Outage / Shutdown Planner

Are you an experienced planner who has used MS Project Planner? Do you have experience with outages / shutdowns / turnarounds? Are you looking for a contract role? We are seeking an experienced Project Planner to support the development and delivery of planned outage programs. The successful candidate will be responsible for creating and managing detailed project schedules using Microsoft Project, ensuring outages are planned, coordinated, and delivered safely and efficiently from start to finish. This role will work closely with engineering teams, operational stakeholders, and contractors to ensure outage activities are fully scoped, sequenced, and resourced, enabling successful execution within tight operational windows. Key responsibilities Outage Planning & Scheduling • Develop and maintain detailed outage schedules using Microsoft Project. • Build work breakdown structures (WBS), task dependencies, and resource-loaded plans. • Identify and manage the critical path and key milestones across the outage programme. • Ensure outage activities are properly sequenced and aligned with operational constraints. Schedule Management • Maintain and update live schedules throughout the outage lifecycle. • Monitor progress against the baseline schedule and identify schedule risks or delays. • Implement recovery plans where required to maintain delivery timelines. Stakeholder Coordination • Work closely with engineering teams, project managers, contractors, and operational stakeholders. • Facilitate planning workshops, outage readiness reviews, and coordination meetings. • Provide regular schedule reporting and progress updates to senior stakeholders. Risk & Governance • Identify scheduling risks and implement mitigation strategies. • Ensure outage plans comply with health, safety, and operational requirements. • Maintain planning documentation and scheduling records. Continuous Improvement • Support post-outage reviews and integrate lessons learned into future outage planning. • Contribute to the development of planning standards, templates, and scheduling best practice. Requirements Essential • Familiarity with maintenance shutdowns or planned outages. • Proven experience as a Project Planner or Outage Planner in complex operational environments. • Strong experience using Microsoft Project for detailed project scheduling. • Experience building and managing complex project schedules with dependencies and resource planning. • Ability to work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary teams and contractors. Desirable • Experience within utilities, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, or engineering sectors