Project Planning Lead

Job Description

Position Overview

The Project Planning Lead will play a critical role in the successful delivery of large-scale capital projects by developing, managing, and optimizing integrated project schedules across a growing project portfolio. This individual will serve as a key planning partner to project leadership, ensuring alignment across engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning activities.

This role requires a highly experienced project planning professional who has operated as a true "project owner," with the ability to drive schedule performance, manage dependencies, and provide accurate forecasting in fast-paced, schedule-intensive environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and management of Integrated Master Schedules (IMS) for complex capital projects
• Partner with project managers, engineering, procurement, and construction teams to ensure schedule alignment and execution
• Drive schedule development from early-stage planning through project execution and closeout
• Identify critical path activities, risks, and constraints, and implement mitigation strategies
• Manage portfolio-level planning activities across multiple concurrent projects
• Develop and maintain detailed project schedules using Primavera (P6 / Primavera Cloud)
• Integrate cost, resource loading, and schedule data to support accurate forecasting and performance tracking
• Support development and alignment of Statements of Work (SOW) with project timelines and deliverables
• Provide regular schedule updates, variance analysis, and executive-level reporting
• Ensure alignment between scheduling tools and ERP systems (e.g., SAP)
• Collaborate in highly cross-functional, fast-paced environments with multiple stakeholders
• Establish and maintain planning standards, processes, and best practices

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, or related field
• 7-10 years of project planning/scheduling experience supporting large capital projects
• Advanced experience with Primavera P6 and/or Primavera Cloud
• Experience working with SAP and/or Oracle-based systems in a project environment
• Proven experience developing and managing Integrated Master Schedules (IMS)
• Demonstrated experience operating as a project planning lead or project "owner"

Preferred Skills & Attributes

• Strong portfolio planning and multi-project coordination experience
• Deep understanding of project lifecycle phases (engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning)
• Experience with schedule-driven forecasting and performance tracking
• Strong knowledge of SOW development and alignment to project execution plans
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to operate effectively in schedule-intensive, fast-paced environments
• High attention to detail with strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities
• Proactive mindset with the ability to identify risks and drive solutions