Associate Planning Director

Associate Director – Planning | Data Centres

Location: Sydney, NSW

Salary: Up to $280,000 package, depending on experience

The Opportunity

An exciting opportunity exists for an experienced Associate Director of Planning to join a growing project delivery team in Sydney, supporting the delivery of major data centre and mission-critical projects.

This role is suited to a commercially minded planning professional with a strong background in the construction industry, ideally coming from a head contractor or general contracting environment.

You will play a key role in leading planning functions, managing and developing a team, and driving project outcomes across a growing pipeline of complex projects.

Alongside technical planning expertise, the successful candidate will bring strong leadership, client engagement and work-winning capabilities, helping to develop new opportunities, strengthen client relationships and support the continued growth of the business.

Key Responsibilities

• Planning Leadership: Lead and oversee planning functions across major data centre and mission-critical construction projects.
• Team Management: Build, lead and develop a high-performing planning team, providing technical guidance, mentorship and support.
• Project Scheduling: Oversee the development, review and management of detailed construction programmes, ensuring alignment with project milestones, deliverables and commercial objectives.
• Programme Management: Identify critical path activities, assess programme risks, monitor progress and develop mitigation strategies to maintain project delivery timelines.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Work closely with clients, contractors, consultants and internal project teams to drive programme certainty and effective project outcomes.
• Work Winning: Support business development activities, including tender submissions, planning methodologies, programme reviews, client presentations and proposals.
• Client Relationships: Establish and maintain strong relationships with existing and prospective clients, identifying opportunities to secure new work.
• Commercial Awareness: Provide strategic planning advice, assess programme impacts and support project teams with delay analysis, recovery planning and schedule optimisation.
• Strategic Growth: Contribute to the development of planning processes, team capability and the wider business strategy as the data centre portfolio expands.

About You

To be successful in this role, you will demonstrate:

• Extensive experience in planning and programme management within the construction sector.
• Previous data centre experience is essential , ideally across complex, services-intensive or mission-critical projects.
• A preference for candidates from a head contractor or general contractor background, with a strong understanding of construction sequencing, site delivery and programme management.
• Proven experience leading, managing and developing a team of planners.
• Strong knowledge of construction programming software.
• Demonstrated experience developing and reviewing complex construction programmes, identifying critical path risks and implementing recovery strategies.
• Experience contributing to tenders, bids, proposals and other work-winning activities.
• Strong commercial acumen and the ability to engage confidently with senior stakeholders and clients.
• Excellent communication, leadership and relationship-building skills.
• A proactive, commercially driven approach, with the ability to balance technical delivery with business development responsibilities.

What's on Offer?

• Salary package of up to $280,000, depending on experience .
• An opportunity to take on a senior leadership position within the data centre and mission-critical sector.
• The chance to lead and grow a planning team.
• Exposure to major, technically complex data centre projects.
• A key role in client engagement, tendering and securing future project opportunities.
• The opportunity to influence the strategic direction and continued growth of the planning function.