Head of Planning

About us

Network Rail Consulting (NRC) is the international consultancy arm of Network Rail, the owner and operator of Britain’s railway. Since 2013, we’ve delivered over 200 consultancy contracts across Australia, the Middle East, and North America, supporting government agencies, public and private organisations, and passenger and freight operators.

Our reputation is built on consistently high levels of client satisfaction and technical expertise. We are driven by our core values: Agile, Always Safe, Care About People, Collaborative, Impartial and Passionate.

We offer a competitive and flexible employee experience, including:

• Highly competitive market rate salaries;
• Generous annual leave - 25 days per year, plus the option to buy or sell leave;
• Above award Parental Leave program;
• Life Insurance & Total Permanent Disability cover;
• Novated car leasing arrangements;
• Career development pathways;
• Learning & development programs;
• Rewards Gateway employee discounts; and
• Flexible working arrangements.

About the opportunity

We are seeking an experienced Senior Project Planner to join our growing Brisbane-based team as Head of Planning. This role requires strong expertise in project scheduling and controls, with advanced proficiency in Primavera P6, and the capability to lead planning functions across complex infrastructure programs.

In this role, you will lead planning, scheduling, and risk management across major infrastructure programs, with a particular focus on digital signalling and ETCS projects. You will develop and maintain integrated schedules aligned to key milestones, dependencies, and delivery objectives, while embedding robust planning and risk management practices.

Working closely with multidisciplinary teams, you will manage interfaces, drive accurate reporting, and provide clear, actionable insights into schedule performance. You will also support governance processes and contribute to the continuous improvement of planning standards, tools, and methodologies.

You will bring a proactive, adaptable, and delivery-focused approach, with the ability to respond to evolving project and business needs.

Key Accountabilities

• Develop, maintain and manage integrated project schedules, ensuring alignment across multiple workstreams and stakeholders.
• Provide accurate and timely schedule updates, analysis and reporting to internal leadership and external stakeholders.
• Produce high-quality program reporting to support governance forums, senior leadership and project boards.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to capture progress, validate assumptions and ensure schedule integrity.
• Lead planning sessions, scheduling reviews and program workshops to drive alignment and accountability.
• Lead Quantitative Schedule Risk Analysis across complex programs.
• Undertake critical path analysis and proactively identify risks, constraints and opportunities impacting delivery.
• Implement and maintain effective project controls processes, including schedule governance, change management and performance tracking.
• Support risk and issue management processes by ensuring alignment between schedule impacts and risk registers.
• Monitor and track project risks and issues, ensuring accurate and timely updates are recorded and managed.
• Facilitate risk and planning workshops, supporting teams to identify, assess and mitigate delivery risks.
• Provide guidance and support to project teams on planning standards, tools and best practices.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with clients and key stakeholders to support successful project outcomes

About You

Essential Experience & Qualifications:

• Significant project planning experience within the transport and rail sector.
• Advanced proficiency in Primavera P6, with strong understanding of the project lifecycle and planning best practices.
• Experience in schedule risk analysis and integrating planning activities with broader project controls and risk frameworks.
• Proven ability to operate in client-facing/consultancy environments, with strong stakeholder engagement and influence across senior leaders and technical SMEs.
• High attention to detail, with the ability to interrogate, validate and assure complex programmes and schedule integrity.
• Strong commercial and governance awareness, ensuring compliance with project controls standards and organisational requirements.
• Excellent planning, prioritisation and problem-solving skills, with the ability to deliver under pressure to tight deadlines.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to distil complex information into clear, concise insights and reporting.
• Proficient in MS Office and reporting tools, with a proactive, delivery-focused mindset and ownership of outcomes.

Desirable:

• Experience leading and delivering project planning activities on digital signalling or ETCS programs.

Sound interesting?

Apply today and our Talent Acquisition team will review your application in due course.

Pre-Employment Checks

Successful candidates will be required to undergo pre-employment checks which include a national criminal history check and reference checks.

Network Rail Consulting is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of age, race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, or veteran status. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are encouraged to apply!

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation!