Planner (Rail/Metro), Dammam

SYSTRA is one of the world's leading engineering and consultancy groups specialising in public transport and sustainable mobility. With over 10,300 employees, SYSTRA's mission is to design safe and sustainable transport solutions to bring people together, develop social inclusion and facilitate access to employment, education and leisure throughout the world.

For 65 years, the Group has been working alongside cities and regions to contribute to their development by creating, improving and modernising their infrastructure and transport systems, throughout the life cycle of their projects. SYSTRA is involved from the earliest stages of design through to the testing, deployment and maintenance phases. The company provides all its services in over 80 countries worldwide and generates 74% of its turnover internationally. With its new services, SYSTRA supports its clients and partners in their digital, ecological and energy transition, in order to invent the mobility of tomorrow.

Context

We are seeking an experienced Planner to support project planning and controls across complex rail programs from within the client’s organization. Operating as an integrated member of the client team, you will align schedules, reporting, and governance with client standards, enable informed decision-making, and drive on-time, on-budget delivery across multi-package programs.

Missions/Main Duties

• Develop, maintain, and optimize integrated baseline schedules in Primavera P6 across engineering, procurement, construction, systems integration, testing/commissioning, and handover, fully aligned to client WBS, coding, and reporting standards.
• Establish and manage enterprise structures, calendars, resource/cost loading, and progress measurement consistent with client PMO frameworks, stage gates, and lifecycle governance.
• Lead critical path and near-critical analysis, interface and dependency management across packages (civil works, stations, track, systems, signaling, rolling stock, depots), and coordinate directly with client discipline leads and external contractors.
• Implement EVM, performance dashboards, and KPIs tailored to client reporting cycles; produce weekly/monthly executive reports and board-ready summaries.
• Conduct schedule risk analysis, scenario modeling, and what-if simulations; recommend mitigation and recovery strategies for client approval and decision forums.
• Support change control and claims by preparing time-impact analyses (TIA), contemporaneous records, and forensic delay assessments in line with contract and client procedures.
• Ensure data integrity and single-source-of-truth reporting by integrating with client cost, risk, document control, and quality teams and systems (CDEs and BI tools).
• Facilitate contractor alignment with client schedule requirements, conduct schedule assurance reviews, and lead readiness and gate reviews.
• Mentor junior planners and upskill contractor teams on client standards, promoting planning best practices and continuous improvement.

Profile/Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, or related field; advanced degree or professional certification is a plus.
• Minimum 10 years of planning/scheduling experience, including at least 5 years in rail/metro or major transport infrastructure.
• Proven Primavera P6 expertise (enterprise structures, coding standards, resource/cost loading, TIAs) in a client-side or PMO/PMC setting.
• Demonstrated application of EVM, schedule risk analysis, and forensic delay methodologies within formal governance environments.
• Strong understanding of rail/metro delivery including systems integration and testing/commissioning, and experience coordinating multi-package contractors.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to brief senior client leadership.
• Saudi Arabia or GCC experience, with familiarity with regional authorities, standards, and delivery models.
• Knowledge of major contract form (FIDIC), extensions of time, and claims procedures from a client perspective.
• Experience integrating planning data with client cost, risk, and BI platforms (e.g., Primavera Risk Analysis, Power BI, data warehouses, CDEs such as Aconex/Asite).
• Professional certifications: PMI-SP, PSP (AACE), PMP, or equivalent.
• Strategic, client-focused planning mindset with strong analytical rigor and governance discipline.
• Proactive risk identification, escalation, and mitigation with clear, actionable recommendations.
• High attention to detail and data integrity; confident facilitation of schedule assurance and gate reviews.
• Collaborative leadership with the ability to influence contractors and internal stakeholder

Systra is an equal opportunities company; this position is open to all applicants.