Planner

JOB DESCRIPTION

Following a period of continued growth, CEL are looking to recruit an additional planner to support the increasing demand for planning services. Costain’s in-house multi-disciplinary engineering and design services team (CEL) delivers comprehensive solutions across a range of UK Infrastructure sectors - Energy, Defence & Nuclear, Water, Rail, Roads and Aviation & Ports. The planning function provides schedule development, progress monitoring, and performance reporting across the full project design lifecycle, from feasibility and concept through to detailed design and construction support.

As a Planning Engineer, you will support CEL Project Engineering Managers with the delivery of engineering design packages through the development, maintenance, and analysis project schedules You will take ownership of day-to-day schedule accuracy and progress reporting across a range of projects or delivery packages, coordinating programme inputs from discipline leads, and escalating issues to project engineering managers as required.

Home-based, hybrid role with office attendance as per business needs at our London or Manchester office, typically 1-3 days per month, with a blended, flexible and dynamic approach to home-working to promote well being.

Responsibilities

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Schedule Development & Maintenance: Build and maintain resource- and cost-loaded schedules (Primavera P6 and/or MS Project) for engineering design packages, aligned to scope, contract, and client requirements including integrated logic from supplier and sub-contract packages where required.
• Progress Monitoring & Reporting: Collect and validate progress data; produce progress reports, S-curves, KPI dashboards, and look-aheads for project and client reporting cycles.
• Baseline & Change Control: Support baseline management and change control processes and provide schedule input to risk and opportunity registers.
• Interdisciplinary Coordination: Liaise with discipline engineers and leads to gather programme inputs, dependencies, and constraints; attend and contribute to progress and planning review meetings.
• Variance & Critical Path Analysis: Analyse schedule variances, critical path, and trends; flag slippage early and support the development of recovery plans.
• Governance Support: Support monthly reporting cycles, stage gate reviews, and lessons-learned capture in line with project controls governance requirements.
• Continuous Improvement: Contribute to standardisation of planning templates, processes, and tools to improve consistency and efficiency across the planning team.

Essential

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

• Demonstrable experience developing and maintaining project schedules within an engineering services environment.
• Proficient in Primavera P6 and/or MS Project, including resource and cost loading.
• Solid understanding of scheduling principles and logic: critical path method, baselining, progress measurement, and earned value basics.
• Ability to produce clear, accurate progress, risk, and KPI reporting for varied audiences.
• Good communication, collaboration and coordination skills across multidisciplinary engineering teams.

Desirable

• Experience of quantitative schedule risk analysis (QSRA) tools (e.g., Safran Risk, Primavera Risk Analysis).
• Experience working in the water sector (Ofwat AMP framework)
• Experience working in the Oil & Gas or Industrial Process sectors
• Experience working in transportation sectors (e.g. Roads, Rail)

Essential

QUALIFICATIONS

Degree or HNC/HND in engineering, construction management, or a related discipline, or equivalent demonstrable industry experience in planning/project controls.

Desirable

APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ) or working towards Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) status.

Membership of a relevant professional body (e.g., APM Planning, Monitoring & Control SIG).