Plant Planning Lead

Airswift is seeking a Plant Planning Lead to work with one of our LNG clients on a 12-month contract, in Calgary, AB.

Location
:
Calgary, AB (with frequent travel to Fabrication Yards (China) and Kitimat); travel will make up about 50% of the role

The Planning Lead will be responsible for all central planning, integration, and progress management for a major LNG Phase 2 project. This includes RFP preparation during the Define Phase and ensuring execution readiness across the integrated value chain and brownfield integration with existing assets.

• Establish and support a safety-first culture
  .
• Manage the full suite of Project Planning & Scheduling processes
  , including WBS, progress management, schedule risk analysis, and responsibility for project Level 0/1/2/3 schedules for Define, Execute, and CSU phases.
• Act as custodian for the Integrated Project Schedule (IPS) for Define/FEED and Execute phases.
• Lead and coordinate all planning and scheduling activities, managing workload and providing functional leadership for planners on the project.
• Integrate and maintain project planning and reporting packs, including analysis of overall project schedule.
• Analyze and report on IPS critical paths, multiple critical paths, total float, free float, and monitor key milestones.
• Maintain the Interface Milestone Schedule (IMS) based on sub-project updates and highlight potential concerns to leadership.
• Develop and report schedule and progress visual leadership packages.
• Report and analyze schedule KPIs monthly.
• Prepare monthly accountability planning/progress packages for leadership.
• Support ad-hoc planning/scheduling/progress presentations to committees and leadership.
• Conduct semi-annual Schedule Risk Analysis (SRA) for proactive risk and mitigation management.
• Verify, monitor, and communicate overall project progress to key stakeholders.
• Support FID assurance activities and benchmarking.
• Manage quantity surveying staff for progress verification, payment milestones, and claims avoidance.
• Establish and implement relevant project controls, planning, and progress management processes.
• Provide functional leadership for talent development, mentoring, and competency training for junior staff and secondees.
• Drive project delivery and adherence to project principles, ensuring top-quartile planning and scheduling performance.

• Directly manage 6 reports during Execute phase, with an extended team of ~10+ staff across multiple global locations.
• Influence and deliver schedule delay claim avoidance strategies to protect project value drivers.
• Optimize end-to-end project schedule to maximize NPV during Define/FEED and Execution phases.
• Manage QS contracts and staff for progress verification, status checks, and payment milestone validation.
• Serve as a member of the Project Services Leadership Team
  , providing input to business plans and cash flow forecasts based on schedule.
• Ensure compliance with safety, environmental, and local content requirements, including engagement with government and external stakeholders.
• Manage significant interface complexity across multiple major scope elements and existing assets.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to inspire and energize teams.
• Ability to influence, drive processes, and ensure compliance.
• Strong execution focus and ability to stretch team performance.
• Comfortable with change and ambiguity; able to make informed decisions quickly.
• Courage to challenge current practices and encourage innovation (e.g., digitization).
• Commitment to diversity and inclusion through collaboration across functional and cultural boundaries.
• Managing integration and delivery across multiple time zones and geographically split project centers.
• Mitigating risks in a mega-project environment, including labor attraction strategies, productivity, and interface risks.
• Complexity introduced by joint venture partners and schedule optimization requirements.
• Ability to present outcomes clearly and concisely in senior management forums.

• Proven project services planning management experience in LNG project delivery for…