Planning Manager
NewShapoorji Pallonji
Planning Manager Jobs in Dubai – Job Overview
This ‘Planning Manager Jobs in Dubai’ listing covers the advertised Planning Manager vacancy in Dubai. Shapoorji Pallonji lists a Planning Manager vacancy in Dubai, UAE, within MEP project planning. For applicants exploring ‘Planning Manager UAE Jobs’, this listing identifies the advertised discipline and eligibility criteria. The notice gives the address as Office No. 201, 5W (West) A Wing, Al Quds Street, Dubai. It also states a preference for candidates with relevant MEP project experience.
Job description
The following workflow describes general Planning Manager practice in MEP construction, not duties confirmed by this employer. Planning begins with establishing what the programme must deliver and which documents define that commitment. A manager typically compares contractual milestones, scope boundaries, design information and procurement assumptions before accepting a baseline schedule. Mechanical and electrical packages need workable interfaces with structural completion, access and finishing activities. The initial decision is whether each sequence reflects a physical dependency or merely a convenient date. Unresolved assumptions need an owner and a review point so that later updates do not quietly treat uncertainty as fact.
Developing the programme means translating package scope into activities with meaningful durations and measurable completion criteria. An installation activity should connect logically to the information, materials and access needed to start it. The manager examines whether proposed outputs match available work fronts and realistic crew productivity, rather than simply compressing dates. Long procurement sequences may need separate allowances for technical approval, manufacture, delivery and inspection. Testing and commissioning also need space in the logic because installed equipment is not necessarily ready for operation. These decisions make the schedule a model of executable work rather than a list of desired finishes.
Planning Manager Jobs in Dubai – General Work Context
During an update, the manager needs evidence that distinguishes completed quantities from work that has merely started. Site progress records, agreed measurement rules and procurement status can help explain movement against the baseline. A consistent reporting cut-off matters: mixing information from different dates can distort both remaining duration and apparent productivity. The next check concerns schedule logic and the critical path, not only the percentage complete. For example, a package can appear well advanced while one unfinished dependency still controls a milestone. The manager separates verified progress, forecast assumptions and unresolved information so that decision-makers can judge the reliability of the completion date.
Consider a general example in which a supplier moves the forecast delivery date of a major electrical switchboard. The Planning Manager first checks the revised date, approval status and affected installation links before concluding that project completion will slip. Available float may absorb part of the change, while dependent testing could remain exposed. The manager then compares feasible resequencing with procurement or technical alternatives, seeking confirmation from the people authorised to assess them. Any recovery proposal needs a credible resource basis and must not bypass necessary inspections. The project lead needs the forecast impact, decision deadline and remaining uncertainty, rather than an unsupported assurance that time can be recovered.
Coordination and completion
Coordination turns the analysis into decisions that other disciplines can act on. Design teams need to understand which outstanding information now constrains planned work, while procurement teams need dates linked to actual installation priorities. Construction leads need visibility of upcoming access and interface requirements, not just an overall completion target. A Planning Manager usually brings these perspectives together and distinguishes agreed commitments from provisional forecasts. Where a change may affect contractual milestones, the manager preserves the chronology and supporting records for the appropriate commercial review. Planning evidence can inform that review without independently proving responsibility or entitlement to additional time.
Completion planning requires a different check from tracking installation volume: the manager tests whether the programme includes the steps needed for acceptance. Depending on project scope, these may include inspections, functional testing, commissioning dependencies and handover documentation. Remaining activities need clear completion evidence, particularly when several packages contribute to one operational system. The manager also reviews whether proposed acceleration creates unrealistic overlap or conflicts with safe access and required quality checks. During each reporting cycle, a useful forecast explains what changed, what remains achievable and which decisions could alter the outcome. That distinction helps project leadership act on the programme rather than merely receive it.
Typical Duties & Responsibilities (General Role Guidance)
- Maintain a register of planning assumptions, identifying the responsible discipline and the evidence needed for closure.
- Review activity coding so that package, location and discipline summaries remain traceable to the underlying schedule entries.
- Compare resource demand across concurrent work fronts to identify peaks requiring discussion before commitments become unrealistic.
- Check short-term look-ahead plans for unresolved constraints, recording which blockers require attention before planned starts.
- Record approved programme revisions with clear version histories so that teams can distinguish current plans from superseded forecasts.
- Analyse recurring variance patterns to distinguish isolated reporting errors from persistent weaknesses in planning assumptions.
- Review planning submissions for inconsistent calendars or missing links that could make calculated dates misleading.
- Track agreed planning actions through subsequent reviews, documenting closure or explaining why an outstanding decision remains unresolved.
Candidate Profile
Applicants can prepare a truthful example of improving the reliability of a planning team's reporting, rather than simply naming projects or software. For example, explain how inconsistent quantity measurements were identified, how reporting definitions changed and what evidence showed a more dependable forecast. Use anonymised figures and describe your own contribution without sharing confidential schedules. Candidates can also clarify the portfolio size, reporting line, planning team structure and authority to recommend programme changes. These preparation suggestions are general guidance, not additional selection requirements.
Qualifications & Requirements
- Experience: 16–20 yrs; Min. 5 years as Planning Manager in GCC. GCC experience is mandatory. Candidates with relevant work experience in MEP projects will be preferred.
- Education or qualification: B.E. - Mechanical / Electrical.
- 16–20 yrs
- Min. 5 years as Planning Manager in GCC.
- GCC experience is mandatory.
- Candidates with relevant work experience in MEP projects will be preferred.
Useful Skills & Competencies
- Network reasoning involves understanding how dependencies, float and calendar choices influence the credibility of a completion forecast.
- MEP interface awareness involves recognising how mechanical and electrical systems depend on coordinated design, access and commissioning sequences.
- Quantitative judgement involves interpreting productivity and progress data without confusing numerical precision with reliable underlying evidence.
- Scenario evaluation involves weighing alternative sequences against resource limits and technical constraints before presenting a preferred option.
- Management communication involves explaining schedule exposure and decision consequences clearly to technical colleagues and project leadership.
- Planning leadership involves challenging unsupported assumptions constructively while helping planners apply consistent reasoning across complex work packages.
How to Apply
Send your application to uaemephr@shapoorji.com.
About Company
Shapoorji Pallonji Group is active in engineering, construction, infrastructure and other sectors. This independently verified background is general company information, not an additional condition of this vacancy.
For independently published company background, see Shapoorji Pallonji Group — official About page. This company information does not verify that this particular vacancy remains open.
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