Planning Manager

Planning Manager – Major Water Projects

Location: Kent, UK Contract Type: Long-Term Contract (Outside IR35)

Our client is seeking an experienced Planning Manager to support the planning, integration, monitoring, and control of major capital projects. This is a key role within the programme delivery team, ensuring project schedules provide an accurate and realistic view of performance across multiple disciplines, stakeholders, and workstreams.

The successful candidate will drive programme certainty, support informed decision-making, identify risks and opportunities, and ensure programme activities align with strategic objectives, regulatory requirements, and commercial commitments.

Key Responsibilities

Programme Management & Integration

Develop, maintain, and control integrated programme schedules across complex, multi-disciplinary projects. Ensure the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) aligns with programme objectives, milestones, contractual commitments, and delivery strategies. Review and challenge programme logic, sequencing, assumptions, and dependencies to ensure schedule accuracy. Identify programme gaps, interface issues, conflicts, and constraints that may impact delivery. Work with internal teams and external partners to resolve scheduling issues and ensure full programme integration. Maintain schedule integrity through design, pre-construction, delivery, and completion phases. Provide independent challenge on programme risks affecting milestones, budgets, regulatory obligations, or contractual commitments.

Planning Insight & Decision Support

Act as an early warning function by identifying critical path changes, float erosion, emerging delays, and interface risks. Monitor programme performance and identify delivery risks and trends. Escalate significant programme concerns, providing clear and actionable information to stakeholders. Translate complex schedule data into meaningful insights that support business decisions. Produce programme reports, dashboards, and updates for senior leadership and executive stakeholders. Support scenario planning, forecasting, schedule modelling, and schedule risk assessments. Help stakeholders understand the impact of planning decisions and delivery risks.

Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration

Work closely with programme managers, project managers, engineering, commercial, project controls, risk teams, and delivery partners. Ensure activities, dependencies, and interfaces are clearly defined and actively managed. Promote ownership and accountability for programme commitments. Encourage collaborative planning and proactive problem-solving across project teams. Support alignment between programme controls, risk management, change control, governance, and delivery objectives.

Governance & Performance Assurance

Monitor and report programme performance metrics to provide visibility of project health and delivery progress. Analyse performance trends and identify areas requiring intervention. Support governance processes and ensure schedules meet project control standards. Contribute to programme assurance activities and reporting requirements. Support the preparation and quality assurance of schedules used for Quantitative Schedule Risk Analysis (QSRA). Ensure schedule assumptions, logic, durations, and risk drivers align with programme risk models. Provide schedule forecasts, confidence assessments, and programme performance information to commercial and risk teams. Support baseline management, contingency planning, change control, and schedule governance activities.

Skills, Qualifications & Experience

Essential

Degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Controls, Planning, Project Management, or a related discipline.

Experience Required

Proven experience managing and integrating programmes within major infrastructure, utilities, construction, or capital project environments. Strong track record of developing and maintaining complex integrated schedules across multi-disciplinary teams. Experience across design, pre-construction, procurement, delivery, testing, commissioning, and project completion phases. Experience within contract-driven delivery environments, including NEC and/or FIDIC contracts. Strong understanding of programme management interfaces with commercial management, risk, governance, change control, and project controls. Experience supporting schedule risk analysis, programme assurance, and performance reporting. Knowledge of regulatory processes, statutory requirements, and multi-disciplinary project interfaces.

Key Competencies

Proactive and dynamic approach to programme planning and control. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities. Ability to translate complex programme information into clear executive-level insights. Strong influencing and relationship-building skills. High attention to detail and commitment to schedule integrity. Ability to work collaboratively across technical, engineering, commercial, delivery, and risk functions. Strong organisational and prioritisation skills. Focus on improving programme certainty, delivery predictability, and successful project outcomes.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Planning Manager to play a key role in the successful delivery of major water infrastructure projects on a long-term Outside IR35 contract based in Kent