Lead Planner (Project Controls) - Energy & Natural Resources

At Turner & Townsend our award-winning Controls & Performance team are focused on driving innovation, enhancing our client’s integrated controls capability, improving performance, and delivering better programme outcomes. We have a growing national team of over 600 Controls & Performance professionals. The breadth and scale of our team provides great opportunities to reach back and draw upon a vast pool of experience to enhance your knowledge and career. Our strong capability, discipline communities and varied client base, provides a great opportunity to drive your career, supported by our career pathways. 

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Job Description

We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Lead Planner (Project Controls) to lead planning and scheduling activities across major programmes and projects. This role is critical in driving planning excellence, establishing robust scheduling practices, and ensuring successful project delivery outcomes for clients.

As a Lead Planner, you will provide planning leadership across complex projects, working closely with project teams, clients, and stakeholders to develop, implement and maintain integrated schedules that support informed decision-making and successful delivery. You will play a key role in mentoring planning professionals, driving best practice and ensuring project controls processes are embedded throughout the project lifecycle.

Day-to-Day Duties

• Lead the planning and scheduling function across a portfolio of major programmes and projects, ensuring alignment with client objectives, project requirements and organisational goals.
• Manage, mentor and support Planning professionals, providing technical guidance, coaching and development to foster a high-performing and collaborative team environment.
• Develop, review and maintain integrated project schedules, ensuring robust planning methodologies, schedule quality, critical path analysis and effective programme controls throughout the project lifecycle.
• Act as the lead planning resource for client engagements, providing expert advice and recommendations on planning strategy, schedule performance, forecasting and project delivery.
• Establish and implement planning standards, processes and best practices, ensuring consistency, accuracy and compliance with programme governance requirements.
• Lead schedule management activities including baseline development, progress measurement, change control, schedule updates and performance reporting.
• Proactively identify, analyse and mitigate schedule risks, opportunities and constraints, developing recovery plans and corrective actions where necessary.
• Coordinate planning activities across multidisciplinary teams including Project Management, Cost Management, Commercial Management, Risk Management and Engineering functions to ensure integrated project delivery.
• Support resource planning and forecasting activities, working with project teams and stakeholders to optimise resource utilisation and delivery performance.
• Produce and present high-quality planning reports, dashboards and performance metrics for clients and senior stakeholders, providing clear insight into project status, schedule health and key risks.
• Facilitate planning workshops, schedule reviews and stakeholder engagement sessions to ensure alignment on programme objectives, milestones and delivery strategies.
• Support wider Project Controls activities by integrating planning outputs with cost, risk and performance management processes to provide a comprehensive view of project performance.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, project teams and key stakeholders, acting as a trusted point of contact for planning and scheduling matters.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives, driving innovation in planning practices, tools and reporting capabilities to enhance project outcomes.
• Support business development activities, bid submissions and client opportunities by contributing planning expertise and demonstrating the capability of the Planning and Project Controls team.

Qualifications

You will have professional Project Controls experience specialising in Planning and Scheduling across one or more sectors throughout the full project lifecycle. While Nuclear experience is desirable, it is not essential.

You will possess strong knowledge of project planning principles and scheduling methodologies, with advanced proficiency in Primavera P6 and other planning and resource management tools. You will be comfortable working within multidisciplinary project environments and collaborating across a range of delivery teams.

You will be a strong communicator, able to demonstrate leadership behaviours with the ability to influence, manage, motivate, coach and develop others while fostering a diverse and inclusive environment. You promote empowerment and collaboration and have a passion for building strong teams and communities beyond your immediate delivery role.

You will also:

• Be eligible to obtain BPSS level security clearance.
• Hold a Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management or a related discipline, or possess equivalent industry experience.
• Have significant experience delivering planning and scheduling services on major projects and programmes.
• Demonstrate advanced proficiency in Primavera P6, Microsoft Project and other planning, scheduling and reporting tools.
• Have experience developing and maintaining integrated project schedules across the full project lifecycle.
• Possess strong knowledge of project controls processes, planning methodologies and programme governance principles.
• Have experience undertaking critical path analysis, schedule assurance, progress measurement and forecasting activities.
• Be capable of identifying project risks and developing effective mitigation and recovery strategies.
• Demonstrate excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex information and provide actionable recommendations.
• Have strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to communicate effectively at all levels of an organisation.
• Possess excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to prepare and present reports to senior project stakeholders.
• Have experience mentoring and developing planners while promoting collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Be highly organised with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrate a proactive and adaptable approach when responding to evolving project requirements and challenges.

Desirable

• Experience within Nuclear, Energy, Infrastructure, Defence, Rail or other major capital project environments.
• Professional accreditation through APM, PMI, AACE, CIOB or equivalent professional body.
• Experience of schedule risk analysis tools such as PRA, Deltek Acumen Risk, Safran Risk or equivalent.
• Line management, practice leadership, or regional discipline leadership experience.
• Experience supporting organisational capability development and Project Controls maturity improvement programmes.

Additional Information

Our inspired people share our vision and mission. We provide a great place to work, where each person has the opportunity and voice to affect change.

We want our people to succeed both in work and life. To support this we promote a healthy, productive and flexible working environment that respects work-life balance. 

Turner & Townsend is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and actively encourage applications from all sectors of the community.

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