Senior Engineer- Planning (Rail Project)

Role Summary The Senior Planning Engineer works within the consultant's project controls team, acting on behalf of the client to oversee the planning and schedule performance of the contractors delivering a multi-contract rail programme in the UAE. The role reviews and accepts contractor programmes, monitors and verifies progress, maintains an integrated programme-level view across all contracts, and provides independent assessment of schedule variances, delays and extension of time claims.

The role also gives the client clear, concise and executive-level insight into programme status, critical path and schedule risk.

Key Responsibilities

Contractor Programme Review and Acceptance Review contractors' baseline programmes for compliance with contract requirements, including key dates, milestones, sectional completion, WBS structure, logic, resource loading and constraints, and recommend acceptance or rejection with clear, documented comments. Review and challenge EPC schedule logic, float use, critical path integrity and durations, making sure programmes are realistic and fit for use in progress monitoring and delay assessment.

Review contractors' revised programmes, recovery programmes and monthly updates, making sure changes are properly justified and do not hide delay or float manipulation. Specify and enforce planning requirements, such as WBS, coding structure, update procedures and submission formats, so reporting is consistent across all contracts.

Integrated Programme Management Develop and maintain the integrated master programme, combining all contractor programmes with design, authority approvals, third-party works and client-side activities. Identify and manage interfaces and dependencies between contracts (civil, trackwork, rail systems, stations, depots), highlighting cross-contract risks to the critical path early. Assess how delays on one contract affect the others and the overall programme completion date.

Progress Monitoring and Verification Independently verify contractor-reported progress through site inspections, measurement records, design deliverable status and procurement tracking. Agree progress measurement methods and rules of credit with contractors and hold them to it. Track schedule performance using Earned Value Management (EVM), including SPI and CPI, earned value, planned value and forecast trends, and relate it to cost and payment performance.

Reporting to the Client Prepare weekly and monthly progress reports and presentations for the client, summarising status, key issues, critical path movement, risks and recommended actions at an executive level. Produce programme dashboards, S-curves, milestone trackers and look-ahead summaries across all contracts. Present schedule findings in progress meetings and hold contractors to account for slippage and recovery commitments.

Variance, Delay and Claims Assessment Identify and investigate schedule variances, determine root causes, and instruct or request recovery measures from contractors. Independently assess contractors' extension of time (EOT) claims and time impact analyses (TIAs), and prepare the Engineer's assessment. Assess the time effect of variations, instructions and change requests before they are issued, so the client understands the schedule consequences of its decisions.

Keep independent schedule records to support the client's position in claims and disputes. Scope and Change Control Support scope control and change management across the programme, making sure approved changes are properly reflected in contractor programmes and the integrated master programme. Interpret drawings, specifications and contract documents to check that contractor programmes reflect the full contracted scope.

Qualifications and Experience Bachelor's degree in civil engineering, Construction Management or a related discipline. At least 10 years of planning and scheduling experience on major infrastructure projects. Experience on rail, metro or light rail projects. Advanced proficiency in Primavera P6. Proven experience assessing EOT claims and TIAs, and applying delay analysis methods. Strong working knowledge of FIDIC contracts, particularly programme, progress, delay and claims provisions.

Solid understanding of CPM scheduling, WBS, progress measurement and EVM. UAE or GCC rail experience, such as Etihad Rail, Dubai Metro or similar programmes. Experience with multi-contract programmes and interface management. Experience with schedule risk analysis tools and Power BI reporting.

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