Senior Planner

Job Overview

WiiGroup is looking to recruit a Senior Planner to join their expanding group in Newcastle upon Tyne. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in the delivery of a vital project by managing, updating, and overseeing project schedules and supporting project controls throughout the entire project lifecycle.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Create, update, and manage intricate project schedules leveraging Primavera P6.
• Track progress relative to approved baselines and provide comprehensive programme performance reports.
• Generate weekly and monthly project progress reports, earned value assessments, and forward-looking schedule updates.
• Perform critical path evaluations to spot schedule risks, delays, and areas for optimisation.
• Collaborate with project teams on recovery planning and mitigation strategies when necessary.
• Evaluate subcontractor schedules ensuring they align with overall project timelines and deliverables.
• Participate in progress meetings and coordinate with stakeholders to collect and validate schedule information.
• Maintain thorough programme documentation including changes and updates.
• Assist in extension of time calculations and analyze schedule impacts as required.
• Support project controls and management in meeting project milestones and programme goals.

Candidate Profile and Requirements

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in project planning, controls, or scheduling within the construction sector.
• Specific experience in pharmaceutical or data centre projects is essential.
• Strong proficiency in developing and maintaining construction schedules using Primavera P6 and/or Microsoft Project.
• Prior involvement in large-scale projects such as data centres, commercial buildings, industrial sites, infrastructure, or mission-critical environments.
• Well-versed in project controls, scheduling techniques, critical path analysis, earned value management, and progress reporting.
• Experienced in monitoring programme performance, identifying scheduling risks, and assisting in recovery planning.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with project delivery teams, subcontractors, consultants, and clients.
• Strong analytical problem-solving skills to identify risks, constraints, and project opportunities.
• Experience preparing programme updates, look-ahead schedules, progress reports, and evaluating schedule performance.
• Excellent organisational skills with high attention to detail.
• Experience working on active sites with multidisciplinary construction teams considered highly desirable.
• Academic qualification in Construction Management, Engineering, Project Management, Quantity Surveying, or related field.
• Professional certifications such as APM, PMP, PRINCE2 or equivalent are advantageous.
• Fluency in English is mandatory.

Additional Information

This position is especially suited for Senior Planners, Project Planners, Project Controls Engineers, or Planning Engineers who have significant exposure to major construction projects in data centre, pharmaceutical, industrial, or commercial sectors. Candidates should be comfortable working onsite in dynamic environments and managing multiple priorities. Accountability, commercial insight, and a proactive, detail-focused approach to planning and project execution are highly valued qualities for candidates applying to this role.