Planner at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

Project Planning and Control

• Develop, deliver, and maintain realistic, integrated project plans and control structures for large-scale, complex capital investment projects.
• Ensure plans are aligned with project objectives, scope, and constraints.
• Drive the development of project schedules by defining activities, sequencing, estimating durations, assigning resources, and identifying interdependencies.

Baseline and Schedule Management

• Lead the creation and maintenance of project baselines, ensuring alignment with approved budgets and milestones.
• Integrate risk, contingency, and resource considerations into schedule development using deterministic and probabilistic approaches.

Progress Monitoring and Performance Tracking

• Monitor and report on project schedule performance through regular updates and analysis of progress against baseline.
• Conduct critical path and trend analysis to identify deviations and opportunities for corrective action.
• Track and support risk mitigation efforts associated with schedule performance.

Change Management

• Review scope change requests to assess their impact on project schedules and the critical path.
• Provide alternative scheduling options to support timely decision-making in response to change.

Contract and Milestone Alignment

• Ensure that all contract milestones and key dates are reflected accurately in the integrated master schedule.
• Review and evaluate contractor bid schedules and planning deliverables to support procurement and contract award recommendations.

Standards, Tools, and Process Implementation

• Implement and ensure adherence to standardised planning tools, templates, and procedures.
• Enforce compliance with planning governance and quality assurance protocols.
• Promote continuous improvement through lessons learned and benchmarking data.

Reporting and Communication

• Prepare and deliver high-quality planning inputs for project reports, risk reviews, and performance dashboards.
• Communicate planning insights and risks effectively to stakeholders, including senior leadership and project delivery teams.

Knowledge Management

• Compile and deliver project close-out and planning data to support knowledge retention, continuous learning, and future project success.

Skills & Experience Required:

• Proven experience in project planning for Corporate Real Estate and capital investment programmes.
• Advanced proficiency in planning and scheduling tools (e.g., Primavera P6, MS Project).
• Strong understanding of project lifecycle, risk management, and earned value techniques.
• Familiarity with deterministic and probabilistic schedule risk analysis.
• Excellent analytical, organisational, and communication skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and manage competing priorities in a dynamic environment.

Minimum Requirements:

• Mandatory: Degree in Engineering, Project Management, Construction, or related field.
• Mandatory: Experience in Planning for Capital Investment Portfolio and Corporate Real Estate (5 – 8 years)
• Mandatory: Experience working in Construction and or Consultation in Built Environment (8 – 10 years)
• Advantageous: Professional Certification in planning or project controls (e.g., PMI-SP, AACE, or equivalent) advantageous.

Education

• Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)

End Date: January 2, 2026