Planning Manager

The Planning Manager is the company's early warning system across its entire construction portfolio. While the Project Manager delivers the contract and the Commercial Manager protects the margin, the Planning Manager sees problems three months before they happen — if he is doing his job correctly. On a AED 1.2 billion portfolio of ten simultaneous multi-storey buildings, the difference between a well-managed programme and a reactive one is measured in tens of millions of dirhams in LADs, acceleration costs, and lost client relationships. This is not a programme-production role. It is a programme-management role. The Planning Manager owns the portfolio's time performance — setting the planning standards, managing the planning team, producing the delay analysis that underpins every EOT claim, and delivering an honest, unfiltered picture of the portfolio's programme health to the Operations Director every week. He must be capable of saying 'this project will miss its completion date' before the Project Manager is ready to accept it — and presenting the evidence that makes that position undeniable.

Desired Candidate Profile

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or Construction Management from an accredited university.
• Minimum 15 years of construction planning experience, with at least 5 years as a Planning Manager on major UAE or GCC building or infrastructure projects.
• Advanced proficiency in Primavera P6 Enterprise — including Global Change, User-Defined Fields, three-baseline discipline, retained logic vs progress override, resource levelling, and portfolio-level reporting. P6 standalone experience only is insufficient for this role.
• Demonstrated experience preparing and successfully negotiating TIA-based EOT and prolongation cost claims under FIDIC — with specific examples of contested claims defended at Engineer's assessment level or above.
• Proven ability to manage a team of Planning Engineers across multiple simultaneous projects — not just personal programme production on a single project.
• Deep knowledge of FIDIC Clause 20 — including the 28-day notice as a condition precedent to entitlement, the 42-day submission deadline, and the Engineer's 42-day response deadline under FIDIC 2017.
• Experience producing resource-loaded programmes and project cash flow forecasts — and maintaining both in alignment with the construction programme throughout the project.
• Experience with all four delay analysis methods: TIA, Windows Analysis, As-Planned vs As-Built, and Collapsed As-Built — with the judgment to select the appropriate method for each claim situation.
• • PMP (Project Management Institute) certification or PMO-P (PMI Portfolio Management Professional).
  • AACE International membership — CCP (Certified Cost Professional) or PSP (Planning and Scheduling Professional).
  • Experience with Power BI or equivalent business intelligence tools for real-time portfolio planning dashboards.
  • Experience with the Abu Dhabi construction market specifically — including familiarity with ADHA, Aldar, Musanada, and DMT contract administration and progress reporting requirements.
  • Experience preparing or defending claims at DAB level — providing planning evidence and delay analysis testimony.
  • Arabic language proficiency — for direct consultant engagement and government client reporting.