Associate Director - Project Planning

AECOM; West of England; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

AECOM is seeking a Project Director with expert scheduling knowledge to lead and oversee Programme Controls within our Integrated Program Controls Team. You will guide planning, scheduling, risk, and analytics across complex projects, driving consistency, predictability and efficiency in delivery.

You will mentor a high performing team, establish best practices, and collaborate closely with project leaders and stakeholders to ensure successful outcomes.

Qualifications

• Experience in managing daily team operations and strategic planning.
• Experience in recruiting, employer relations and growth strategies.
• Proven ability to grow profits and customer satisfaction.
• Proven knowledge of scheduling and project controls tooling (Primavera/MS Project).

Responsibilities

• Promote and ensure overall team integration.
• Establish partnerships with external employers to develop recruitment strategies and enhance relationships.
• Lead collaborative planning workshops to secure buy-in from the project team.
• Perform impact analysis and monitor schedule variance.
• Lead application of planning/scheduling methods, techniques and tools.
• Advise on planning/scheduling, EVM, and project controls methodologies.
• Manage planning/scheduling delivery of medium/high complexity projects.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams and create plans or analyse trends.
• Lead and manage a team delivering planning/schedule management services.
• Set up effective planning / schedule management systems and procedures.
• Expert knowledge of schedule management tools & software.
• Manage resourcing, growth & development of the team.
• Manage activities with significant uncertainty of solution or outcomes.
• Support senior management in deal negotiations, due diligence & business development.
• Validate inputs and reports, provide commentary.
• Vision and strategy for the future.
• Persuade and influence colleagues.
• Identify and analyze business risks.
• Build and lead a high performing team.
• Political and cultural acuity.
• Deliver presentations to diverse audiences.
• Spotting and coaching talented individuals.
• Selling and promoting the business and winning work.

Skills

Scheduling

EVM

Project controls

Leadership

Team management

Data analysis

Presentation skills

Stakeholder management

Tools

Oracle Primavera

MS Project

Asta Power Project

PowerBI

Excel

Acumen Fuse

Job description

Company Description

Work with Us. Change the World.

At AECOM, we're delivering a better world. Whether improving your commute, keeping the lights on, providing access to clean water, or transforming skylines, our work helps people and communities thrive. We are the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, partnering with clients to solve the world’s most complex challenges and build legacies for future generations.

There has never been a better time to be at AECOM. With accelerating infrastructure investment worldwide, our services are in great demand. We invite you to bring your bold ideas and big dreams and become part of a global team of over 50,000 planners, designers, engineers, scientists, digital innovators, program and construction managers and other professionals delivering projects that create a positive and tangible impact around the world.

We're one global team driven by our common purpose to deliver a better world. Join us.

Job Description

Start here. Grow here.

We are seeking an enthusiastic, ambitious, and highly motivated Project Director with excellent knowledge of Scheduling Best practice and associated software. We are looking for innovative thinkers who are keen to engage and “Make Complex look Simple”, and as such, get involved in the AI revolution of Project Controls. As Project Director you will play a crucial role in managing and overseeing various operational aspects within AECOM, contributing to strategic planning, and ensuring the successful implementation of high-level strategies. The role will support programme leads in the delivery of programme / projects by providing high level planning service for the preparation of project plans, producing baseline scheduled tasks, resource profiles and financial models. The successful person will be involved in improving the consistency, predictability and efficiency of the programmes project delivery capability and will be able to provide leadership in best practices and Continuous Improvement. The role will ensure that the operational issues of the project controls and PMO are managed, focusing on the project interface with project leaders, project managers, project teams, and interface issues. Furthermore you will work as part of our Integrated Program Controls Team (IPC), which is composed of Schedule, Risk, Project Controls and Analytics, and as such will lead and drive Team Integration and Collaboration.

Here's what you'll do

• Promote and ensure overall team integration
• Establishes partnerships with external employers to develop recruitment strategies and enhance internal and external relationships.
• Implement and lead collaborative planning workshops to ensure buy-in from overall project team
• Perform impact analysis and monitors schedule variance
• Lead application of specific planning/scheduling methods, techniques and tools.
• Good working knowledge of planning/scheduling, EVM, project controls methodologies
• Ability to advise on complex requirements and communicate analysis and corrective measures effectively.
• Able to manage planning/scheduling delivery of medium/high complexity projects / programmes
• Ability to play key role in multidisciplinary teams and take lead role in creating plans or analysing trends using numerical and statistical techniques.
• Leads and manages a team of professionals delivering planning/schedule management services and responsible for staff development.
• Mastery in setting up effective planning / schedule management systems & procedures
• Expert knowledge of schedule management tools & software
• Managing resourcing, growing & developing the team
• Able to manage activities with significant uncertainty of solution or outcomes
• Support to senior management in deal negotiations, contract development, due diligence & other business development or alliance development projects
• Excellent attention to detail & able to validate & check schedule management inputs, recording & reports produced, providing basic commentary & analysis
• Looking to future to create a vision and set strategy
• Persuading and influencing colleagues
• Identifying and analysing business risks
• Building and leading a high performing team
• Very high political and cultural acuity
• Creating and delivering persuasive and engaging presentations to wide range of audiences in our industry
• Spotting, developing and coaching talented individuals
• Selling and promoting the business and winning work

Qualifications

Ready to push the limits of what’s possible?

The AECOM Planning Associate Director role is a mid-level management position responsible for overseeing and managing various aspects of an organisation's operations, such as finances, HR, and marketing. The successful candidate will have already gained experience in:

Here’s what we’re looking for

• Managing daily team operations, including developing team policies and procedures, conducting team assessment and evaluation, and participating in strategic team planning.
• Overseeing specific programme areas, such as recruiting, experiential learning, and employer relations.
• Establishing partnerships with external employers to develop recruitment strategies and enhance internal and external relationships.
• Devising strategies for growth in profit and customer satisfaction, implementing policies and standards, evaluating the workforce, and setting goals in terms of budget and billable work.
• Conducting Peer Reviews and Quality Audits supported by concise report writing.
• Applicants will ideally be degree educated, with previous industry & sector experience being essential.
• Demonstratable experience in the following tools (or one of) is also required: Oracle Primavera, MS Project, Asta Power Project, PowerBI, Excel, Acumen Fuse.

Collaboration

• You will be client focused and will understand the benefits of different communication methods and will effectively communicate with the client to ensure their needs are understood.
• You will implement collaboration techniques and lead workshops to develop meaningful project plans.
• You will be able to make autonomous decisions guided by policies, procedures and business objectives.
• You will capture lessons learned and communicate them to the team as well as develop case studies to ensure knowledge transfer.

Clients

• You will apply CAM (Client Account Management) approach to manage all project stakeholders.
• You will seek best practice, continuous improvement and added value, and understand the client's needs/requirements by proactively engaging with the client to grow and expand relationships.
• You will seek to promote the sharing of any innovation or best practice.

Innovation

You will have a strong desire to keep up to date with Industry best practice and technology innovations and have the willingness and motivation to participate in Working Groups

You will seek to bring new ideas and thinking to client work and internal processes and operations

If you're passionate about innovation and turning bold ideas into reality, AECOM welcomes you. Join our team, where we don't just construct infrastructure but also uplift communities and enhance lives. Why not give our AECOM Water page on LinkedIn a follow to stay updated on the impactful projects we're working on and see firsthand the difference we're making in the industry!

Additional Information

At AECOM, we are committed to maintaining a secure and trustworthy recruitment process and take any fraudulent hiring activity seriously. To support this commitment, all newly hired employees are required to attend an in‑person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location as a condition of employment.

About AECOM

AECOM is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public‑and‑private‑sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2025. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM.

Freedom to Grow in a World of Opportunity

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