Sr. Program Planner

Job Title: Sr. Program Planner

Location: Tiverton, ON (Hybrid)

Estimated Duration: 12 Months

Senior Program Planner (Program Planning and Controls Lead)
Role summary
Lead the design and implementation of an integrated program planning approach that improves schedule quality and cost forecasting consistency across large capital work. This is a client-facing leadership role responsible for structuring program plans (WBS and control frameworks), improving project controls discipline, and driving adoption through practical implementation plans, governance, and change management.

Key outcomes

• A program plan structure (WBS, coding, calendar, progress rules) that supports consistent planning, forecasting, and reporting across the capital projects portfolio
• Improved schedule quality and reliable actuals collection processes, leveraging supervisor inputs in the absence of field surveyors
• Standardized forecasting cadence, KPI definitions, and governance that improves cost and schedule accuracy
• A concrete implementation roadmap, delivered through to operationalization and sustained adoption

Responsibilities

• Identify detailed issues preventing schedule / forecast quality across a large portfolio of capital projects (refurbishment, maintenance and new build); recommend and design solutions and lead solution implementation and operationalization
  • Establish schedule quality management practices (validation rules, schedule health checks, variance analysis, audit routines) and drive consistent use across teams
  • Build and implement processes that improve schedule and cost forecasting consistency, accuracy, and repeatability
  • Partner with construction and field supervision to strengthen actuals collection, verification, and timeliness using practical workflows and accountability
  • Translate findings into an implementation plan with clear actions, owners, timelines, risks, and dependencies, then lead delivery through completion
  • Provide coaching and upskilling to project controls staff related to planning, forecasting, and analytics literacy
  • Collaborate with information and reporting resources to align Primavera and financial systems outputs to a single, trusted reporting approach
  • Communicate recommendations and implementation status confidently with stakeholders while balancing pragmatism, site realities, and change readiness

Required qualifications and experience

• 10+ years in program/project planning and project controls on industrial capital projects (power generation, utilities, heavy industrial, construction, oil and gas, mining, or similar)
• Proven experience structuring program plans and WBS models for planning and control across multiple projects
• Experience in defining control measures that enable cross portfolio and external benchmarking
• Strong Primavera P6 expertise (WBS structures, baselines, progress measurement, coding standards, schedule quality checks)
• Solid understanding of solution architecture across disparate systems
• Solid understanding of cost forecasting fundamentals and reconciliation of plan vs actuals
• Demonstrated ability to implement change, including stakeholder engagement, training, governance, and adoption tracking
• Strong client-facing leadership, facilitation, and communication skills
• Proven critical thinking and lateral problem-solving skills
• Strong knowledge of organizational change management and how to drive adoption of new processes within a large, complex, regulated enterprise

Tools and analytics

• Primavera P6 required
• EcoSys experience strongly preferred (especially in a nuclear or utility environment)
• Working knowledge of Power BI and performance analytics concepts

Nice to have

• AACE (PSP), PMI-SP, or equivalent project controls credentials
• Experience building benchmarking frameworks and cross-project performance analytics
• Experience in regulated environments with strong quality and governance expectations