Programme Planner

Role: Programme Planner

Rate: £550 Outside of IR35

Location: Leeds (onsite 2 days a week)

Sector: Public Sector / Education

Job Overview: We are seeking an experienced and highly skilled Programme Planner to manage and oversee a complex, multi-workstream, multi-dimensional plan that spans across multiple lower-level plans (approximately 10-12 plan owners). This role will involve driving clear dependency management, ensuring visibility of critical paths, and establishing well-defined planning assumptions and risks. The successful candidate will also be responsible for creating top-down planning guidance, ensuring effective change control, and providing support for the movement of milestone dates. The ideal candidate will have experience in Microsoft Project, excellent planning and risk management skills, and the ability to work with multiple stakeholders to drive successful project outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Programme Plan Creation and Management: Design, build, and maintain a comprehensive programme-level plan that integrates multiple lower-level plans (10-12) across diverse workstreams and dimensions.
• Dependency Management: Ensure clear identification and management of dependencies across the entire programme, facilitating smooth execution and proactive issue resolution.
• Critical Path Visibility: Provide clear visibility of the critical path across all workstreams to ensure that potential bottlenecks and delays are identified early.
• Planning Assumptions & Risks: Establish and maintain well-documented assumptions and risks within the programme plan to proactively mitigate potential challenges.
• Top-Down Planning Guidance & Best Practice: Develop and communicate clear planning guidance and best practices to plan owners, ensuring consistent and effective planning across all levels.
• Baseline Management & Change Control: Oversee the baselining of plans and the movement of milestone dates. Ensure that appropriate change control processes are followed when milestone dates need to be adjusted.
• Automated Reporting: Drive the use of automated tools and processes to collate and report on the progress of the various workstream plans, minimizing manual intervention and improving efficiency.
• Stakeholder Management & Reporting: Work closely with project and programme managers to provide regular updates and insights on project health, critical paths, risks, and issues.

Skills & Experience:

• Significant experience in creating, managing, and maintaining large-scale programme-level plans using Microsoft Project, including multi-workstream, multi-dimensional planning.
• Demonstrable experience in managing complex, multi-dimensional programmes with a clear understanding of programme management principles and techniques.
• Strong ability to identify and manage dependencies across multiple workstreams, with a clear understanding of the critical path and its impact on programme delivery.
• Experience in identifying, documenting, and managing risks and assumptions across complex projects, with the ability to provide clear mitigation strategies.
• Proven experience in managing change control processes, including the tracking and movement of milestone dates while ensuring baseline integrity.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to provide clear and actionable guidance to plan owners and stakeholders at various levels.
• Familiarity with automated reporting and dashboard tools to streamline the collation of project data and improve reporting efficiency.