Senior Planning Manager

Specsavers; Fareham; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading optical retailer in the UK seeks a Senior Planning Manager to play a crucial role in their global transformation journey. In this position, you will ensure the robust and achievable planning of the ambitious Blended Experience Programme. The ideal candidate will have significant expertise in programme planning, dependency management, and stakeholder communication, along with proficiency in planning tools such as MS Project and JIRA. This role offers the opportunity to influence the future of customer experience and enterprise change.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in programme planning and tracking.
• Experience with complex global transformation programmes.
• Hands-on knowledge of planning tools and methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Ensure the BEP plan is robust and achievable.
• Lead the development and management of programme plans.
• Provide meaningful insights to inform decision-making.

Skills

Programme planning

Scheduling

Dependency management

Milestone tracking

Stakeholder management

Data visualisation

Communication skills

Tools

MS Project

JIRA

Job description

This job is brought to you by Jobs/Redefined, the UK's leading over-50s age inclusive jobs board.

Are you ready to play a pivotal role in Specsavers' global transformation journey?

We're looking for a Senior Planning Manager to join our Change and Transformation Management Office (CTMO), where you'll help embed planning excellence across the organisation and then focus on one of our most ambitious programmes, the Blended Experience Programme (BEP). This is an exciting opportunity for someone who thrives on bringing order, clarity, and strategic oversight to complex, enterprise-wide change initiatives.

Imagine being the person who ensures our BEP plan is robust, integrated, and achievable, protecting its integrity and making sure every transition state, squad, and workstream is aligned and on track. You'll be at the heart of a programme that's transforming how Specsavers delivers seamless, blended experiences for customers, both in-store and online, across our global footprint.

You will thrive in this role if you have deep expertise in programme planning, scheduling, dependency management, and milestone tracking. Your experience in complex, global transformation programmes covering both business and technology change means you know how to navigate multiple priorities and stakeholders with confidence. Ideally, you'll have been involved in large-scale transformations and/or supported an enterprise-level PMO, bringing best practice and strategic insight to planning at scale. You will be hands‑on with planning tools like MS Project and JIRA, and you bring a strong understanding of methodologies such as Prince2, Agile, SAFe, and MSP.

What sets you apart is your ability to interpret complex programme data and provide meaningful insights that inform decision‑making. You will lead the development and management of programme plans, maintain visibility of dependencies and critical paths, and ensure planning frameworks and governance processes are adhered to. Your advanced skills in data visualisation and reporting will help you present clear, impactful updates to stakeholders at all levels.

You will also be a proactive, self‑motivated leader, tenacious, reliable, and highly organised, with a keen eye for detail. Your stakeholder management and communication skills will enable you to influence, engage, and resolve planning conflicts, driving a culture of collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement within the programme team.

If you’re ready to make a real impact ensuring Specsavers’ most important programme and wider transformation portfolio deliver on their promise this is your chance. Join us as our Senior Planning Manager and help shape the future of customer experience and enterprise change at Specsavers.