Wood Plc GCC
Lead Planner - EOI
- Permanent
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Experience 5 - 10 yrs
Job expiry date: 15/02/2026
Job overview
Date posted
01/01/2026
Location
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Salary
AED 20,000 - 30,000 per month
Compensation
Comprehensive package
Experience
5 - 10 yrs
Seniority
Senior & Lead
Qualification
Bachelors degree
Expiration date
15/02/2026
Job description
The Lead Planner role within Woodâs UAE Business Unit focuses on the preparation, review, maintenance, and reporting of accurate project schedules and plans for a Major Onshore Brownfield Oil & Gas Project in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The position is a full-time, office-based role with travel requirements and plays a critical role in ensuring robust project control throughout the full project lifecycle. The role is responsible for developing detailed and accurate project schedules in accordance with contractual requirements, Wood policies, procedures, and standards, ensuring schedules are fully logic linked, resource-loaded, baselined, and clearly identify critical paths, total float, and work pack delivery milestones. The Lead Planner supports project execution by integrating planning with engineering, procurement, construction, and cost disciplines, ensuring accurate forecasting of man-hour budgets, assessing schedule impacts of change notifications, and participating in schedule risk analysis. The role also drives continuous improvement within the Planning team, participates in Project Controls Compliance and Continuous Improvement Reviews, and contributes to mentoring and development of planning personnel. Wood operates in complex upstream and midstream oil and gas environments, supporting brownfield and greenfield projects with a strong focus on energy security, decarbonisation, and sustainable workforce development across the Middle East.
Required skills
Key responsibilities
- Prepare, review, maintain, and report accurate project schedules and plans in support of robust project control throughout the full project lifecycle in accordance with contractual requirements and Wood policies, procedures, and standards
- Act as the planning focal point for specific project scopes, maintaining planning control structures aligned with the approved Work Breakdown Structure and ensuring baseline project plans and schedules are developed using appropriate scheduling software
- Monitor and control planning activities across all project phases, ensuring schedules are fully logic linked, resource loaded, show critical path and total float, and are baselined following client approval of project funding
- Liaise with engineering, procurement, construction, cost disciplines, and third parties to maintain awareness of project activities, status, schedule impacts, manpower requirements, and change notifications
- Review and issue updates to project schedules, manpower requirements, progress reports, and performance status reports in accordance with project reporting calendars and requirements
- Assess schedule impacts of change notifications, integrate approved changes into schedules, and ensure accurate forecasting and control of man-hour budgets in coordination with cost control teams
- Monitor overall project progress, achievement of milestones, and evaluate project performance against planned performance using earned value techniques, cost and schedule variance analysis, and trending
- Participate in and lead schedule risk analysis activities and Project Controls Compliance and Continuous Improvement Reviews
- Mentor, guide, and support the career development of planning personnel and contribute to the management and development of the Planning team
Experience & skills
- Hold a Bachelorâs Degree (ISCED level 6) in a relevant technical or business discipline or equivalent vocational training and/or industry experience
- Possess a minimum of 5 years of relevant scheduling and planning experience, including prior experience in a senior planning role within major oil and gas projects
- Demonstrate advanced knowledge of Primavera and other scheduling software, including logic development, Critical Path Method analysis, resource loading and levelling techniques
- Exhibit advanced understanding of Work Breakdown Structure and Cost Breakdown Structure development, project reporting capabilities, earned value application, cost and schedule variance analysis, and what-if scenario planning
- Demonstrate strong understanding of cost management, change control, planning, risk analysis, and project management principles and techniques within complex project environments
