Programme Planning Manager
Location: North of England (Hybrid with National Site Travel)
Salary: £50,000–£70,000 + Benefits
The Opportunity
We are exclusively partnering with a highly successful UK construction and development business to recruit a Programme Planning Manager. This is a newly created role that will play a pivotal part in improving programme visibility, driving project performance, and supporting the successful delivery of multiple construction projects nationwide.
Working closely with the Managing Director, Commercial Director and Construction Directors, you will become the central point for programme management across the business, providing strategic oversight of live projects while identifying risks, resolving delays and improving reporting across the organisation.
This is far more than a traditional planning role. You'll be expected to challenge assumptions, identify solutions and use programme data to influence decisions at board level.
The Role
The Programme Planning Manager will take ownership of monitoring and coordinating construction programmes across a national portfolio of projects, ensuring senior leaders have complete visibility of progress, risks and key milestones.
Using detailed programme analysis, you'll proactively identify delays, model different scenarios, and work collaboratively with operational teams to maintain project momentum.
You'll become a trusted advisor to the senior leadership team, providing clear reporting, accurate forecasting and practical solutions to programme challenges.
Key Responsibilities
- Work closely with the Managing Director, Commercial Director, Construction Directors and Site Managers to oversee programme delivery across multiple live projects.
- Develop, maintain and continuously improve master construction programmes across the business.
- Build coordinated programme roadmaps, ensuring all projects remain aligned and resource conflicts are identified early.
- Monitor critical path activities and proactively identify risks, delays and opportunities for improvement.
- Model programme scenarios and present practical recovery plans where slippage occurs.
- Produce meaningful dashboards and KPI reporting for the Board and senior leadership team.
- Partner with Finance to report build progress and programme performance.
- Provide regular programme updates and key milestone reporting to operational and executive teams.
- Conduct regular programme reviews with Construction Directors and Site Managers, both remotely and through site visits.
- Ensure programme information remains accurate, up to date and reflective of live site activity.
- Support continuous improvement initiatives across planning, reporting and project delivery.
About You
We're looking for someone who combines strong construction planning expertise with excellent communication and analytical skills.
You'll ideally have:
- Experience within a Planning Manager, Programme Planner or Senior Construction Planner position.
- Strong knowledge of UK construction methodologies, sequencing and critical path planning.
- A particular understanding of groundworks and early-stage construction would be highly advantageous.
- Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Project (or similar planning software).
- The confidence to challenge programme assumptions using facts and data.
- Excellent stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence senior leaders.
- A collaborative approach and a genuine passion for improving project delivery.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to develop practical programme recovery solutions.
Why Join?
- Newly created role with significant influence across the business.
- Direct exposure to senior leadership and board-level decision making.
- Opportunity to shape programme management processes across a growing national contractor/developer.
- Diverse portfolio of projects with long-term stability.
- Genuine opportunity to make a measurable impact on project delivery and business performance.
- Hybrid working with national project exposure.