Director – Planning

The Director of Planning serves as the client-side leader, overseeing the planning and execution of large-scale construction projects. This role involves strategic planning, stakeholder coordination, and oversight of design consultants, contractors, and vendors to ensure timely, budget-aligned, and high-quality project delivery. The Director contributes to all project phases, providing detailed input on logistics, milestones, contract packaging, tender reviews, and contractor selection. During construction, they lead a team of planners and consultants, ensuring seamless project delivery through hands-on involvement and regular site visits. The ideal candidate brings a proven track record in delivering major projects and extensive construction planning experience in the Middle East.

What you will do

• Define project objectives, scope, and success criteria in collaboration with organizational leadership.

• Produce and maintain the master project schedule for the sitewide development of all assets and infrastructure.

• Provide guidance and create strategic / high level schedules for all stages of the project, from masterplanning, through design and construction, including phasing and sectional completions. 

• Lead the client’s planning team and be the respective primary point of contact with internal and external stakeholders, contractors and consultants.

• Manage the progress and planning of all project phases, from masterplanning stage, to concept design and through to construction and handover.

• Ensure alignment with the project brief and development timelines.

• Oversee the transition of project schedules to construction managers, ensuring all milestones and dependencies are clearly articulated.

• Ensure programming and schedules accommodate regulatory processes and permitting timelines. 

• Provide outline tender programmes for construction projects and ensure that the tender documents incorporate suitable deliverables and milestones to align with the project objectives. 

• Define Project reporting requirements for planning and progress and manage contractor’s timely delivery of the same. 

• Review contractor’s planning and progress and manage contractor to ensure programme delivery, including mitigation plans.

• Lead high level meetings with the contractors for review of progress and planning.

• Interface and provide directions to the PMC’s planning team.

• Develop and maintain systems to track progress against the program and schedule, reporting deviations and recommending corrective actions.

• Develop Project Plans: Create detailed plans outlining the sequence of construction activities and their timelines.

• Schedule Creation: Develop, update, and manage project schedules using tools like Primavera P6, Microsoft Project, or similar software.

• Critical Path Analysis (CPA): Identify critical activities and dependencies to ensure timely project completion.

• Milestone Setting: Define key project milestones and ensure all stakeholders are aligned with these goals.

Required Skills to be successful

• Minimum of 15 years of experience in major construction projects, with substantial experience in client-side roles.

• Proven expertise in planning and management for the delivery of large-scale and high-value projects.

• Middle East experience of large-scale projects.

What equips you for the role

• Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management or other construction related field.