Planning - PAH

Lead the overall project planning, progress monitoring, project controls, cost control, forecasting and reporting functions to ensure projects are delivered within the approved time, cost and resource targets. The role will provide senior management with accurate project performance information, identify risks and deviations, and drive timely corrective actions.

Key Responsibilities

1. Project Planning & Scheduling

• Develop and maintain the overall Project Master Schedule in coordination with engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning teams.
• Establish project WBS, activity coding, milestones, logic, calendars and baseline schedules.
• Prepare detailed L1/L2/L3 schedules and integrate contractor/vendor schedules where required.
• Monitor critical path, near-critical activities, float and schedule constraints.
• Conduct periodic schedule updates and assess the impact of delays and changes.
• Develop recovery plans and acceleration strategies for delayed activities.
• Ensure alignment between project schedule, procurement, engineering, construction and commissioning plans.

2. Progress Monitoring & Performance Management

• Establish project progress measurement systems and define appropriate weightages and progress rules.
• Track planned vs. actual physical progress on a weekly and monthly basis.
• Analyse schedule variance, productivity trends and key performance indicators.
• Prepare S-curves, progress dashboards, look-ahead schedules and management reports.
• Identify delays, bottlenecks, constraints and interface issues and coordinate corrective actions.
• Conduct weekly/monthly progress review meetings with project stakeholders and contractors.

3. Cost Control & Commercial Monitoring

• Establish and maintain the approved Project Budget / Cost Control Budget.
• Monitor committed cost, actual expenditure, accruals, forecast cost and remaining cost to complete.
• Analyse Budget vs. Actual vs. Forecast performance.
• Prepare and maintain Cost Reports, Cash Flow Forecasts and Cost-to-Complete (CTC) reports.
• Monitor cost trends and identify potential cost overruns at an early stage.
• Coordinate with commercial, procurement, finance and project teams for accurate cost reporting.
• Monitor variations, change orders, claims, commitments and their impact on project cost and schedule.
• Ensure proper cost coding and allocation of project expenditure.

4. Earned Value & Project Controls

• Implement appropriate Earned Value Management (EVM) practices where applicable.
• Monitor PV, EV, AC, CPI and SPI and analyse project performance.
• Develop cost and schedule performance forecasts.
• Establish early-warning indicators for potential cost and schedule overruns.
• Recommend corrective and preventive actions to project management.

5. Risk, Change & Forecast Management

• Identify and monitor project risks affecting cost, schedule and completion dates.
• Maintain project risk and opportunity registers in coordination with the project team.
• Assess the time and cost impact of proposed changes.
• Support change management and ensure approved changes are incorporated into budgets and schedules.
• Prepare Estimate at Completion (EAC) and project completion forecasts.
• Conduct scenario analysis for major project risks and delays.

6. Management Reporting

• Prepare comprehensive weekly, monthly and quarterly project control reports.
• Present project performance to Project Director, senior management and stakeholders.
• Provide clear analysis of major deviations, root causes, trends and corrective actions.
• Develop executive dashboards covering:
  • Overall project progress
  • Schedule performance
  • Cost performance
  • Cash flow
  • Procurement status
  • Engineering status
  • Construction productivity
  • Key risks and issues
  • Forecast completion date and cost

7. Team Leadership

• Lead and manage the Planning, Scheduling and Cost Control team.
• Set objectives, allocate responsibilities and review team performance.
• Establish standard project control procedures, templates and reporting systems.
• Mentor and develop junior planning and cost-control professionals.
• Coordinate effectively with engineering, procurement, construction, commercial, finance and contracts teams.

Key Deliverables / KPIs

• Accuracy and timely submission of project schedules and reports.
• Schedule adherence and effective delay management.
• Budget adherence and early identification of cost overruns.
• Forecast accuracy for EAC and completion dates.
• Effective management of changes, variations and claims.
• Quality and reliability of project performance data.
• Timely implementation of corrective and recovery actions.
• Improved project cost and schedule visibility for senior management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil / Mechanical / Electrical Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management or related discipline.
• Postgraduate qualification in Project Management / Construction Management / Finance is an advantage.
• Professional certification such as PMP, PMI-SP, AACE, RICS or equivalent is desirable.

Experience

• Typically 12–18+ years of relevant experience in project planning, project controls, cost control and project monitoring.
• Experience in managing planning and cost-control functions for large-scale construction, infrastructure, EPC, industrial, real estate or engineering projects.
• Strong experience in schedule development, cost forecasting, progress measurement, EVM and management reporting.
• Experience working with contractors, consultants, vendors and multiple project stakeholders.
• Proven experience in managing and mentoring a project controls team.

Technical Skills

• Advanced Primavera P6 / equivalent scheduling software.
• Strong MS Excel skills, including dashboards, data analysis and financial modelling.
• Working knowledge of Power BI or similar reporting/dashboard tools.
• Knowledge of project cost-control systems and ERP platforms such as SAP/Oracle is desirable.
• Strong understanding of:
  • WBS and CBS
  • Baseline management
  • Critical Path Method
  • Earned Value Management
  • Cost-to-Complete
  • Estimate at Completion
  • Cash-flow forecasting
  • Change management
  • Risk management
  • Delay analysis
  • Productivity measurement

Behavioural Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability.
• Excellent leadership and stakeholder-management skills.
• Strong commercial and financial awareness.
• Ability to challenge project assumptions using data and facts.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple priorities.
• Strong attention to detail with a strategic, senior-management perspective.

Senior-Level Role Expectation

The position is expected to function as the Project Controls lead/advisor to the Project Director, providing an independent and integrated view of time, cost, progress, risk and forecast performance, rather than focusing only on schedule preparation or routine reporting.

Job details

• Business: Public Spaces, Airports & Health
• Location: Chennai Head Qrs., Tamil Nadu
• Experience: 5-25 years
• CTC range: ₹4,00,000 – ₹80,00,000 a year
• Skills: Senior Executive Leadership