Senior Project Planner

Gold Group Limited; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Gold Group Limited seeks a Senior Project Planner in New Malden, Surrey (Hybrid) to join our defence engineering client. You will develop and assure robust, fully integrated project schedules that support decision-making at project, programme and portfolio levels.

You will lead scheduling activities using Primavera P6, perform critical path analysis, risk assessments and recovery planning, and mentor junior planners while collaborating with engineering, supply chain and commercial teams.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in project planning and scheduling within defence or complex engineering environments.
• Proven ability to apply Earned Value Management to monitor schedule performance.
• Experience coordinating integrated schedules across multi-disciplinary teams and suppliers.
• Strong analytical skills with ability to communicate complex schedule data clearly.
• Fluent in written and spoken English.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain and control fully integrated master schedules using Primavera P6 for large defence programmes.
• Ensure schedules are baselined, logically linked and governed to contractual requirements.
• Provide proactive planning support including critical path analysis and recovery planning.
• Identify, analyse and manage schedule risks and opportunities, incorporating mitigations into schedules.
• Support bids and proposals by creating compliant Primavera P6 schedules.
• Apply Earned Value Management to track schedule performance and assess change impacts.
• Conduct Schedule Risk Analysis and present findings to senior stakeholders.
• Produce clear schedule performance reports and dashboards for reviews.
• Collaborate with engineering, supply chain and commercial teams to maintain schedule integrity.
• Mentor junior planners and act as SME in Primavera P6 and EVM.

Skills

Project planning

Scheduling

Stakeholder management

Analytical skills

English proficiency

Tools

Primavera P6

Earned Value Management

MS Office

Job description

Role: Senior Project Planner

Location: New Malden, Surrey - Hybrid

Salary: £65,000 - £80,000 + benefits

Senior Project Planner needed to join our client, an established defence engineering firm based in New Malden, Surrey.

As a Senior Project Planner, you'll play a critical role in supporting the PMO and programme teams as they deliver some of the UK's most complex defence projects. You will be responsible for developing and assuring robust, fully integrated project schedules that help shape decision‑making at project, programme and portfolio level.

You must be eligible to obtain UK SC Clearance - UK nationality with 5+ years' residency in the UK.

What the role of the Senior Project Planner entails:

Some of the main duties of the Senior Project Planner will include:

• Develop, maintain and control fully integrated master schedules using Primavera P6 for large, multi‑workstream defence programmes.
• Ensure schedules are logically linked, baselined and structured in line with best practice, contractual requirements and internal governance.
• Provide proactive planning support including critical path analysis, what‑if modelling and recovery planning.
• Identify, analyse and manage schedule risks and opportunities, integrating mitigations into programme schedules.
• Support bids and proposals by creating compliant, credible Primavera P6 schedules and planning inputs.
• Apply Earned Value Management to track schedule performance, support variance analysis and assess change impacts.
• Conduct and support Schedule Risk Analysis, including quantitative modelling, and present findings to senior stakeholders.
• Produce clear, high‑quality schedule performance reports and dashboards for internal and customer reviews.
• Support internal and external audits related to planning, EVM and risk.
• Collaborate with engineering, supply chain, manufacturing and commercial teams to maintain schedule integrity.
• Provide mentoring and oversight to junior planners and act as a subject matter expert in Primavera P6, EVM and schedule risk management.

What experience you need to be the successful Senior Project Planner:

• Significant experience in project planning and scheduling within defence, aerospace or other complex engineering environments.
• Expert, hands‑on knowledge of Primavera P6 for developing and managing integrated master schedules.
• Proven experience applying Earned Value Management to monitor schedule performance.
• Experience conducting Schedule Risk Analysis and interpreting quantitative risk outputs.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to communicate complex schedule data clearly.
• Experience coordinating integrated schedules across multi‑disciplinary teams and suppliers.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and fluent in written and spoken English.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to engage constructively with diverse stakeholders.