Planner

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.

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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.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

Essential

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)

Qualifications: Essential

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).