Planning Engineer
Career information and advice on being a Planning Engineer

Planning Engineers develop the most appropriate method and sequence of operations for a particular job in conjunction with other planners and team leaders.

They plan and oversee the entire programme of work and must anticipate a job's demands in terms of overall and individual activities.  Categories include time, labour, materials, equipment and technical challenges.

As well as ensuring that work is completed safely to high technical and quality standards, the planning engineer is also responsible for drawing up the contract between the supplier and customer.  This can be a major responsibility when penalty clauses for late completion are written into contracts. The Planning Engineer will also be responsible for preparing and managing contracts with sub-contractors.

Planning Engineers are usually employed by the company that has been commissioned to complete the job. They could, however, also be employed by a client if the company is big enough to handle the task itself.

Other opportunities for Planning Engineers are specialised fields within Planning Engineering, usually on very large or highly specialised jobs, for example Quality Planning Engineers, Technical Planning Engineers, Telecomms Planning Engineers, and Petroleum Production Planning Engineers.

Closely related careers include Contract Managers and Project  Managers. 

Working under a Project  Manager, a Planning Engineer could work closely with Architects, Accountants, Other Engineers and Planners, Buyers, Lawyers, Master Builders, Plumbers, Carpenters, Interior Designers, the client and local utility companies.  The exact team will depend on the technical area of the job to be carried out.

Your Functions May include

• selecting the appropriate techniques and sequence of events for a particular job
• presenting schedules of work, often with visual aids such as bar charts and procedure diagrams
• using specialist planning and management computer software, such as Artemis, Suretrack or Microsoft Project
• monitoring progress throughout the job and comparing this with the schedule of work
• liaising with the client and other team members throughout the project, making adjustments to tasks as necessary
• providing advice and support on the development of specific systems