Principal Project Controls Engineer

Wood; Chennai District; On-site; INR 2,600,000 - 3,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Wood in Chennai, India, is seeking a senior scheduling and planning lead to develop and control project schedules using Primavera P6, aligning with the WBS and contract requirements.

The role requires strong earned value, risk, and cost management capabilities, with a focus on leading a planning team and coordinating with engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning from the project’s early stages.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering.
• Minimum 12 years of scheduling and planning experience.
• Advanced knowledge of Primavera P6 and CPM/resource loading.
• Experience in brownfield, offshore oil and gas projects.
• Senior planning role experience.
• Strong cost management, change control, and risk analysis skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead scheduling and planning for assigned project scopes.
• Develop and maintain baseline project plans and schedules.
• Monitor and control planning activities through all phases of project lifecycle.
• Assess and communicate schedule impact of changes.
• Supervise and mentor the planning team within the GEC Hub.

Skills

Scheduling & planning

Cost and risk analysis

Leadership & mentoring

Earned value management

Resource loading & leveling

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Tools

Primavera P6

Job description

Job Description:

Job Description

Schedule Development & Control

• Act as Planning Focal Point for assigned project scopes
• Review, develop, and maintain planning control structures aligned to the approved project Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
• Develop and maintain baseline project plans and schedules using appropriate scheduling software (Primavera P6 and related tools)
• Monitor and control planning activities through all phases of project lifecycle
• Review and analyse updates to project plans, schedules, and manpower requirements
• Assess and communicate schedule impact of change notifications
• Monitor overall project progress status, achievement of major milestones, and evaluate project performance against plan
• Liaise with cost discipline to ensure accurate and timely control and forecasting of manhour budgets
• Participate in schedule risk analysis as required

Fast Track & Cycle Time Improvement

• Lead development of Fast Track-compliant schedule baselines from concept to commissioning
• Actively identify and protect critical path — including long-lead items, vendor dependencies, and offshore bed availability constraints
• Support front-end schedule compression, working cross-functionally with engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning from the earliest project stage
• Contribute to the definition of schedule standards, templates, and Fast Track entry criteria for the GEC Hub

Reporting & Governance

• Analyse and issue project plans and schedules in accordance with project reporting requirements
• Prepare and issue progress and performance status reports in accordance with contract reporting calendar and as required
• Ensure all schedules are fully logic-linked and show the critical path and total float for all activities
• Ensure work package delivery milestones are clearly identified within project schedules
• Ensure a standard set of agreed milestones is maintained across both schedule and cost reporting databases

Team & Capability Development

• Supervise and manage the planning team, delegating work and reviewing outputs
• Play a key role in mentoring and career development of planning personnel within the GEC
• Lead and participate in Project Controls compliance and continuous improvement reviews
• Contribute to recruiting and retaining planning talent within the GEC Hub

Contract-specific Requirements

Location & Mobility

• Based at the Wood office in Chennai, India — this is the primary place of work
• Willingness and ability to undertake periodic overseas travel for project governance, knowledge transfer, customer engagement, and team alignment purposes

International & Multicultural Experience

• Demonstrated experience working in multicultural environments
• Proven ability to operate effectively across cultural, organisational, and time-zone boundaries

Brownfield Experience

• Preference for candidates with previous brownfield offshore modification or brownfield EPC project experience
• Familiarity with the challenges of brownfield scope definition, execution in operating environments, and interface management with asset operations teams

Transition & Uncertainty Leadership

• Demonstrable ability to lead teams through periods of significant change, transition, and operating model evolution
• Comfortable operating with managed uncertainty — able to keep teams focused, motivated, and delivering during periods when processes, structures, or accountabilities are still maturing
• Experience of operating model transitions, onboarding programmes, or significant organisational change is advantageous

Workload Flexibility

• Ability to manage varied and changing workloads across multiple concurrent scopes of differing scale and complexity
• Comfortable moving between strategic planning, hands-on delivery support, and team leadership as the situation requires

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering
• Knowledge, Skills, and Experience
• Minimum 12 years of relevant scheduling and planning experience
• Advanced knowledge of Primavera P6 and other scheduling software, including logic and CPM analysis, resource loading and levelling
• Advanced ability to develop project schedules, plans, and resource loading profiles
• Excellent understanding of earned value application and cost/schedule variance analysis
• Strong understanding of Cost Management, Change Control, and Risk Analysis
• Significant prior experience in a senior planning role
• Experience of brownfield, offshore oil and gas project

QUALIFICATIONS

About Us

Wood is a global leader in consulting, engineering and operations for the energy and materials sectors. With 33,000 people in around 50 countries, Wood supports clients across the full asset lifecycle, delivering safe, predictable outcomes while enabling resilient operations and a lower carbon future. Wood forms the Energy & Materials pillar of Sidara - a global partnership uniting leading multidisciplinary engineering, design, and project management companies. www.woodgroup.com

Diversity Statement

We are an equal opportunity employer that recognises the value of a diverse workforce. All suitably qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment on the basis of objective criteria and without regard to the following (which is a non-exhaustive list): race, colour, age, religion, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status, or other characteristics in accordance with the relevant governing laws.

Requirements: