Lead Planning Engineer Mechanical

Job Description Roles & Responsibilities Position Summary: The Lead Planner – Mechanical is accountable for planning and scheduling, cost control, invoicing, progress reporting, client coordination, meetings, and correspondence for mechanical construction scopes on major industrial projects in Saudi Arabia. The role oversees baseline schedule development, resource and manpower loading, progress measurement, earned value, look-ahead planning, delay analysis, recovery planning, and completion forecasting across greenfield and brownfield projects. The position provides Project Management with accurate and auditable schedule status and completion forecasts, while leading the mechanical planning function, establishing planning standards, and developing team capability. Schedule Development and Baseline Control Develop the mechanical component of the Level 1, 2 and 3 project schedules with resources loading in Primavera P6 in accordance with the contract Work Breakdown Structure and approved activity coding structure. Establish the mechanical logic network encompassing equipment setting, piping fabrication and erection, welding, NDT, testing, pre-commissioning support and mechanical completion. Derive activity durations from quantity data and validated productivity norms, reconciled against the tender estimate and historical project performance. Resource-load and manpower-load the mechanical schedule; produce craft-wise histograms covering fitters, welders, riggers, millwrights, scaffolders and support labour. Conduct critical path and near-critical path analysis; identify float consumption, constraints and schedule exposure across the mechanical scope. Issue the mechanical baseline schedule for client review and approval, incorporate client comment, and maintain the approved baseline under formal revision control. Develop Level 4 and Level 5 detailed schedules for congested areas, tie-in windows, shutdown campaigns and critical equipment installation sequences. Maintain the schedule basis document covering assumptions, constraints, calendars, productivity rates and exclusions. Progress Measurement and Performance Reporting Establish the mechanical progress measurement system, including rules of credit, activity weightages and quantity-based earned value methodology. Verify weekly physical progress against installed quantities and independently substantiate field returns prior to incorporation into the schedule. Update the Primavera P6 schedule on the approved data date; calculate planned, earned and actual progress and report variance against the baseline. Issue weekly and monthly progress reports incorporating S-curves, manpower histograms, performance indices (SPI, CPI), critical path status and completion forecast. Report equipment installation status, piping erection by diameter-inch, weld progress, NDT clearance and test pack completion against the approved plan. Develop and maintain the mechanical completion and system turnover schedule in alignment with the commissioning sequence and RFSU milestones. Present mechanical schedule status and performance analysis at internal project reviews and client progress meetings. Look-Ahead Planning and Execution Support Issue rolling three-week and six-week look-ahead schedules; identify, assign and escalate constraints affecting the mechanical scope. Coordinate with Construction to confirm crew allocation, work-front availability, access provision and equipment readiness in advance of planned activities. Monitor engineering deliverable and material availability against the mechanical schedule; report late IFC drawings, isometrics, vendor data and bulk materials as schedule exposure. Interface with Procurement on equipment and material delivery status; incorporate confirmed and forecast dates into the schedule and quantify the impact of slippage. Plan brownfield activities around tie-in windows, shutdown durations, permit-to-work cycles, hot work restrictions and simultaneous operations. Support Construction in developing area-wise and system-wise execution sequences that protect the critical path. Forecasting, Recovery and Change Control Forecast mechanical completion dates and remaining man-hour expenditure on a substantiated basis, independent of contractual milestone dates. Develop recovery and acceleration schedules in response to schedule slippage, with quantified resource and cost implications for management decision. Perform scenario and what-if analysis on sequence revision, resource augmentation, extended shift working and amended shutdown windows. Assess the schedule impact of variations, change orders and scope growth; prepare time impact analyses in support of Extension of Time submissions. Maintain contemporaneous records substantiating delay and disruption events attributable to the client or third parties. Provide schedule evidence and analytical support to the Commercial function for claims, counterclaims and prolongation cost assessment. Interface Management and Project Controls Systems Coordinate mechanical planning with civil, structural, electrical, instrumentation, insulation and painting disciplines to establish realistic sequencing and interface dates. Review and validate subcontractor schedules and progress claims against the master schedule and approved measurement system. Reconcile planned man-hours against the award estimate and provide productivity feedback to the Estimation function at project close-out. Maintain schedule and progress data within the project controls environment (Primavera P6, ERP and reporting dashboards) with full auditability. Ensure schedule compliance with client planning specifications and reporting protocols, including Saudi Aramco schedule and progress requirements where applicable. Leadership and Functional Development Direct and supervise the mechanical planning team; allocate workload and review all schedule updates and reports prior to issue. Mentor and develop junior planners, with emphasis on construction execution methodology and field sequencing. Establish and enforce planning standards, coding structures, templates, rules of credit and quality control procedures. Capture actual productivity and duration performance from executed work and maintain the corporate historical planning database. Contribute to project close-out reviews and to the continuous improvement of corporate planning procedures. Desired Candidate Profile Qualification: Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from a recognized university. Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE) registration, or immediate eligibility to register. Primavera P6 formal training or vendor certification. Work Experience: Minimum 5-10 years of progressive experience in planning and scheduling within the EPC sector. Demonstrated planning delivery on petrochemical, refinery, oil & gas, power generation and process plant projects. Proven experience across both greenfield and brownfield / revamp scopes, including shutdown and tie-in planning. Ownership of the mechanical Level 3 baseline schedule on at least one major project from baseline development through to mechanical completion. Demonstrated competence in progress measurement, earned value reporting, productivity analysis and completion forecasting .Direct project experience with Saudi Aramco, SABIC, SEC, SATORP, Ma’aden, Petro Rabigh, Luberef, YASREF or equivalent operators, with familiarity in their planning and reporting protocols preferred. Exposure to delay analysis, time impact analysis and Extension of Time substantiation; prior site engineering or field supervision experience preceding transition into planning; wider GCC project exposure preferred. Employment Type Full Time Company Industry Oil & GasPetroleum Department / Functional Area Corporate PlanningConsultingStrategyM&A Keywords Senior Project Engineer Mechanical PlanningSenior Mechanical PlannerSenior Planning Engineer MechanicalWork Breakdown Structure WBSProject SchedulingCritical Path Method CPMRisk ManagementResource Allocation Get real-time job updates only on our App