Senior Planning Manager - Defence

Mace; United States; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 161,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Car allowance

Pension scheme

Medical health care

Life assurance

Income protection insurance

Family friendly policies

Real career progression opportunities

Job summary

Mace is seeking an experienced senior planning manager to work on complex programme schedules for a major defence project based in Reading. The role is predominantly remote with occasional travel to the client site, offering a strong platform to apply advanced planning, schedule analysis and cost control in a regulated environment.

Due to security requirements, candidates must have SC clearance or eligibility.

Qualifications

• Experience in nuclear, civil engineering, defence or infrastructure.
• Strong ERP, scheduling and estimating across full construction lifecycle.
• Proficiency in MS Office and project planning tools.

Responsibilities

• Managing planning processes to align schedules, budgets, and resource profiles with project objectives.
• Monitoring progress, KPIs, and change codes to ensure timely delivery and compliance.
• Driving team performance, capability development, and succession planning.
• Promoting safety, quality, and continuous improvement across all activities.
• Managing level 4/5 schedules and material demand dates.
• Coordinating with engineering, procurement, and production to maintain schedule integrity.
• Overseeing shop orders, labour forecasts, and delivery performance against targets.
• Analysing trends, resolve technical queries, and implement lessons learned for improvement.

Skills

Planning

Schedule analysis

Cost control

MS Office

Project planning tools

Education

ONC or equivalent eng/prof qualification

APM/RICS/ACostE certifications

Tools

ERP systems

Job description

Mace combines construction expertise with consultancy to unlock potential in every person or project and redefine the boundaries of ambition. Our values shape the way we consult and define the people we want to join us on our journey.We are looking for an experienced senior planning manager to work on complex programme schedules across one of our major defence projects in Reading. While the client is based in Reading, this is a predominantly remote working opportunity with occasional travel to the client location as required. This role offers a great opportunity to apply strong technical planning expertise on some of the UK's most complex and high-profile defence programmes.

Please Note: Due to strict security requirements of this programme, candidates must have SC clearance or eligibility to obtain it.

You will bring specialist experience across planning, schedule analysis and cost control, along with a solid background in large scale engineering or infrastructure environments ideally within nuclear, defence, civil engineering or other similarly regulated sectors.

Responsibilities

• Managing planning processes to align schedules, budgets, and resource profiles with project objectives.
• Monitoring progress, KPIs, and change codes to ensure timely delivery and compliance.
• Driving team performance, capability development, and succession planning.
• Promoting safety, quality, and continuous improvement across all activities.
• Managing level 4/5 schedules and material demand dates,
• Coordinating with engineering, procurement, and production to maintain schedule integrity.
• Overseeing shop orders, labour forecasts, and delivery performance against targets.
• Analysing trends, resolve technical queries, and implement lessons learned for improvement.

Requirements

• Proven experience in nuclear, civil engineering, defence or infrastructure.
• Strong experience in ERP systems, scheduling, and estimating across full construction lifecycle.
• Skilled in MS Office and project planning tools.
• ONC or equivalent engineering/professional qualification (APM, RICS, ACostE).
• APM certifications in planning, risk, and earned value management.

What we offer

• Hybrid working.
• Car allowance.
• Pension scheme.
• Medical health care.
• Life assurance.
• Income protection insurance.
• Family friendly policies.
• Real career progression opportunities.

Our values

• Safety first - Going home safe and well: We champion a safe, diverse and inclusive working environment, understanding the importance of wellbeing in every team.
• Client focus - Deliver on our promise: We own the quality of deliverables, strategic outcomes and build long term relationships with our clients.
• Integrity - Always do the right thing: We influence positive outcomes within our industry, while always aligning with our compliance obligations.
• Create opportunity - For our people to excel: We champion a continuous improvement culture throughout all activities, inspiring our people and teams to develop.

Mace is an inclusive employer and welcomes interest from a diverse range of candidates.