Senior Planner in Irlam, City and Borough of Salford

Senior Planner – Rail Infrastructure & Construction

Location: Irlam, Greater Manchester

Employment Type: Permanent or Contract

Working Arrangement: Office-Based with Site Visits as Required

Sector: Rail Infrastructure, Civil Engineering & Energy

The Opportunity

Red Sky Personnel is recruiting an experienced Senior Planner for an established rail infrastructure and construction contractor based in Irlam, Greater Manchester.

The successful candidate will take a leading role in developing, managing and monitoring construction programmes across complex rail infrastructure, civil engineering and energy projects.

We are seeking an experienced rail planning professional with advanced Primavera P6 capabilities, extensive Network Rail experience and strong NEC contractual knowledge.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain detailed, fully logic-linked construction programmes using Primavera P6.
• Produce tender programmes from first principles, incorporating construction methodologies, resources and project constraints.
• Plan railway infrastructure works involving OLE, P-Way, signalling, electrification, possessions, blockades and isolations.
• Establish and monitor critical paths, key milestones, programme float and construction sequencing.
• Produce baseline programmes, four-week lookaheads, progress updates and programme forecasts.
• Monitor actual progress against planned delivery, identifying delays and developing mitigation and recovery strategies.
• Coordinate programme interfaces across civil engineering, track, electrification, signalling and utilities.
• Support project and commercial teams with NEC3/NEC4 programme requirements, EWNs, Compensation Events and Extensions of Time.
• Undertake time impact analysis, delay assessments and change control.
• Review subcontractor programmes and assess programme-related contractual submissions.
• Produce progress reports, milestone tracking, performance dashboards and management updates.
• Work closely with operational teams to ensure programmes reflect practical construction methods and railway access constraints.

Essential Requirements

• 8–10 years' experience at Senior Planner level.
• Proven planning experience within UK rail infrastructure and construction.
• Advanced working knowledge of Primavera P6.
• Extensive understanding of Network Rail standards, terminology and operational requirements.
• Experience across railway disciplines, including OLE, P-Way, signalling, electrification and associated civils.
• Strong understanding of railway possessions, blockades, engineering access and isolations.
• Ability to develop detailed tender and construction programmes from first principles.
• Extensive knowledge of NEC3 and NEC4 contracts.
• Experience in programme delay analysis, change management, EWNs, CEs and EOT assessments.
• Strong practical understanding of construction methodologies and sequencing.
• Experience with resource loading, earned value management and productivity analysis.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Project, TILOS or Power BI would be beneficial.

About You

You will be a hands-on Senior Planner with a strong technical and practical understanding of rail construction.

You must be comfortable working closely with Project Managers, Engineers, Commercial Managers and site delivery teams, ensuring programmes are realistic, contractually compliant and achievable.

Strong communication skills, attention to detail and the ability to identify and resolve programme risks are essential.

What's on Offer?

• Permanent or contract employment options.
• Opportunity to work on challenging rail infrastructure and civil engineering projects.
• Involvement in preconstruction, project delivery and commercial programme management.
• Established infrastructure contractor with a varied project portfolio.

Interested?

Apply now or contact Red Sky Personnel for further information and a confidential discussion.