Head of Planning

Your new role

Here at National Highways, our Regional Investment Programme ( North) are currently recruiting for a highly experienced Head of Planning to join their team and be based in either Manchester, Leeds or Birmingham.

The main objective of the role is to lead the programme planning & scheduling function an excellence in Project and Programme Planning and scheduling through the development, delivery and maintenance of a governance framework for Planning and Schedule management.To assist you in this delivery you will work with established Planning and Scheduling management tools and systems and the planning & scheduling team to enable the timely, safe, efficient and customer focused delivery of the Programme.

This role is part of the PMO leadership team, providing functional management of all the planners in the regions and would suit someone with a technical discipline and in depth understanding of planning and schedule management within major capital investmentprogramme.

What you’ll be leading on

- Lead, motivate and develop the core team of Planning & Scheduling managers and supply chain partners, to deliver effective governance of Planning activities across the Programme, standardisation of approach and provision of high quality advice and guidance.
- Lead the provision of professional and technical guidance and advice for Oracle Primavera P6, Deltek Acumen Fuse Tools, Collaborative Planning, Planning & Logistics & Schedule management across the Programme, to develop capability and to support colleaguesin delivering their planning objectives.
- Develop and maintain strong, collaborative, working relationships with Programme Senior Leadership Team, Programme Management Office (PMO) management team, and Programme delivery teams. Ensuring a strong understanding of business needs and the requirementsfor high quality planning management tools and systems are fully understood and addressed at both Project and Programme level.
- Identify and propose appropriate management interventions and improvement strategies at project and programme levels to continuously improving capability, behaviours, culture, tools, processes and systems related to Planning & Schedule management.
- Work with the Programme Management Office, Programme & Project teams and wider Major Projects directorate to develop and deliver the Planning and Scheduling management strategy, consistent with corporate standards and incorporating industry best practices;that ensures control and delivers effective processes, mechanisms and tools. You will identify key areas for improvement, share best practices and resolve complex issues.
- Develop processes and procedures that ensure all project schedules provided by designers, delivery partners / contractors and any 3rd party suppliers are provided to a consistently high quality into a centralised location, such that data can be interrogatedconsistently across the programme and meet Contractual Requirements both internally and externally (NEC3/4).
- Lead the development of Enterprise Planning management tools and systems at a Project, Programme and Portfolio level, to drive measurable results in terms of increasing the efficiency of the Programme and its constituent projects
- Chair regular strategic planning meetings and own the strategic Baseline Programme, reporting into the Director of Programme Office and the Programme Board and communicate the impact of changes to internal and external stakeholders with scenario analysis.
- Support Directors, Project Managers/Sponsors and their teams through the provision of programme and project analysis, identifying and reporting emerging issues and trends in performance and behaviours related to Planning & Schedule management across theprogramme. Your work will enable the provision of Management Information that delivers value opportunities and a consistent high quality of project and programme reporting.
- Attend and support Planning & Schedule Management Communities of Practice across Highways England, to share best practices and support professional development.
To be successful you’ll need
- Extensive operational experience of working in a complex, high value, capital programme environment, providing and driving strategic improvement plans and consistency of approach in planning & scheduling
- Significant experience of scheduling tools and systems including Primavera P6, Deltek Acumen Suite of Tools and specifically experience of setting up and managing a P6 Enterprise Environment.
- Experienced in driving change programmes specific to embedding Integrated Planning and Schedule management processes, tools, systems and people capability.
- Experience of capturing and analysing schedule data both at a project, programme and portfolio level to allow integrated project controls reporting
- Demonstrable experience of leading and managing teams at a senior level in project and programme environment and influencing supply chain project controls teams

Functional / Technical Skills
- Degree qualification or equivalent experience, with professional accreditations in Planning & Scheduling, Project & Programme Management.
- Extensive operational knowledge and understanding of Project and Programme Management methodologies, tools and techniques (Oracle Primavera P6, MSP, Deltek Acumen Suite of Tools).
- Extensive operational knowledge and understanding of various forms of contract, specifically NEC and the various treatment of Programme time impact, risk & change as a consequence of Change Events (Compensation Events).