructively when it matters
• The ability to operate effectively where processes are evolving and to create structure where it doesn't yet exist
• Experience in a portfolio management office (PMO) or portfolio leadership capacity would be advantageous, as would experience in nuclear, energy, infrastructure, engineering or other major capital programmes, highly regulated environments, executive-level reporting, MS Project, or developing programme controls and governance frameworks from the ground up.

Above all, we're looking for someone who is bright, analytical, commercially aware, curious, credible with senior stakeholders and able to see the bigger picture.

Why CPC? This is a chance to join CPC at a genuinely exciting point in its journey, while working on a portfolio that matters nationally. You'll have the opportunity to:

• Work on something that matters — a major, complex and long-term energy and infrastructure programme at the heart of the UK's energy transition
• Build, don't inherit — help establish coordination, controls and governance from the ground up
• Influence decisions — work directly with senior programme and business stakeholders, shaping decisions rather than simply reporting on them
• Own the whole picture — move beyond a single schedule into genuine portfolio-level oversight and influence
• Widen your impact — support a growing portfolio of major projects, programmes and business units
• Be part of the story — play a meaningful role in the growth of an employee-owned business

What we offer - We offer private healthcare for you and your family, including dental and optical, a private pension scheme, hybrid and flexible working, travel insurance including winter sports, support with professional memberships and ongoing training, annual salary reviews and performance-related bonus, plus the benefits of working within an Employee Ownership Trust.

If you're excited by the opportunity to connect planning, controls and governance across a complex portfolio and help senior leaders drive delivery, we'd love to hear from you.

CPC is an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.