Associate Director Planning
Dubai Holding is seeking an experienced Associate Director Planning to provide strategic leadership and governance across project and portfolio planning activities.
This role is responsible for overseeing integrated planning frameworks across complex programmes, ensuring alignment between project schedules, resources, and delivery priorities. The successful candidate will provide executive-level insights on schedule performance, forecasting, and risk, supporting informed decision-making and delivery assurance across the organisation.
Key responsibilities
- Provide strategic oversight of project and portfolio-level schedules to ensure alignment with business priorities and long-term objectives
- Establish and maintain planning standards, methodologies, and governance frameworks across projects
- Review and approve baseline schedules and major schedule revisions for high-value or complex programmes
- Oversee the development and maintenance of integrated master schedules across major programmes and portfolios
- Conduct independent schedule assurance reviews including critical path validation, logic checks, and risk analysis
- Provide executive-level reporting on schedule performance, trends, and forecasts
- Interpret planning performance metrics including schedule performance indicators, milestone adherence, and critical path movement
- Lead enterprise-level resource capacity planning and ensure optimal allocation across programmes
- Manage portfolio-level schedule risks and oversee impact assessments for scope changes and variations
- Advise senior leadership on delivery risks and recommend strategic interventions where required
- Act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders on planning and scheduling matters
- Support and guide planning teams while driving collaboration across project leadership and delivery partners
Candidate profile
- Extensive experience in project planning and scheduling within complex construction or infrastructure programmes
- Strong understanding of portfolio governance, integrated planning, and schedule assurance
- Ability to interpret planning data and translate it into clear, strategic insights for senior leadership
- Confident engaging with executive stakeholders and influencing decision-making
- Strong analytical mindset with the ability to challenge assumptions and manage delivery risk
- Experience working across complex, multi-project environments
Qualifications and experience
- Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, or a related discipline
- Professional certification such as PMP, PMI-SP, APM, or equivalent preferred
- 1215 years of experience in project planning and scheduling, ideally within large-scale construction or engineering environments
- Advanced experience using Primavera P6, MS Project, and portfolio reporting tools
- Strong understanding of earned value management, schedule risk analysis, and integrated project controls
- Experience operating within large, multi-stakeholder organisations is preferred
Why join Dubai Holding
Dubai Holding offers the opportunity to contribute to the planning and delivery of large-scale developments that shape Dubai's tourism, entertainment, and infrastructure landscape. This role will play a critical part in strengthening project governance and ensuring the successful delivery of complex programmes.
