Project Controls / Planning Manager

About the Role

WSP is seeking an experienced Project Controls / Planning Manager to join our supervision team in Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. This full-time role involves leading the project controls and planning function for a major infrastructure development, ensuring effective program management, schedule control, and reporting across multiple construction packages.

Project Context

The project focuses on construction supervision for extensive infrastructure, including road networks, potable water, firefighting, gas distribution, stormwater, sewerage, power distribution, street lighting, telecommunications, irrigation, and landscaping. The successful candidate will ensure robust project controls and planning, risk monitoring, and coordination among contractors and stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead project controls, planning, scheduling, progress measurement, forecasting, and reporting activities.
• Establish and maintain the overall project controls framework, procedures, systems, and reporting requirements.
• Develop, review, and maintain the integrated master program using Primavera P6.
• Review contractors’ baseline programs, recovery programs, revised schedules, and periodic updates.
• Monitor actual progress against approved baselines, milestones, contractual dates, and key performance indicators.
• Identify critical and near-critical activities, schedule risks, delays, and emerging program issues.
• Analyze schedule variances and recommend mitigation, recovery, and acceleration measures.
• Prepare weekly and monthly progress reports, dashboards, presentations, and management summaries.
• Coordinate program interfaces and dependencies across different construction packages.
• Lead planning and progress meetings with the client, contractors, consultants, and project teams.
• Review resource loading, productivity, procurement schedules, material tracking, and construction sequencing.
• Maintain progress measurement systems and ensure consistent reporting across all packages.
• Support the assessment of extension-of-time submissions, delay events, claims, and variations.
• Undertake schedule impact assessments and support forensic delay analysis when required.
• Monitor key project risks and ensure program mitigation measures are incorporated into project schedules.
• Support cost control, earned value management, cash-flow forecasting, and change-control activities.
• Provide regular advice to the Project Director and senior management on program performance and potential risks.
• Lead and mentor planners, schedulers, and project controls personnel.
• Ensure compliance with contractual requirements, WSP procedures, client standards, and project reporting protocols.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, or a related discipline.
• Minimum of 15 years of relevant experience in project planning and project controls.
• Strong experience working with an engineering consultancy, supervision consultant, PMC, or project management consultancy.
• Demonstrable project controls experience on major roads, utilities, infrastructure, or land-development projects.
• Previous experience managing multiple construction packages and program interfaces.
• Strong working knowledge of Primavera P6 and other relevant planning and reporting applications.
• Thorough understanding of critical-path analysis, progress measurement, resource loading, earned value, forecasting, and schedule risk analysis.
• Experience reviewing baseline programs, recovery schedules, extension-of-time submissions, and contractor claims.
• Knowledge of construction methodologies and program requirements for roads, wet utilities, dry utilities, power, telecom, and landscaping works.
• Strong reporting, analytical, leadership, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Ability to lead planning meetings and communicate program risks clearly to senior management and clients.
• Previous experience in Saudi Arabia or the wider GCC is strongly preferred.
• PMP, PMI-SP, PSP, or an equivalent relevant professional certification would be advantageous.

Work Type

This is a full-time position requiring a minimum of 10 years of experience, based in Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City.