Portfolio Scheduling & Planning manager

Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail; Dublin; On-site; EUR 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail invites applications for Portfolio Planning and Scheduling Manager to lead planning, scheduling, and progress control across the Capital Investment portfolio. You will establish robust plans at project, programme and portfolio levels, underpinning decision‑making and regulatory compliance.

The role requires embedding best practice, driving continuous improvement, and providing confidence to senior leadership, steering groups, and external stakeholders that investments

Qualifications

• 15+ years senior-level planning and scheduling experience on large capital projects.
• Proven ability to lead planning functions across a large portfolio.
• Strong knowledge of rail infrastructure governance and regulatory contexts.
• Experience providing assurance to executive leadership and boards.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for planning and scheduling across Capital Investments.
• Establish a consistent integrated planning framework for projects, programmes and portfolios.
• Oversee schedule standards, performance metrics and reporting to senior stakeholders.
• Develop and mentor CI planning professionals and foster continuous improvement.
• Coordinate with risk, finance, and engineering to align resources, costs, and schedules.

Skills

Senior planning & scheduling

Strategic leadership

Stakeholder management

Risk & compliance

Rail infrastructure knowledge

Education

Chartered status in project controls

APM/PMI or equivalent

Tools

Planning tools ( Primavera / MSP )

BIM & digital engineering

Portfolio management systems

Job description

ROLE AND PURPOSE

The Portfolio Planning and Scheduling Manager is accountable for providing strategic leadership and expert direction for planning, scheduling, and progress control across the IÉ Capital Investment portfolio. The role ensures that robust, integrated and assured plans at project, programme and portfolio level underpin the successful delivery of complex rail infrastructure programmes, supporting informed decision-making, regulatory compliance, and efficient use of public funding.

The post holder will act as the organisational authority on planning and scheduling, embedding best practice and consistency across the portfolio, driving continuous improvement, and providing confidence to the senior leadership team, steering groups, and external stakeholders, that capital investments are planned and controlled effectively.

Reporting Relationships:

Reports to:

• Head of Project Controls & Programme Management, Commercial Department

Working Relationship with:

• All members of the Commercial Department
• All members of the wider Capital Investments Senior Leadership Team and their respective departments – including Railway Systems Director, Development and Design Director, Delivery Director and Head of Finance.
• External agencies, including Department of Transport (DoT), National Transport Authority (NTA), local authorities, An Bord Pleanála, utility providers etc.
• External Consultants and Contractors appointed to deliver the Capital Investment portfolio.
• Other Departments within IE

GENERAL MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

• Safety: To act as a focus for safety in line with the New Works SMS and to discharge your safety responsibilities as outlined by your reporting Manager and Safety Responsibility Statement (SRS). Implementation of the Construction Regulations.
• Engineering: To ensure that all projects are properly authorized and progressed in accordance with the Building regulations, IE and IM policy, standards and procedures.
• Business: To manage, coordinate and control all projects and related activities for your business.
• People: To ensure constant communication with all colleagues within your area and to support the People Management policy within the IM team.
• Sustainability: To embed sustainability in project planning and delivery, ensuring environmental compliance, carbon reduction and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for planning and scheduling across Capital Investments.
• Establish and maintain a consistent, integrated planning framework covering projects, programmes and portfolios.
• Establish and manage the core CI planning team and act as a functional lead providing expertise, guidance and planning professional development opportunities to the wider distributed CI planning team.
• Ensure schedules are credible, robust, and aligned to business objectives, funding profiles, and regulatory commitments.
• Lead the development of planning and scheduling contract requirements, contractor schedule management and schedule analysis for claims management.
• Act as a senior advisor to the senior leadership team, steering group members, and programme managers on planning and scheduling.
• Lead the development and maintenance of schedule standards to promote robust schedules and enable effective aggregation to portfolio level for time, resource and cost.
• Direct the development and maintenance of the Capital Investment Portfolio plan.
• Oversee progress reporting, forecasting, and performance analysis, ensuring timely and accurate insights are provided to senior stakeholders.
• Interface with finance, commercial, risk, and engineering functions to ensure alignment of resource, cost, schedule, scope, and benefits.

Project and Programme Capabilities

• Set standards and expectations for project and programme planning maturity across the capital portfolio.
• Ensure effective application of planning methodologies in line with Capital Investment standards, funding requirements and statutory guidelines.
• Maintains and further develops the CI Planning and Scheduling standards, systems and tools.
• Promote the development of integrated programme schedules, incorporating multi-disciplinary inputs and third-party inter-dependencies.
• Ensure planning activities are proportionate to project complexity and aligned with IÉ 's risk appetite.
• Ensure all major projects within CI:
• Have robust baselined programmes, resource loaded and logic linked
• Are updated using disciplined progress methods
• Promote a culture of early identification and proactive management of schedule delays, risk, constraints, and inter-dependencies.
• Provide expert challenge and assurance on baseline plans, re-plans, and recovery strategies.
• Intervene on troubled or unrealistic programmes.
• Lead portfolio-level planning, ensuring alignment between individual investments, funding availability, resource capacity, and strategic priorities.
• Develop and maintain an integrated CI portfolio programme aligned to funding profiles, corporate and regulatory milestones, capacity constraints (internal and supply chain)
• Support scenario planning and option analysis to inform investment decisions and trade-offs.
• Develop portfolio plan views to provide transparency of dependencies, critical inter-dependencies, and system-wide impacts and systemic schedule risks.
• Ensure alignment between portfolio, programme and project schedules
• Enable clear line of sight from corporate strategy through portfolio, programme, and project plans.
• Develop and own CI schedule performance metrics including:
• Milestone achievement
• Critical Path Movement
• Define requirements from a scheduling perspective for portfolio dashboards & scenario modelling (‘What If’)

Drive consistency of data structures across CI, providing ‘one version of the truth’

Risk-Based Planning & Schedule Risk Analysis

• Embed risk-informed scheduling including:
• Monte Carlo / QRA where proportionate
• Work closely with the risk management function to ensure:
• Schedule risks are visible and quantified
• Mitigations are reflected in programmes
• Support early identification of systemic delivery risk at portfolio level

Assurance

• Provide independent planning assurance and challenge across the portfolio and establish schedule assurance / independent schedule review processes.
• Ensure planning outputs meet internal governance requirements, funding requirements and statutory guidelines.
• Support external assurance providers and regulatory bodies with schedule information and analysis as required.
• Support investment assurance reviews, gateways, and readiness assessments with high-quality schedule evidence.
• Act as the schedule authority for gateway reviews, Board papers and funding approvals.
• Identify systemic planning weaknesses and lead corrective actions.
• Promote a culture of realism, evidence-based planning, and accountability.
• Identify lessons learned from schedule performance and drive the incorporation into future planning activities.

Capability Development

• Provide functional leadership to all project planners and schedulers within CI (internal and consultants).
• Build and sustain a high-performing planning and scheduling capability across the Capital Investment community.
• Define competency standards, career pathways, and training requirements for planning professionals.
• Coach, mentor, and develop planners at all levels.
• Drive continuous improvement, innovation, and adoption of industry best practice, tools, and digital solutions.
• Represent the organisation in industry forums and networks, contributing to sector-wide planning initiatives and sharing expertise.
• Champion knowledge sharing and lessons learned across the organisation.

Skills, Experience and Qualifications

• 15 Years senior-level experience in planning and scheduling within large, complex capital investment projects and portfolios.
• Proven track record of leading and developing the planning functions across a large capital investment portfolio.
• Strong understanding of rail or similarly regulated infrastructure sectors.
• Expert knowledge of planning and scheduling principles, critical path analysis, and progress measurement.
• Experience providing assurance and challenge to major projects and programmes.
• Ability to influence and engage credibly at executive and Board level.
• Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Expert knowledge of planning tools.
• Knowledge of Irish Rail governance, funding, and regulatory frameworks.
• Professional qualifications in project controls, planning, or project management (e.g. APM, PMI, or equivalent).
• Chartered status or working towards chartership in a relevant discipline.
• Experience of implementing enterprise planning tools and portfolio management systems.
• Experience of contract programme management with a strong understanding of NEC programme requirements and PWC programme obligations
• Track record of building planning functions, standardising practices and improving organisational maturity
• Knowledge of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and digital engineering environments.
• Understanding of railway operations, possessions management, and integration with operational railway.
• Experience of working with framework contractors, delivery partners, and supply chain organisations.