Lead Senior Planner in Leeds, West Yorkshire

Lead / Senior Planner – Data Centre Construction

Location: Ferrybridge, Leeds, UK
Salary: £80,000–£90,000
Sector: Data Centre / Mission-Critical Construction
Employment: Permanent

The Opportunity

An opportunity is available for an experienced Lead / Senior Planner to support the delivery of a major data centre construction programme in Ferrybridge, UK.

This is a senior planning position with responsibility for developing and controlling integrated project schedules, leading planning teams, monitoring programme performance and driving mitigation and recovery strategies across complex construction activities.

The successful candidate will bring strong Primavera P6 expertise, extensive data centre project experience and the ability to coordinate planning activities across design, procurement, construction, commissioning and handover.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead planning activities across the assigned project scope, providing technical direction to Senior Planners and wider planning teams.
• Develop, maintain and control integrated master schedules covering design, procurement, construction, commissioning and handover.
• Establish and maintain consistent planning standards, WBS structures, coding, calendars and progress measurement systems.
• Produce progress reports, dashboards, KPI outputs, milestone forecasts, look-ahead schedules and recovery updates.
• Analyse critical paths, float, interfaces, constraints, schedule changes and potential delays.
• Monitor programme performance, productivity and schedule variances, implementing mitigation and recovery plans with project teams.
• Apply Earned Value Management (EVM) and performance measurement processes where required.
• Audit programme schedules and reported progress to ensure accuracy and alignment with site activities.

Essential Requirements

• Minimum of seven years’ planning and project controls experience in large-scale construction, engineering or mission-critical environments.
• Proven experience leading planning activities on complex data centre projects.
• Strong understanding of the full data centre lifecycle, including design, procurement, construction, commissioning, energisation, integrated systems testing and handover.
• Advanced proficiency in Primavera P6.
• Experience developing and managing complex integrated master programmes, project schedules, look-ahead plans and reporting baselines.
• Strong knowledge of Earned Value Management, schedule variance analysis, productivity trends, delay identification and recovery planning.
• Commercial and contractual awareness, including change control and claims support.
• Ability to lead, mentor and support planning teams.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication and organisational skills.
• Strong professional judgement, ownership and resilience.

Salary, Benefits & Career Development

• £80,000–£90,000 salary
• Annual leave entitlement
• Company pension
• Bonus opportunities
• Career progression and professional development
• Senior-level responsibility on a major data centre construction programme
• Opportunity to lead and develop planning teams within a mission-critical construction environment