Rolls - Royce SMR
Lead Planner
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Lead Project Planner
Location: Manchester, Warrington, or Derby with Hybrid Working
At Rolls-Royce SMR, we're building something world-changing, and strong, credible planning is critical to our success.
We're looking for a Lead Project Planner to join our Project Management Office, where you'll provide leadership, direction, and expertise across our planning function. You'll oversee a team of planners, ensuring schedules are realistic, integrated, and aligned with programme objectives, while providing strategic planning insight to support effective decision-making across complex engineering programmes.
You'll play a key role in developing planning capability, driving best practice, and ensuring planning standards are consistently applied across the business.
What we need you to deliver
We need you to:
- Lead and develop a team of planners, providing direction, support, coaching, and mentoring
- Oversee the development, maintenance, and management of detailed integrated project schedules using Primavera P6
- Ensure schedules are realistic, achievable, and aligned with programme objectives and business priorities
- Lead planning meetings and schedule reviews with cross-functional stakeholders
- Monitor project progress, identify schedule risks and delays, and implement effective mitigation strategies
- Provide strategic planning insight and schedule analysis to support programme delivery and executive decision-making
- Produce and present dashboards, reports, and forecasts that highlight key milestones, schedule performance, and variance analysis
- Support resource planning and allocation to optimise efficiency and productivity across programmes
- Ensure planning standards, governance processes, and best practice methodologies are consistently applied
- Act as a Rolls-Royce SMR Subject Matter Expert within planning and project controls disciplines
- Drive continuous improvement across planning processes, tools, and reporting capability
- Work closely with Engineering, Supply Chain, Procurement, Programme Management, and Manufacturing stakeholders to ensure integrated delivery planning.
What you'll bring
We're not looking for a "perfect" candidate. If you feel you meet around 75% of the below, we'd really like to hear from you.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
You'll bring:
- Significant experience working within a planning or project controls environment
- Experience leading planning teams and supporting team objectives and day-to-day delivery
- Experience coaching, mentoring, and developing planners and junior project controls professionals
- Strong knowledge of integrated programme planning, including Master Integrated Plans (MIP/IMS) and integrated milestone management
- Experience working across large, complex programmes with multiple stakeholder groups
- Strong stakeholder management skills with experience engaging Engineering, Supply Chain, Procurement, Programme Management, Operations, and Manufacturing teams
- Advanced Primavera P6 expertise, including schedule development, WBS structures, coding structures, resource dictionaries, and schedule architecture
- Strong understanding of Earned Value Management (EVM), baseline management, and change control processes
- Experience integrating schedule, cost, and risk management frameworks
- Experience identifying, monitoring, and mitigating schedule risks through proactive planning
- Experience within complex engineering, nuclear, regulated, or highly technical programme environments
- Knowledge of engineering design maturity and programme delivery lifecycles would be advantageous.
Essential training & qualifications
We need you to have:
- Strong knowledge of Primavera P6 (Practitioner level or equivalent experience)
- APM PMQ or equivalent qualification
- Significant experience working within a Project Controls or PMO environment on complex programmes
- Strong knowledge of project controls disciplines including Earned Value Management, reporting, change control, and baseline management.
Ideally, you'll also bring:
- APM PPC (Practitioner) or a similar project controls qualification
- Experience within the nuclear sector or other highly regulated industries.
- Equivalent experience is welcomed where formal qualifications differ.
How we'll measure success
Success in this role means:
- Delivering mature, integrated schedules that are robust, achievable, and fit for purpose
- Providing high-quality planning insight that supports informed decision-making across the programme
- Successfully developing planning capability through coaching, mentoring, and training activities
- Driving consistency in planning standards, governance, and best practice across projects
- Proactively identifying and mitigating schedule risks before they impact programme delivery
- Being recognised as a trusted planning and project controls Subject Matter Expert across Rolls-Royce SMR.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Reward & benefits
- Competitive salary
- £2,200 flexible benefits allowance
- 12.5% bonus opportunity
- 6x pensionable salary life assurance
- 50% income protection
- 28 days holiday plus bank holidays
- £250 new joiner payment
- Pay Range: £60,000.00 - £78,750.00
Why Join Us?
You’ll be joining a forward-thinking organisation that values transparency, fairness, and innovation. We offer:
- A flexible, inclusive, and supportive working environment.
- Opportunities for career growth in a rapidly scaling business.
- A culture that values diversity, innovation, and continuous learning.
We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all backgrounds. Inclusivity is important to us, and as a Disability Confident organisation, we are committed to fair, supportive, and continually improving recruitment practices that ensure everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
Confidence can sometimes hold us back from applying for a job. But we'll let you in on a secret: there's no such thing as a 'perfect' candidate. If you feel you meet 75% of the requirements for this role, we would love to hear from you.
Also, if you are considering a career move or a sector-jump, please get in touch – we welcome applications from people with transferable skills.
Our Application Process
Due to the safety regulations within the nuclear industry, applicants will be required to participate in additional screening. These are:
- Obtaining Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) clearance
- Satisfactory completion of a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
- Satisfactory completion of a basic financial probity check
#LI-CH1 #LI-Hybrid
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location