EPN Lead Planner

82215 - Lead Planner

This Lead Planner will report to the Project Controls, Data and Planning Manager and will work within (Capital Programme - Planning based in our Stevenage, Bury St Edmunds or Colchester offices. You will be a permanent employee.

You will attract a salary of £94,904 and a bonus of 3%. This role can also offer blended working after probationary period (6 months) - 3 days in the office and 2 remote

Close Date: 19/03/2026.

We also provide the following additional benefits

• 25 Days Annual Leave plus bank holidays.
• Private Medical Cover
• Reservist Leave – Additional 18 days full pay and 22 unpaid
• Personal Pension Plan – Personal contribution rates of 4% or 5% (UK Power Networks will make a corresponding contribution of 8% or 10%)
• Tenancy Loan Deposit Scheme, Season Ticket Loan
• Tax efficient benefits: Cycle to Work, Home & Tech, and Green Car Leasing Schemes
• Occupational Health support
• Switched On – scheme providing discount on hundreds of retailers' products
• Discounted gym membership
• Employee Assistance Programme

Job Purpose:

As the Lead Planner, you will lead the region's planning team, taking direct accountability for the quality of planning performance, planning outputs and overall service provided in the region to the delivery team. Through leadership, you will own and drive the planning strategy in the region, regularly interfacing with the multi-disciplinary Managers of the region to assure the highest level of service execution and provision by the region's planning team.

You will ensure that all project P6 schedules in the region:

• Begin and remain compliant with current governance and control procedures,
• Are set-up, managed and performance reported in accordance with the prevailing project controls and planning procedures
• Are audited regularly in line with best practice project controls and planning procedures holding the team to account for quality-of-service delivery.

You will assure that resources are allocated correctly and manage the interface between planning and each other function, taking and giving feedback that leads to evidenced continuous improvements in ways of working improved. You will take on and drive these continuous improvement as a programme of works, delivering improvements within the planning team and changes in other teams that support an improved/more reliable and effective planning service. As such, we are looking for an emphasis on continuous stakeholder management i.e. Design, Commercial, Contractors, UKPN Direct Operations, Consents, and delivery teams within the DNO.

You will setup and positively influence relationships with contractor planning managers/teams in the region to affect working practices, uphold/push standards and ensure UKPN ultimately receives the high-quality construction planning service that it has paid for.

You will take ownership of the region's planning engagement, embodying the UKPN company values and creating a positive workplace where staff feel both listened to and heard. You will ensure that each member of the planning team is on a development plan which identifies their strengths and improvement areas for their own planning service delivery. You will manage this through regular reviews, provide direct feedback and hold the planning team to account for continuous improvement. You will work to setup opportunities for shadowing, knowledge sharing, mentoring and learning to help planners to develop their careers and ultimately drive a year-on-year improvement in regional planning capability by closing gaps in the planning development matrix for each planner.

Dimension:

Programme Value: One of the UK Power Networks Capital Programme DNO's. Approximate annual expenditure of £110m.

Indirect Budget: c.£800k

Staff Responsibility: 10 direct reports including UKPN and Contractor Staff. Managing the planning of projects utilising a multi-discipline team of circa 100 including a direct workforce comprising consultants, contractors and equipment suppliers.

Principal Accountabilities:

• To manage the region's planning team (APP and Connections) and own the successful delivery of a full-suite planning service for all construction projects in the region from gates A to D (inception to completion and close out)
• Hold all other disciplines (Project Management, Commercial, Design, Operations, Consents etc.) accountable for the inputs required to planning to thereby drive delivery of projects to time, cost and quality.
• Ensure that the planning team is directly engaged and visible within the project, including on site
• Ensure robust plans are in place across the region with accurate monthly, yearly and at completion forecast of costs, milestones and activities with all coding and data structures in place for reporting and compliance to high level of project controls and planning principles.
• Own and drive open collaboration and continuous improvement between planning and other functions in the region to positively impact planning service delivery
• Regular audit of all critical/high value schemes across the region assuring robust plans are in place which stand strong against all levels of scrutiny
• Planning lessons learned are recorded and implemented across the region
• Ensures all planning (including those supporting other disciplines reliant on P6) is completed on time and checked for end of month reporting
• For the region, runs the project setup and allocation process and manages the P6 administration processes required
• Owns the baselining and
• Challenges and escalates poor performance within other disciplines that negatively impacts planning service delivery and end of month reporting.
• Supports the planning manager to implement and deliver continuous improvement projects across the planning team
• Manages the region's embedded contractor planner's performance and project allocation
• Line management to all of the region's planning team and all responsibilities that fall underneath this
• Input to schedule risk and change management across the region
• Maintenance and adherence of the region's schedules to the requirements of the Project Controls, Data and Planning Manger
• Lead on rolling out any changes of process to the planning team.

Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications and Experience:

• Engineering based degree or equivalent required
• Professional qualification(s) e.g. APM-PMQ, PMI-SP, L5 project controls, L5 management desirable
• Substantial experience managing complex construction programmes using Primavera P6 within multi-disciplined delivery environments essential
• NEC professional with experience in schedule impact analysis and knowledge of extension of time disputes desirable
• Experience managing the service delivery of a P6 planning function to a multi-disciplinary set of stakeholders required
• In-depth knowledge of project controls and planning within distribution networks desirable
• Ability to create reports/dashboards to monitor and showcase performance through time of the planning team desirable
• Competence and significant experience with P6 planning software required

Nature and Scope:

Management of the region's client side P6 planning team (and other disciplines input) to create and maintain P6 schedules for distribution network Capital Programme and Connections major projects. Including but not limited to the recording and management of actuals and forecasts for project controls and delivery milestones, L5 cost loaded activities and earned value from project inception to project completion.

The Lead Planner will be required to deliver planning services for a minor number of high value and complex projects or a number of lower value related projects.

The Lead Planner role is more biased towards Project Controls and Programme Management within a client organisation rather than construction/operational planning skills and knowledge although these skills would be advantageous to the role.

Health & Safety Responsibilities:

Managers and supervisors carry both legal and company responsibilities for ensuring the health and safety of their employees, those under their control and those who might be affected by the work undertaken, i.e. public, visitors and employees of other organisations. This includes briefing individuals working for them and ensuring there is the necessary understanding, competence and application of requirements to work safely and without harming the environment.

Employees will ensure they understand the health and safety risks involved in their work activities and their responsibility to apply the controls needed to manage those risks to acceptable levels. Similarly where work activities can have an adverse impact upon the environment, and where there are legal requirements, employees will understand those impacts and the controls they must ensure are applied.

If in doubt ask!

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

If you have any queries in connection to this vacancy or your application, please contact us at careers@ukpowernetworks.co.uk quoting the vacancy reference number and a member of the team will get in touch with you as soon as possible.