Project Controls / Planning Manager

About the Role

WSP Middle East is seeking an experienced Project Controls / Planning Manager to join their supervision team in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. This full-time position is based in Jeddah or King Abdullah Economic City and involves working on a major infrastructure development project. The successful candidate will lead the project controls and planning function for a significant infrastructure project, ensuring effective programme management and coordination across various stakeholders.

Project Context

The project involves construction supervision across multiple infrastructure packages. These include road networks, potable water, firefighting, gas distribution, stormwater, sewerage, power distribution, street lighting, telecommunications, irrigation, and landscaping. The Project Controls / Planning Manager will be responsible for programme management, schedule control, progress measurement, reporting, and risk monitoring for these diverse components.

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 programme using Primavera P6.
• Monitor actual progress against approved baselines, milestones, contractual dates, and key performance indicators.
• Identify critical and near-critical activities, schedule risks, delays, and emerging programme issues.
• Analyse schedule variances and recommend mitigation, recovery, and acceleration measures.
• Prepare weekly and monthly progress reports, dashboards, presentations, and management summaries.
• Coordinate programme interfaces and dependencies across different construction packages.
• Lead planning and progress meetings with the client, contractors, consultants, and project teams.
• Support the assessment of extension-of-time submissions, delay events, claims, and variations.
• Monitor key project risks and ensure programme mitigation measures are incorporated into project schedules.
• Provide regular advice to the Project Director and senior management on programme performance and potential risks.
• Lead and mentor planners, schedulers, and project controls personnel.

Qualifications and Experience

• Over 10 years of experience in project controls, with a strong background in engineering consultancy, supervision consultancy, 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 programme 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 programmes, recovery schedules, extension-of-time submissions, and contractor claims.
• Knowledge of construction methodologies and programme requirements for roads, wet utilities, dry utilities, power, telecom, and landscaping works.
• 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.

Required Skills

• Strong reporting, analytical, leadership, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Ability to lead planning meetings and communicate programme risks clearly to senior management and clients.
• Ability to ensure compliance with contractual requirements, WSP procedures, client standards, and project reporting protocols.