Programme Planner

Network Rail; Milton Keynes; Hybrid; GBP 52,000 - 76,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible/hybrid working arrangements

28 days annual leave

Station discounts with Network Rail

Defined benefit pension

75% subsidy on train tickets

Interest-free travel loan

Volunteer leave

Job summary

Network Rail is seeking a Programme Planner in Milton Keynes to develop and manage detailed programme schedules across major projects. You will support the SP&C team by ensuring robust plans, tracking progress, and highlighting variances to help meet strategic objectives.

You will engage with senior stakeholders, forecast activity time, and maintain an integrated schedule, with Primavera P6 experience highly desirable and knowledge of MS Project beneficial.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in planning and managing complex programmes.
• Ability to develop and maintain detailed project schedules.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with senior stakeholders.
• Experience with dependencies and integrated schedules.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain detailed programme schedules for multiple projects.
• Monitor progress, explain variances, and forecast time spent across activities.
• Understand dependencies between programmes and maintain an integrated schedule.
• Update plans when external dependencies change and report on delivery performance.
• Provide intelligence on supplier planning and interdependencies for IDI programme team.

Skills

Project planning

Stakeholder management

Progress monitoring

Forecasting

Scheduling

Team collaboration

Tools

Primavera P6

Microsoft Project

Job description

Join Network Rail - Where People and Connections Matter

At Network Rail, we're dedicated to keeping passengers and freight moving safely and efficiently across the country. When you join us, you're not just part of a team - you're part of something that matters to millions. We believe that our people are at the heart of what we do, and every role plays a vital part in building a better, more connected railway. We're committed to creating a diverse, inclusive workplace that reflects the communities we serve. We value flexibility and understand the importance of a healthy work-life balance. As a Disability Confident Leader, we'll do everything we can to accommodate any needs throughout the recruitment process. You can visit Evenbreaks Career Hive for advice on accessibility support. If you're ready to make a real difference, we'd love to hear from you!

Some of our great benefits:

Flexible/hybrid working arrangements considered.

Generous annual leave (28 days plus statutory days), with the option to buy/sell days.

Discounts at stations with your Network Rail pass.

Defined benefit pension scheme

75% subsidy on train tickets.

Interest-free travel loan for train and car park season tickets.

Volunteer leave to make a positive impact.

About the role

What does the average day look like?

We're looking for a Programme Planner to develop and manage the planning of projects across programmes, providing guidance to the team. You'll develop effective, efficient and robust project plans on behalf of programme and project managers to meet the overall requirements of the business.

Your key responsibilities will include developing and maintaining detailed programme schedules, monitoring progress, and explaining any variances. You'll play a crucial role in understanding dependencies between programmes and maintaining an integrated schedule, ensuring that updates are made if any external dependencies change. You'll also forecast, predict, and report on time spent across various activities to ensure efficient programme delivery.

A little bit about the team...

You'll be joining the Strategic Planning & Controls (SP&C) team as one of two Programme Planners. Along with Business Information & Reporting Analysts and other roles, this team of around nine people provides data, reporting and governance support across the Innovation, Delivery & Improvement (IDI) team's wide range of projects and programmes. These projects enable the organisation and wider industry to deliver change, realise benefits and meet strategic objectives, and they fall into three main categories:

• Compliance - programmes aimed at achieving compliance with legislation or policy.
• Strategic - deliver a clearly defined vision that realises strategic opportunities and may change the operating model.
• Emergent - evolve to respond to situations or events that are often beyond the organisation's immediate control.

In IDI we have a friendly and welcoming team environment and put a strong emphasis on learning and continuously improving.

In a broader context, IDI sits within the Technical Authority (TA) function, under its Chief Technology Officer. TA provides Network Rail with technical expertise, including competence and assurance regimes, in various disciplines including engineering, health and safety, security, environment and sustainability, and technology on the railway.

Next Steps

CV shortlisting will take place after the advert closes, with interviews planned from November, subject to business needs. Early applications are encouraged, as we may close the advert early due to high application volumes.

We encourage you to review our Safety Vision , as safety is an important part of the culture at Network Rail

We're looking for candidates with proven experience in project planning and management, including successfully developing and maintaining project schedules. You'll be confident engaging with senior stakeholders to understand requirements and deliver effective planning solutions. Experience using Primavera P6 is highly desirable, with regular or expert-level use being advantageous, while knowledge of Microsoft Project would also be beneficial.

The successful candidate will be assigned to our major projects and will be required to monitor the progress of plans associated to multi-million pound contracts - viewing contractor plans and providing the IDI programme team with intelligence on how our suppliers are performing according the their project plan updates, and ensuring interdependencies between different suppliers, or areas of the business, are clearly understood.

¿ Excellent interpersonal, management and communication skills

¿ Proven experience in the planning and/or management of projects

¿ Good knowledge of programme and project controls processes and systems

¿ Proven ability to work with senior industry stakeholders to understand their requirements

¿ Experience using Primavera P6, with regular or expert-level use being advantageous

Key Information

Number of Positions:

1

Contract Type:

Permanent

Hours:

Full Time

Location:

The Quadrant:MK, Milton Keynes

Geographical Area:

South East England (Not inside M25)

Closing Date:

27-OCT-2026

Job Category:

Business, Commercial and Project Management