Lead Planner - Life Sciences / Biopharmaceutical

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Lead Planner - Life Sciences / Biopharmaceutical

Location: United States - Flexible during design phase / Project-site based during execution
Employment Type: Full-time
Sector: Life Sciences / Pharmaceutical / Biopharmaceutical Construction

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced Lead Planner to support major Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical capital projects across the United States.

The position will provide senior planning leadership across proposal development, design, procurement, construction, commissioning and project handover, helping project teams establish realistic execution strategies and communicate those strategies effectively to clients.

This is not simply a scheduling position. We require an experienced planner who understands how complex technical facilities are actually delivered and can use the project schedule as both a management and communication tool.

The successful candidate will work closely with project management, engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning teams and will be capable of representing the planning function directly with clients and senior project stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead planning and scheduling activities for major Life Sciences and Biopharmaceutical projects.
• Develop integrated project schedules covering engineering/design, procurement, construction, commissioning and handover.
• Develop detailed proposal and preconstruction schedules demonstrating the intended project execution strategy.
• Establish schedule structure, project milestones, execution logic and critical interfaces.
• Work with engineering and project leadership to integrate design deliverables with procurement and construction requirements.
• Integrate equipment procurement, construction activities and commissioning requirements into the overall project schedule.
• Communicate schedule strategy and project execution plans directly to clients and senior stakeholders.
• Identify critical path activities, constraints, interfaces and schedule risks.
• Translate complex schedule data into concise information that project teams can use to make decisions.
• Review project progress and identify potential schedule impacts before they become critical.
• Support forecasting, schedule updates, recovery planning and mitigation strategies.
• Coordinate planning activities across multidisciplinary project teams.
• Support the transition from design and proposal activity into site execution.
• Lead and mentor planners/schedulers as project teams expand.
• Promote consistent planning standards and best practices across major projects.

Required Experience

• Significant planning and scheduling experience on large, complex capital projects.
• Strong experience within Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical, Biopharmaceutical or similarly complex technical facilities.
• Previous experience operating at Lead Planner, Lead Scheduler, Senior Planner/Scheduler or equivalent level.
• Strong understanding of project execution across design, procurement, construction, commissioning and handover.
• Advanced proficiency with Primavera P6.
• Experience developing integrated project schedules rather than solely updating existing programs.
• Strong understanding of critical path methodology, schedule logic, sequencing, interfaces and progress measurement.
• Experience working with multidisciplinary engineering and construction teams.
• Ability to understand the relationship between design deliverables, procurement activities, construction sequencing and commissioning.
• Strong client-facing communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to communicate complex project execution and schedule information clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Experience

• Major pharmaceutical manufacturing, biotechnology, biologics or other Life Sciences facility experience.
• Experience working for an EPC, general contractor, construction manager, engineering consultancy or design-build organization.
• Experience on large greenfield, brownfield or major expansion programs.
• Experience supporting project proposals, estimating/preconstruction and front-end planning.
• Exposure to commissioning, qualification, validation or turnover planning on regulated facilities.
• Experience leading or mentoring multidisciplinary planning teams.
• Experience working on major projects from early design through construction and final handover.

Location & Travel

There can be flexibility regarding home location during proposal and design activities, with travel to engineering or project offices as required.

Once a project transitions into field execution, the successful candidate will be expected to mobilize to the project location. Candidates therefore need to be comfortable with project-based travel and potential relocation within the United States.

What We Are Looking For

The priority is someone with the seniority and credibility to own the planning story of a project.

You should be equally comfortable working inside a complex P6 schedule and sitting with a client or project leadership team explaining the execution strategy behind it. The schedule should not simply report progress; it should communicate the path by which the project will successfully be delivered.

Strong technical scheduling capability is essential, but project understanding, communication, leadership and sector credibility will differentiate the strongest candidates.

TEC Group International is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.