Planning Manager

Location: London
Workplace: On-site

About this role

As a Planning Manager, y

Responsibilities

Role

The Strategic Planning Manager will lead the development, transformation, and continuous improvement of the SCS Planning Function, ensuring planning remains a key enabler of project delivery, programme assurance, change management, and project completion.

The role will act as a strategic partner to the Head of Planning, Delivery Units, Project Controls, Risk, Commercial, Technical Services and PMO teams to ensure planning standards, governance, reporting and systems are consistently applied across SCS.

The Strategic Planning Manager will be responsible for driving planning excellence, embedding the "One Team" planning culture, improving visibility of planning across the business, integrating digital technologies and AI-enabled solutions.

The role will also provide strategic leadership for Clause 32 processes, programme governance, planning standards, reporting development, Power BI integration and cross-functional collaboration across the wider SCS structure.

The Strategic Planning Manager is responsible for:

Support development and implementation of the SCS Planning Strategy and Planning Improvement Roadmap.
Lead the transition of planning processes and governance arrangements to align with the Delivery Unit (DU) structure.
Assess and recommend improvements to:
1. Clause 32 processes
2. Programme reviews
3. Planning governance
4. Reporting frameworks
5. P6 structures
6. Planning assurance requirements
Develop long-term improvement initiatives that support successful project delivery and completion.
Act as a trusted advisor to the Head of Planning on planning strategies.

Planning Transformation and Continuous Improvement

Drive the implementation of a "One Planning Team" approach across SCS.
Develop and maintain consistent:
- Planning procedures
- Standards
- Templates
- Working methodologies
- Assurance arrangements
Lead planning lessons learned, best practice reviews and maturity assessments.
Facilitate planning workshops, collaboration forums and continuous improvement initiatives.
Promote consistency of planning outputs, reporting and programme management practices across all Delivery Units.
Lead development of modern planning solutions and digital reporting capabilities.
Collaborate with IT and Data teams to:
- Enhance reporting through Power BI
- Develop data warehouse integration
- Improve planning automation
- Reduce manual reporting effort
Investigate and implement AI opportunities within planning, reporting and project controls.

Required Experience, Qualifications & Skills

Significant experience in planning and project controls within major infrastructure projects.
Extensive knowledge of NEC contracts and programme management.
Experience in:
- Clause 32 programme submissions
- Programme governance
- Change management
- PMO integration
- Risk management
- Reporting development
Advanced Primavera P6 capability.
Experience developing planning standards and procedures.
Strong stakeholder management and facilitation skills.
Degree qualified in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Controls or similar discipline.

Costain helps to improve people’s lives with integrated, leading edge, smart infrastructure solutions across the UK’s energy, water, transportation and defence markets. We help our clients improve their business performance by increasing capacity, improving customer service, safeguarding security, enhancing resilience, decarbonising and delivering increased efficiency. Our vision is to be the UK’s leading smart infrastructure solutions company. We will achieve this by focusing on blue chip clients whose major spending plans are underpinned by strategic national needs, regulatory commitments, legislation or essential performance requirements. We offer our clients leading edge solutions that are digitally optimised through the following five services which cover the whole lifecycle of their assets: future-shaping strategic consultancy; consultancy and advisory; digital technology solutions; asset optimisation and complex programme delivery. Our culture and values underpin everything we do.

Costain appreciate the time and effort taken when applying for one of our positions but, due to the high volume of responses, we are unable to provide individual feedback on candidates at application phase.

We do share individual feedback following an interview.

A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that disclose they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer.

It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people.

For more details please go to the Disability Confident website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/disability-confident-campaign

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