Principal Planner

Mott MacDonald; East Midlands; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - GBP 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A global engineering consultancy is seeking a Principal Technical Planner to join their team in the UK. This role focuses on leading complex engineering projects and ensuring effective planning and delivery. The ideal candidate will have proven experience in the industry, expertise in Primavera P6, and strong leadership skills. With a commitment to inclusivity and social impact, this position offers opportunities for career growth within a collaborative environment and a focus on personal development.

Benefits

Financial wellbeing benefits

Employee ownership model

Private medical insurance

Minimum of 33-35 days holiday

Enhanced family leave policies

Learning and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Proven experience in planning and leading complex engineering projects.
• Expertise in Primavera P6 and managing a portfolio of interrelated schedules.
• Experience in mentoring teams and inspiring others.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of schedules, communicating outputs to stakeholders.
• Ensure schedules comply with internal procedures and industry best practices.
• Collaborate with project managers and team leads to ensure success.

Skills

Planning complex engineering projects

Primavera P6 expertise

Team leadership

Excellent communication

Stakeholder engagement

Change control measures

Health & Safety awareness

Education

Relevant degree or professional qualification

Tools

Primavera P6

Job description

Location/s: Glasgow, Altrincham, Bristol, Whitehaven, Derby; UK
Recruiter contact: Erinda Hazizi

Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management, and development consultancy with over 20,000 employees across more than 50 countries and 140+ offices.

We work across incredible global industries, delivering exciting work that is defining our future and making an important societal impact in the communities we serve. Our people power our performance – we succeed when they do. With countless opportunities to collaborate, learn, and grow, the possibilities for excellence are as varied as every individual.

Whether you want to grow as a subject matter expert or broaden your experience with roles across our international community, you’re surrounded by global specialists who want to combine their expertise and champion you to be your best. As a proudly employee-owned business, we benefit our clients, our communities, and each other, investing in creating the right space for everyone to feel empowered, included, and valued. Whatever your ambition, Mott MacDonald is where people come to be brilliant.

About the business unit

The Energy unit delivers services to clients globally across several sectors including hydropower, nuclear, waste, renewable generation and transmission & distribution networks. Together we provide integrated engineering and project management services across the project lifecycle – from concept and design to construction and operations, to decommissioning or repowering and life extension. Together with our clients, we’re helping to deliver the energy transition globally.

Overview of the role

We’re looking for a Principal Technical Planner to join our Nuclear, Defence, and Civil team, supporting some of the UK’s most significant and complex infrastructure programmes. These long term, high impact projects offer the opportunity to shape the future of the UK’s energy and defence landscape delivering work that truly makes a difference.

As a Principal Planner, you’ll play a key role in ensuring projects are effectively structured, planned, and delivered. You’ll be at the heart of multidisciplinary programmes, collaborating closely with Project Managers, technical leads, commercial teams, and stakeholders to ensure alignment across timelines, risks, and resources.

You will provide planning leadership to a growing team, setting high standards, mentoring others, and fostering a collaborative and inclusive culture. You’ll play a key part in strengthening the planning function, enhancing best practices, and protecting the commercial and delivery interests of the business.

Planning sits at the heart of our project success and in this role, you will have real influence, visibility, and the opportunity to shape how we deliver complex programmes.

Key responsibilities and duties include:

• Manage a portfolio of schedules, ensuring clear communication of outputs to stakeholders at all levels
• Ensure schedules comply with internal procedures and industry best practices
• Apply Earned Value (EV) principles, analyse variances, and recommend mitigation strategies
• Collaborate with lead and management roles to ensure project success
• Optimise schedule structures and implement improvements to enhance planning efficiency
• Apply robust change control measures (ideally within the NEC contract model)
• Conduct schedule integrity checks, assess critical paths, and communicate key issues proactively
• Work closely with cost engineers, project managers, and control managers to underpin Estimate at Completions (EACs)
• Develop and maintain resource-loaded schedules, applying rules of credit where appropriate
• Using Primavera P6, to create and present detailed project plans
• Ensure project plans capture full scope, identify risks and opportunities, and maintain a focus on Health & Safety standards

About you:

• Proven experience in planning and leading complex engineering projects, including the development of detailed, resourced schedules and application of EV techniques
• Expertise in Primavera P6 and managing a portfolio of interrelated schedules
• Experience leading or mentoring teams, with the ability to inspire others and build capability across a planning function
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with confidence in engaging and influencing stakeholders at all levels
• Awareness of emerging technologies and innovations in project planning and digital delivery
• Passion for creating inclusive, high-performing teams where diverse perspectives are welcomed and valued.

Additional skills and requirements:

• Confident in presenting complex information to internal and external stakeholders
• Commitment to continuous professional development and sharing knowledge with others
• Ideally a member of a recognised professional body (e.g. APM, ACostE, or similar)

If you meet a significant element of our requirements, please still apply. We understand not everyone will meet all the requirements, but you might have skills we didn’t know we need.

Please be advised that offers for this role are conditional upon obtaining the appropriate level of Security Clearance.

UK Immigration

Mott MacDonald Ltd. are not currently offering sponsorship to candidates under the Skilled Worker visa route in the UK. This decision is as a consequence of the changes made to the Skilled Worker route by the UK Government in April 2024. We continue to welcome applications from candidates who are eligible for alternative immigration routes in the UK, that do not require sponsorship as a Skilled Worker now or in future.

At Mott MacDonald, we believe it makes business sense for you and your manager to choose how you can work most effectively to meet your client, team, and personal commitments. We offer a hybrid working policy that embraces your well-being, flexibility, and trust.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion

We put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they can contribute.

Accessibility

We want you to perform your best at every stage in the recruitment process. If you are disabled or need any support to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at [e-mail] and we will talk to you about how we can support you.

Benefits

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

Financial wellbeing

• We match employee pension contributions between 4.5% and 7%.
• Life assurance equal up to 4 x your basic salary, with an option to increase the level of cover to 6 x your salary.
• Our income protection scheme provides a financial benefit, as well as absence and return to work support due to long-term illness or injury.
• Flexible benefits, including increased life assurance cover, critical illness insurance, payroll saving and will writing.
• As an independently owned business we share the financial success of the business with all our colleagues in various ways including annual bonus schemes.

Employee Ownership

• Our employee ownership model means no external investors, just us, creating a culture of shared success.
• Our employees have a stake and a voice in our business, giving them a direct connection to our success through our personal and group performance bonuses.
• As your career grows, so does your stake, recognising your long-term impact and contribution.
• Your voice matters, with the opportunity to connect directly with senior leadership through formal channels to help shape our future.
• For our senior roles you will have a direct pathway towards ownership from day one.

Health and wellbeing

• Private medical insurance for all UK colleagues.
• Health cash plan to support you with every day health costs and treatments.
• Access to Peppy, providing free support from menopause experts for all UK colleagues.
• A variety of wellbeing support is available through our comprehensive wellbeing program, including access for you and your family.
• Ability to flex your salary to opt into a wide range of health benefits, many of which can be extended to your family too.

Lifestyle

• A minimum of 33-35 days holiday each year, inclusive of public holidays and dependent on level, with the ability to buy or sell leave through our flexible benefits programme.
• Holiday entitlement increased to a minimum of 35 days after 5 years’ service.
• Variety of employee saving schemes and discounts from high-street retailers.

Enhanced family and carers leave

• Enhanced family leave policies, including 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave, and two weeks paid paternity/partner leave.
• Our shared parental leave matches maternity leave meaning we pay up to 24 weeks at full pay.
• Up to five additional days leave are provided for those with significant caring responsibilities, two of which are paid.

Learning and development

• Primary annual professional institution subscription.
• A broad range of opportunities to enhance both technical and soft skills through mentoring, formal training, and self-development options.

Networks, communities, and social outcomes

• Join a wide range of groups including our Advanced Employee Networks which support our LGBTQ+, gender, race and ethnicity, disability, and parents/carers communities.

Apply now, or for more information about our application process, click here.