Senior Planner
| Posting date: | 19 February 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £47,410 to £54,210 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 26 February 2026 |
| Location: | Birmingham, B4 6WR |
| Company: | National Highways |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 7131_1771510175 |
Summary
About the job
National Highways have an excellent opportunity for a Senior Planner to join our central team. The Senior Planner will report to the Portfolio Office Team Leader in delivering excellence in central reporting and consistency across all programmes and schemes. You will also be responsible for embedding the programme planning strategy and associated management processes, tools and documentation, driving measurable improvements in planning and scheduling across National Highways.
- Provide specialist support to regional teams (e.g. Project Managers, Planners, etc.) to document and maintain programme delivery plans and schedules, tracking and monitoring in-year delivery against planned budgets, timescales and quality.
- Compile yearly scheme programmes for the Operations Portfolio Office to serve as the cornerstone of delivering in year and future year targets, supporting the team in working towards and maintaining a "one programme" approach.
- Ensure regional delivery plans are version‑controlled, consistently structured, and maintained in line with agreed Operations standards and wider national requirements.
- Ensure regional project programmes and schedules are produced to a standard of quality, logic, format, and content that allows for accurate and robust interrogation.
- Develop and maintain centralised reporting processes to ensure planning data is easily accessible and delivers meaningful insights that inform effective decision‑making.
About you
- Skilled and experienced in project and programme management methodologies and techniques, with a proven track record in complex operational environments.
- Strong understanding of planning theory and collaborative planning techniques, supported by solid data literacy and a good working knowledge of Excel, with experience in using analysis and modelling to identify issues and drive improvement.
- Proficient in scheduling tools and systems, particularly Primavera P6, able to capture, interpret, and analyse schedule data at both project and programme levels.
- Proven ability to manage, engage, and influence multiple stakeholders to achieve positive outcomes.
- Able to train, mentor, and coach others to support their personal and professional development.
About us
Here at National Highways, we manage and improve England's motorways and major A-roads, helping our customers have safer, smoother and more reliable journeys. Our priorities are safety, customers and delivery, and at the core of this, are our values of passion, integrity, safety, teamwork and ownership.
Operations is at the heart of keeping the strategic road network moving and ensuring our customers get the best possible experience when using our roads.
We address over 39,000 customer enquiries every month, plan and deliver all maintenance activities on the network, drive efficiencies and improvements across our systems and roads, and respond to incidents across 4,500 miles of motorways and major A-roads that we manage.
External candidates will be offered a starting salary at the lower end of the pay scale, while current employees will be appointed in accordance with our established pay policy.
We are committed to creating a diverse environment and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme