Senior Principal Planner / Planning Manager
Location
Chiswick, London
Contract Type
Annually Renewable, Residential, Inside IR35
Start Date
ASAP
Role Objective
- Provide senior-level planning and scheduling leadership across complex subsea and offshore EPCIC projects.
- Develop robust, logically linked project schedules that provide clear visibility of critical path, progress, risk and recovery requirements.
- Proactively identify and solve complex planning issues affecting project performance, direction and resource allocation.
- Act as a specialist within Planning and Project Controls, providing guidance and mentoring to project teams and junior planners.
Key Responsibilities
- Perform detailed schedule analysis using Primavera P6, Deltek Acumen Fuse and Risk, and Microsoft Project.
- Support project baseline development during project initiation and set-up, including WBS, OBS, project and global codes, and calendars.
- Develop and maintain logically linked Level 3 and Level 4 schedules for marine installation scopes within subsea and offshore oil and gas projects.
- Maintain and review the sequence of Engineering, Procurement, Fabrication, Construction, Installation, Hook-Up and Commissioning activities.
- Lead multi-discipline scope reviews and coordinate planning inputs across project functions.
- Monitor critical path, schedule compliance, key performance factors and deviations from baseline.
- Evaluate schedule risks, facilitate risk-review meetings and recommend recovery or improvement plans.
- Provide project schedule support and mentor junior planners as required.
Tasks
- Run schedule quality and integrity checks using Deltek Acumen Fuse.
- Update and validate physical progress reported through earned value management systems.
- Resource-load schedules and align them with the project earned value system.
- Produce workforce histograms, progress curves, quantity curves and variance reports.
- Identify current and potential causes of delay and expedite activities affecting project delivery.
- Assess schedule changes and develop practical workarounds for unforeseen conditions.
- Evaluate the validity of the critical path based on project logic, sequencing and prior experience.
- Create and issue prepared and ad-hoc planning reports for project leadership and stakeholders.
Deliverables
- Approved project baselines and maintained Level 3 and Level 4 EPCIC schedules.
- Schedule quality, integrity and risk-analysis outputs.
- Critical-path, progress, variance, workforce and quantity reports.
- Recovery schedules and improvement recommendations where performance deviates from plan.
Project Documents
- Project baseline and detailed activity schedules.
- Schedule narratives, progress updates and variance reports.
- Workforce histograms, progress curves and quantity curves.
- Schedule risk assessments, critical-path analyses and recovery plans.
Decision Authority / Responsibility
- Lead planning and scheduling activities within the assigned project scope and provide specialist recommendations to project management.
- Challenge schedule logic, reported progress and forecast dates where supporting evidence is insufficient.
- Escalate critical delays and recommend sequencing, resource or recovery actions to protect project milestones.
- Provide technical direction and mentoring to planners while supporting broader Project Controls initiatives.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Project Management, Engineering, Construction, Business Management, or an equivalent combination of technical training and experience.
- Approximately 15-20 years of relevant EPCIC planning and scheduling experience.
- Subsea planning experience is essential, including offshore oil and gas or marine installation projects.
- Experience planning the fabrication and installation of subsea modules such as PLEMs and PLETs.
- Strong command of Primavera P6, Microsoft Project and Microsoft Office; Deltek Acumen Fuse and Risk experience is highly desirable.
- Advanced Excel capability, including curves, histograms, dynamic tables and formulas.
- Demonstrable ability to produce and maintain multi-discipline, logically linked schedules using precedence-flow planning and EPCIC best practice.
- Strong capability in schedule analysis, earned value, critical path, risk analysis, forecasting and recovery planning.
- Managerial, team-lead or substantial mentoring experience is preferred, together with the ability to influence project teams and senior management.
- France-based candidates must attend the office three days per week.