Principal Planner (Design) in Sale

Does an opportunity to elevate design‑planning capability, drive alignment across functions, and gain exposure to senior leadership appeal to you?

Location: Sale or Dartford (national travel as required – flexible base)

Reporting to: Technical Director (operational) and Planning Leader (functional)

We are looking for a Senior or Principal Planner with the confidence, curiosity, and collaborative mindset to help shape how design planning is delivered across Laing O'Rourke. This unique role sits at the intersection of Planning, Technical, and Design Management – focusing on delivering better project outcomes through consistent standards, integrated design programmes, and early‑stage assurance. This is a rare opportunity to focus on a critical part of the project lifecycle – one that often receives too little attention. It offers the chance to develop a genuine specialism in design planning or to broaden your capability before returning to mainstream planning roles.

About the Role

You will play a key role in defining, implementing, and continuously improving our approach to design planning across the pre‑construction and construction phases. Beginning in PCSA and progressing into live works, you will ensure the planning and design elements of our projects are fully aligned with Laing O'Rourke's standards, guidance, and technical governance. Working with project teams, planners, technical leaders, design consultants, subcontractors, and approving bodies, you will help produce integrated and assured design programmes that reduce inefficiencies and improve “right‑first‑time” outcomes. You’ll also be a core part of our geographically distributed planning community – supporting consistent delivery across all projects and sectors while enabling client‑specific flexibility. A key aspect of this role involves guiding teams through change and championing the value of enhanced design planning practices.

Key Responsibilities

• Design Planning Deployment & Assurance: Implement and adapt the Laing O'Rourke Preconstruction Programme Template across bids, PCSAs and projects. Peer review tender, PCSA, contract and project programmes to Builds (PtBs) to ensure full integration of design consultant and supply chain inputs. Act as the interface between Technical/Design Management and Planning to ensure design and assurance requirements are accurately reflected in the programme.
• Design Information Management & Tracking: Support the creation of Master Information Delivery Plans (MIDPs) and Task Information Delivery Plans (TIDPs). Communicate and track design release timelines to align with project needs. Support integration of programme data into the Design Performance Measurement System.
• Standards & Continuous Improvement: Develop and refine design planning guidance, processes and training materials. Contribute to enhancement of the Preconstruction Template and share updates across planning and design functions. Collect benchmarking data and support audits to drive consistency and compliance.
• Project Support & Change Management: Assist with programme impact assessments, mitigation strategies, and delay analysis for design‑related change. Review consultant and supplier design programmes for scope accuracy and contractual compliance. Support identification of design resource needs and track performance against KPIs.
• Team & Capability Development: Deliver training, workshops, and guidance for planners, design managers, technical leaders and consultants. Support resource development, mentoring and retention across the planning community.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Strong proficiency in P6 and/or ASTA (both build and infrastructure experience valued).
• Experience with pre‑contract planning, design programme development, and maintaining construction programmes.
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills across multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience implementing strategic planning / programme management systems.
• Ability to engage both senior leadership and end‑users, tailoring communication appropriately.

Desired Skills & Experience

• Experience leading a planning and on a project.
• Experience driving process improvements or business advancements.
• Familiarity with design stages and relevant assurance frameworks (RIBA 2020, BSIRA, or similar).
• Awareness of discipline interdependencies (Architectural/Structural/Civils/MEP).
• Familiarity with Network Rail PACE stages (formerly GRIP).
• Degree in Construction Management, Civil Engineering or a related discipline, and CIOB membership (or working toward it).

If you’re ready to take ownership of a specialism that’s becoming critical to project success, this role offers the chance to lead from the front. You’ll shape the way design planning is done across the business and directly influence outcomes on our most complex projects. Join us and help set a new benchmark for design excellence.

About Us

Laing O'Rourke are an international engineering and construction company delivering state‑of‑the‑art infrastructure and buildings projects for clients in the UK, Middle East and Australia. Certainty, reliability, quality – this is what our clients want. And at Laing O'Rourke, we have more than 150 years of experience delivering it. Laing O'Rourke's story is one of energy, passion, ambition, people and teamwork. We harness the power of our experience, stretching back over a century and a half to deliver certainty for our clients.

As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we would like to enable access to candidates with long‑term conditions and disabilities through the ‘Offer an interview scheme’. This supports applicants that meet the essential criteria by offering an interview for the advertised position. Please let us know if you would like to opt in to this scheme and let us know if you require any adjustments for the interview process. We want to ensure our recruitment process is accessible to all. If you need the application form in an alternative format or you would like to know more about our recruitment process, please email resources team@laingorourke.com.