Optimization Manager (Planning) - AI-Driven Infrastructure

Laing O'Rourke; Ipswich; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Akordi, a subsidiary of Laing O'Rourke, is seeking an Optimisation Manager (Planning) to join its Services team. Based Ipswich with 5/6 days onsite monthly, you will blend traditional planning with AI-driven analytics, simulation modelling and advanced optimisation tools to improve certainty and reduce risk on major infrastructure programmes.

You will work with industry experts, data specialists and client teams to influence delivery decisions, produce insightful reports, and drive continuous

Qualifications

• Experience delivering construction or infrastructure projects, ideally within major UK or Australian programmes.
• Practical planning experience gained on site or within a project environment.
• Strong ability to develop, analyse and optimise complex master schedules.
• Advanced proficiency in Primavera P6 and solid understanding of other scheduling tools.

Responsibilities

• Use simulation, modelling and optimisation techniques to support project staging, sequencing, scheduling and re-baselining.
• Analyse complex project schedules using Akordi’s AI-enabled platform to identify opportunities across time, cost, risk and resource optimisation.
• Assess project performance, extracting lessons learned and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Identify critical schedule risks and work with delivery teams to develop practical mitigation strategies.
• Produce clear, evidence-based reports, dashboards and visualisations for stakeholders.
• Facilitate planning workshops, schedule reviews and technical discussions with clients and project teams.
• Collaborate with Service Design & Delivery team and global specialists to improve services and products.
• Ensure assessments align with UK delivery frameworks (NEC, PACE, GRIP/GRIP Lite).

Skills

Primavera P6

Scheduling experience

Data analysis

Job description

Akordi, a subsidiary of Laing O'Rourke, is seeking an Optimisation Manager (Planning) to join its Services team. Based Ipswich with 5/6 days onsite monthly, you will blend traditional planning with AI-driven analytics, simulation modelling and advanced optimisation tools to improve certainty and reduce risk on major infrastructure programmes.

You will work with industry experts, data specialists and client teams to influence delivery decisions, produce insightful reports, and drive continuous