Planning Lead

Overview

Planning Lead responsible for planning leadership, schedule governance, and delivery assurance for data center construction and infrastructure projects delivered under a Project Management Consultancy (PMC) model, acting as the client's planning and controls representative.

What you'll do

• Lead planning and controls activities across the full project lifecycle, including design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and handover.
• Develop, maintain, and govern integrated master schedules and detailed project programs in alignment with PMC and client standards.
• Establish planning principles, schedule structures, coding, and reporting frameworks across the project portfolio.
• Act as the central authority for schedule integrity, logic, and baseline management.
• Review, validate, and integrate contractor and consultant schedules into a coordinated master program.
• Ensure alignment of design, procurement, construction, and commissioning activities across all workstreams.
• Define and manage key milestones, critical paths, and interface dependencies.
• Support phasing strategies, fast-track delivery, and concurrent construction models common to data center projects.
• Implement consistent progress measurement methodologies across all disciplines and contractors.
• Track progress against baselines, identify variances, and provide forward-looking forecasts.
• Prepare high-quality schedule reports, dashboards, and executive summaries for client and project leadership.
• Highlight risks to milestones and critical paths, with clear mitigation and recovery options.
• Support identification of schedule-related risks and development of mitigation strategies.
• Perform schedule impact assessments for changes, delays, and scope adjustments.
• Support recovery planning, acceleration strategies, and what-if scenario analysis.
• Contribute to risk registers and delivery assurance reviews from a planning perspective.
• Perform schedule delay analysis using appropriate methodologies (e.g., impacted as-planned, time impact analysis, as-built vs. as-planned).
• Review contractor delay notifications, extension of time (EOT) submissions, and time-related claims from a planning and technical perspective.
• Independently assess the validity of delay causes, critical path impacts, and entitlement implications (schedule-focused, non-commercial).
• Support the client and Project Director with objective, data-driven advice related to delay responsibility and mitigation options.
• Maintain robust schedule records and contemporaneous updates to support defensible delay assessments.
• Coordinate closely with contractors, subcontractors, vendors, and multidisciplinary consultants.
• Challenge and validate contractor progress updates, logic, sequencing, and forecasts.
• Facilitate planning workshops, look-ahead sessions, and interface coordination meetings.
• Promote consistent planning standards and a collaborative, transparent approach to schedule management.

What you'll need

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, or a related discipline.
• 15-20 years of experience in project planning, scheduling, or project controls.
• Direct experience supporting data center or mission-critical infrastructure projects.
• Proven experience managing integrated schedules across complex, multi-contractor environments.
• Experience working in mission-critical and data center delivery environments.
• Strong understanding of data center construction sequencing and phased handover strategies.
• Knowledge of commissioning, integrated systems testing (IST), and readiness-for-operations sequencing.
• Familiarity with redundancy-driven sequencing, concurrent builds, and live environment constraints.
• Ability to interpret technical inputs from electrical, mechanical, ICT, and specialist systems into integrated schedules.
• Advanced proficiency in planning and controls tools such as Primavera P6 and Microsoft Project.
• Experience with reporting and visualization tools (e.g., Power BI or equivalent).
• Working knowledge of PMI, PRINCE2, or equivalent project controls methodologies.
• Understanding of schedule risk analysis, critical path management, and planning best practices.
• Strong data management and reporting governance capability.
• Strong coordination and contractor interface management skills.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving capability.
• Clear, concise communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Ability to translate complex schedule data into actionable insights.
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced, high-risk, mission-critical delivery environments.
• Detail-oriented, proactive, and delivery-focused mindset.

Nice to have

• PMP, PMI-SP, PRINCE2, or equivalent project management or planning certification.
• Primavera P6 professional certification is an advantage.

Details

• Location: On-site, Hyderabad, TS.
• Scheduled weekly hours: 48.