Senior Planner / Optimisation Manager

Laing O'Rourke group; Dartford, Manchester, Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Laing O'Rourke is seeking a Senior Planner / Planning Manager – AI Construction Planning to join a specialist team driving AI-powered optimisation in construction planning.

The role focuses on advanced programme analysis, risk management, and visualisation to support project delivery. Location flexibility includes Dartford, Manchester, London, and other UK sites, with Ipswich and Dartford highlighted as bases.

Qualifications

• Strong planning and scheduling capability, including Primavera P6.
• Experience developing, updating, reviewing, and analysing project programmes.
• Good understanding of construction sequencing, site constraints, logistics, and interfaces.
• Infrastructure or major construction project experience; sector background is flexible.
• Ability to identify optimisation opportunities and develop practical programme solutions.
• Good communication and emerging workshop-facilitation skills; pro-active to learn and improve.

Responsibilities

• Planning & Scheduling Expertise 30%
• Construction & Site Delivery Knowledge 20%
• Creativity & Innovation and Passionate 20%
• Leadership & Communication 15%
• Project team support and collaboration on projects 15%

Skills

Planning

Scheduling

Primavera P6

Programme development

Risk management

Stakeholder communication

Workshop facilitation

Analytical thinking

Job description

Senior Planner / Planning Manager – AI Construction Planning

Known as an Optimisation Manager in-house

Location: Dartford, Manchester, London – Others considered

The future is AI in Construction to optimise programmes. The future is here with Akordi, a Laing O'Rourke company. AI Powered Construction & Infrastructure Planning | Akordi

Akrodi isn't just a platform it is the team of professionals driving the platform. When you take a the most advanced optimisation, analytical, scenario planning and visualisation tool and add industry experts from Planning, Civil Engineering and Digital backgrounds you create an unparallelled capability. You create Akordi.

How does this fit a senior planning professional? These are the expertise that we utilise.

• Strong planning and scheduling capability, including Primavera P6.
• Experience developing, updating, reviewing, and analysing project programmes.
• Good understanding of construction sequencing, site constraints, logistics, and interfaces.
• Infrastructure or major construction project experience; sector background is flexible.
• Ability to identify optimisation opportunities and develop practical programme solutions.
• Good communication and emerging workshop-facilitation skills;
• Being pro-active and passionate to learn and improve through challenges.

How might you split your time?

• Planning & Scheduling Expertise 30%
• Construction & Site Delivery Knowledge 20%
• Creativity & Innovation and Passionate 20%
• Leadership & Communication 15%
• Project team support and collaboration on projects 15%

These opportunities do not come around often. A specialist team who are scaling a market leading offering with limitless potential. Future-proof your career by being the person driving the tool, not left behind by it.

Along the way you will bring together risk management, schedule optimisation and advanced analytics to support our project teams with executing certainty.

How do your current skills transfer?

Use simulation, modelling and AI-enabled planning tools to support project delivery decisions. Analyse programme performance, identify optimisation opportunities and assess schedule risks. Produce clear insights and visualisations for clients, present findings to stakeholders and develop mitigation strategies with delivery teams. Work closely with internal and global experts to enhance our services while ensuring compliance with NEC, PACE and GRIP/GRIP-Lite frameworks.

With variations locations being considered our main base of operations are London, Manchester, Ipswich and Dartford.

About Us

Laing O'Rourke are an international engineering and construction company delivering state-of-the-art infrastructure and buildings projects for clients in the UK, Middle East and Australia.

Certainty, reliability, quality – this is what our clients want. And at Laing O'Rourke, we have more than 150 years of experience delivering it. Laing O'Rourke's story is one of energy, passion, ambition, people and teamwork. We harness the power of our experience, stretching back over a century and a half to deliver certainty for our clients.

As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we would like to enable access to candidates with long term conditions and disabilities through the 'Offer an interview scheme'. This supports applicants that meet the essential criteria by offering an interview for the advertised position. Please let us know if you would like to opt in to this scheme and let us know if you require any adjustments for the interview process.

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