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Please note: Applying for this role means you have read and understood this advert and any associated links.

Position Type: Full Time

Contract Type: Permanent

Grade: PB2

Salary: Circa £36,000 dependent upon experience plus excellent benefits

Location: TfL Offices London with a mixture of hybrid working

An exciting opportunity has arisen to recruit Planning Assistants within Transport for London. Applications encouraged from those looking to develop their career in Project Planning. On the job training and mentoring will be provided.

TfL is responsible for some of the highest profile, most complex and diverse infrastructure work in the UK. Our projects keep a world city moving for 8.6 million people and we do this through our teams of talented people.

TfL delivers critical portfolios of projects to make journeys better for our customers. Our projects vary from enhancing our stations, trains, tracks and roads to multi £billion programmes to invest in our infrastructure and the technology that supports it.

Our core values of delivering safely, sustainably, reliably and affordably are at the heart of every project. People are the key to our success and by making sure we share knowledge, skills and expertise across our programmes we enhance both your career and how we deliver for London.

We are now looking for talented Planning Assistants to join us to work on a wide variety of exciting and high-profile projects and programmes. You will assist with the day-to-day management of external contractors/suppliers and support the implementation of projects. This includes management of TfL obligations, contractors, Private Finance Initiative (PFI) suppliers, or other third-party partners, to ensure delivery of projects on behalf of TfL, meeting the needs of our customers.

TfL is an inclusive and flexible organisation, committed to developing you. We are looking for both experienced Planning Assistants and people with potential and the ability to demonstrate a passion for planning management.

Applications welcomed from any of: planners in rail and other sectors; project managers, project controls professionals (any discipline), engineers, construction managers, contract administrators, people working in rail / construction sector looking for career change; apprentices and graduates from engineering or project management disciplines. Full time roles available and part time roles will be considered.

Overview of project/role

Your role will be to support the Planning Manager and assist Project Managers or Project / Programme staff in the production of, and reporting against, budget loaded work programmes/schedules in the relevant format, for the purpose of co-ordinating works with Contractors and other third parties. You will also support the creation and updating of programme data in compliance with the PMO centralised requirements. You will support in the analysis of and assist with the interpretation of TfL reports.

Key Accountabilities

• Assist with the creation and updating of Project programmes.
• Assist with the analysis of project budget and cost.
• Support the communication and demonstration of project planning best practice.
• Supporting the timely submission of programme update information, providing guidance to those submitting data.
• Communicate and demonstrate the importance of the required input data, coding structures and output reports.
• Support training and orientation sessions for project team(s).
• Assist project team(s) with the interpretation of periodic reports.
• Support consultation regarding common issues within TfL for the purpose of resolving a common solution for all parties.
• Support the creation of Project programme reports for ad-hoc data queries.
• Contribute to driving and leading a positive safety culture within TfL projects and ensuring their team is invested in managing and improving HSE performance.
• Contribute to equality of opportunity, social inclusion, fair employment and environmental sustainability, creating open, inclusive and engaging environment within TfL and across stakeholders, customers and supply chain.

Knowledge

Required Knowledge

• Knowledge of project and programme methodology and techniques including awareness of Critical Path Method (CPM) planning techniques.
• Awareness of safety issues in an operational environment.

Desirable knowledge:

• Awareness of the planning, design and construction activities undertaken during at least one area of TfL projects. Namely track, signalling, stations, civils or surface projects.
• Knowledge of and understanding of capital projects and programmes with an emphasis on Planning and how this supports and integrates with a wider high functioning environment.
• Knowledge of relevant project planning software.
• Awareness of Earned Value Management methodology.

Skills

Required Skills:

• Good influencing skills to manage and embed Planning methodology and process in support of delivery of high risk, value and complex project and programmes. Analysis of complex data to draw conclusions and produce reports.
• Good communication skills to enable successful management of schedules with an environment that has multiple stakeholders

Desirable technical skills include:

• Stakeholder Management (L3 - Practitioner)
• Schedule risk analysis (L1 - Awareness)
• Excel (L3 - Practitioner)
• Information Management and Reporting (L2 - Comprehensive knowledge)
• Project Planning (L3 - Practitioner)

Experience

Required Experience:

• Experience of assisting in the preparation of draft reports and making supervised presentations.
• Experience planning and manage tasks to time, budget and quality and monitoring and assessing progress and performance against a critical path schedule.

Desirable Experience:

• Experience of creating, adapting and monitoring process around Planning in major projects and experience of implementing tools to support changes.
• Experience of dealing with a range of stakeholders at all levels across the organisation.
• Experience of project planning and reporting using relevant project planning software.
• Experience using Primavera P6 software.
• Experience in building critical path schedules through interview and workshop output from project resources.

Application Process

As part of the application process for this position, you are required to upload both a CV and a Covering Letter to your application before submitting. Applications with either CV or Covering Letter missing will be classed as incomplete and will not be progressed.

Please think carefully about the skills, knowledge and experience outlined in the job description and ensure your CV and cover letter reflects the requirements of the role you are applying for. Short listing will be carried out on the basis of answers to any pre-screening questions and the information on your CV and covering letter.

To be compatible with our anonymisation software, these must be in Microsoft Word doc.x format. Failure to upload documents in this format means that they will not be processed. Applications with either CV or Covering Letter missing will be classed as incomplete and will not be progressed.

For this recruitment campaign, as part of TfL’s continuing commitment to be an inclusive and equal opportunity employer we will be removing personal identifiable information from your application that could cause discrimination.

The closing date for applications is Sunday 14th May at 23:59pm.

Applying for this role means you have read and understood this advert and any associated links.

Candidates who have previously applied for this role within the last six months should not submit an application on this occasion.

Assessment Process

The recruitment process consists of the following stages. You will need to pass each stage to progress onto the next:

Stage 1: CV and cover letter screening

Stage 2: Competency-Based Interview

Outcomes: It will take 10-14 days after the final assessment event to hear the outcome.

Please note - we reserve the right to add an additional assessment stage should we receive a high number of applicants

Benefits

In return for your commitment and expertise, you will enjoy excellent benefits and scope to grow. Rewards vary according to the business area but mostly include:

• Final salary pension scheme
• Free travel for you on the TfL network
• A 75% discount on National Rail Season Ticket and interest free loan
• 30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays
• Private healthcare discounted scheme (optional)
• Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme
• Retail, health, leisure and travel offers
• Discounted Eurostar travel

Campaign Timetable

The campaign is running to a very specific delivery timescale as determined by the business and there will only be enough slots for the number of candidates invited. Dates for the Interview will be opened on an ongoing basis, therefore if there are no slots available please check again the following day. You are encouraged to schedule into an assessment event as early as possible. If you do not book an assessment, you will be withdrawn from the campaign.

Candidate Charter

You can download a copy of the Candidate Charter here.

This outlines our commitment to you as a candidate by providing insight into our recruitment process. It also outlines our expectations with regards to your engagement with us, to ensure that you receive the best recruitment experience possible, as we believe you should know the standards of service you can expect from us. You must read this document prior to submitting your application in order to understand every aspect of the process.

Reasonable Adjustment Process

You must notify the recruitment team at least 48 hours (excluding weekends) prior to your scheduled interview event to allow us to accommodate your requirements. You will then be sent a confirmation email which you will need to bring to your interview. If you fail to bring this on the day your adjustments will not be granted, and you will be unable to re-book. We will consider that you are the expert regarding your own requirements, and we will consider all requests fairly within the context of the role.

Please take the time to read the Disability Charter here.

Notice of Cancellation

We require you to give a minimum of 48 hours' notice of cancellation or re-schedule. Non-attendance at your Interview may lead to your application being withdrawn.

Please note: There are only enough interview slots for the number of candidates invited, therefore if you are unable to attend on your scheduled day, you will be placed on a waiting list in case a cancellation arises. We would therefore encourage you to check you can make an appointment before booking. Subsequent cancellation will lead to your application being withdrawn. If you do not follow the process outlined in the Candidate Charter you risk being withdrawn from the campaign.

Appointment to post

Although you may be successful and offered the role – you may not commence employment in the role or start training immediately. There may be a requirement to delay your start date until you are required.

Candidates must successfully pass our pre-employment checks such as a Data Barring Service (DBS) check and employment referencing. Failure to pass any of these will result in the offer of employment being withdrawn at any stage.

Location

Mix of hybrid working and office based anywhere in the Greater London area, depending on business requirements.

Further information

Due to the expected high response rate, we reserve the right to close this campaign earlier than the published closing date once we have a suitable pool of applicants.

Contacting Us

If at any time you need to speak to anyone within the Recruitment Team, then please contact us on 0203 005 1680 (local rate charges from all phones including mobiles) or email [email protected].

NPL Applications

Applications to internally advertised roles can only be accepted from temporary workers who are on PAYE terms via agency, or PAYE via Umbrella Companies.

Temporary workers who are paid through their own limited companies are not covered by the Agency Worker Regulations and are ineligible to apply.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We want to represent the city we serve, which will help us become a more innovative and efficient organisation. Our goal is to make our recruitment as inclusive as possible. We are a disability confident employer who guarantee an interview to any disabled candidate who meets all of the essential criteria. We also use anonymising software that removes identifying information from CVs and cover letters to make the process fair.