Planning Specialist

Midana Exploration Company; Jeddah; On-site; SAR 280,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

Midana Exploration Company is seeking a Planning Specialist to coordinate planning, cost, and schedule across exploration programs and maintain reporting consistency.

You will provide a single view of progress, spend, commitments, forecast and risk to the Exploration VP, working with geology, logistics, data and finance teams. Travel to active programs and contractor sites is required.

Qualifications

• Minimum tertiary qualification in planning, engineering, finance or related discipline.
• Formal training in planning, scheduling or cost control preferred.
• Professional credentials (e.g., PMI-SP or AACE PSP) advantageous but not mandatory.

Responsibilities

• Build integrated work plans across exploration programs with dependencies.
• Support annual planning, forecasts and long-term budgets.
• Develop work-breakdown structures linking scope to schedule.
• Track critical path and flag slippage for recovery actions.
• Prepare variance analysis and concise reporting for leadership.

Skills

Budget control

Schedule logic

Forecasting

Variance analysis

Reporting

Risk tracking

Contractor progress

Excel/PowerPoint

MS Project/ Primavera

Power BI

Education

Bachelor's degree in planning/engineering/finance/business

Tools

MS Project

Primavera P6

Power BI

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Company Description:

Midana Exploration Company (MEC) is a resource exploration and development company and a subsidiary of Australia’s leading private mining enterprise, Hancock Prospecting. Operating at the forefront of the Middle East’s rapidly expanding mining sector, MEC is dedicated to unlocking the vast mineral potential of the highly prospective Arabian-Nubian Shield.

Our core focus is to rapidly and safely transition high-potential exploration targets into world-class operational mining assets. We achieve this by combining Hancock Prospecting’s demonstrated track record in exploration,mega-project delivery, technology, and operational excellence with deep local partnerships. Through our landmark joint ventures with highly regarded Saudi resource companies, and our own targeted exploration prospects, we are developing a new benchmark for resource development while also actively contributing to the development of the resource sector in Saudi.

Role Description:

The Planning Specialist will provide planning, cost, schedule and reporting consistency across all exploration programs, giving the Exploration VP a single, reliable view of progress, spend, commitments, forecast and risk without diluting technical accountability.

Responsibilities:

Planning & Scheduling

• Build integrated work plans across Generative Exploration / Evaluation and Advanced-Stage Exploration, linking scope, sequencing, key dependencies, resource needs and decision gates.
• Support annual planning, monthly forecasting and long-term budget scenarios; maintain a consolidated exploration schedule and milestone view.
• Develop and maintain a practical work-breakdown structure and baseline logic that links approved scope, schedule activities, commitments and reporting codes.
• Track critical path, near-critical activities, field constraints and contractor dependencies; flag slippage early and support recovery or re-sequencing options.

Cost, Forecast & Contractor Control

• Track budgets, commitments, actual spend, contractor deliverables and schedule performance across the portfolio.
• Prepare variance and trend analysis explaining deviations, expected impact and corrective actions rather than reporting numbers alone.
• Maintain rolling forecasts at completion and support disciplined change control so approved scope or timing changes are reflected in the current plan and forecast.

Reporting, Risk & Governance

• Coordinate cross-functional inputs from geology, logistics, data, finance and external consultants into a consistent reporting cycle.
• Maintain action registers, risk logs, decision records and key planning assumptions for the exploration portfolio.
• Develop concise dashboards showing schedule status, cost/commitment position, forecast, key risks and milestone performance for leadership review.
• Apply earned-value or equivalent integrated cost/schedule performance measures only where the maturity and data quality of the work program justify them.
• Produce weekly updates, monthly progress reports and external reporting for exploration program.

Experience:

• 7+ years in planning, cost and schedule coordination in mining, exploration, industrial or major field-program environments.
• Demonstrated experience tracking budgets, contractor performance, schedule dependencies, risk and reporting cycles.
• Experience working with technical teams where priorities change as new geological information is received.
• Prior exploration or mining planning/reporting experience strongly preferred.

Qualifications:

• Relevant tertiary qualification in planning, engineering, finance, business, project controls or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Formal training in planning, scheduling or cost control preferred.
• Professional credentials such as AACE PSP/CCP, PMI-SP or equivalent are advantageous but not mandatory.

Functional & Technical Skills:

Technical

• Budget control, schedule logic, forecasting, variance analysis, reporting, risk tracking and contractor progress review.
• Advanced Excel and PowerPoint capability; working knowledge of scheduling tools such as MS Project or Primavera P6 and dashboard tools such as Power BI.
• Ability to integrate cost, schedule and progress data while maintaining clear source-data ownership and auditability.
• Practical understanding of field operations, camp/logistics dependencies, laboratory turnaround, drilling mobilization and contractor interfaces.

Analytical & Interpersonal

• Identifies emerging schedule/cost variances early, traces root causes and distinguishes technical change from execution under-performance.
• Structured, detail-oriented and calm under reporting deadlines; able to handle multiple programs without losing version control.
• Works closely with technical teams while respecting geological decision ownership; coordinates without becoming the technical decision-maker.
• Clear written communication for executive and leadership-level reporting.

Work Location:

• Field-based role with periodic travel to active programs, camps and contractor locations as required.
• Flexibility required to support changing exploration priorities and campaign schedules.