Job title: Project Planner / Scheduler (Solar PV + BESS, C&I)
Job type: Permanent
Emp type: Full-time
Industry: Renewable Energy
Sub-Industry: C&I (Commercial & Industrial)
Location: Western Cape, South Africa
Job published: 13-04-2026
Job ID: 34575
Contact name: Möcke Müller

Job Description

The Project Planner / Scheduler owns integrated, logic-driven project schedules across solar PV and BESS projects delivered in a C&I environment—supporting development-to-financial close (where applicable), EPC delivery, commissioning, COD, and handover into O&M/asset operations. This role builds and baselines schedules, drives disciplined progress updates, produces decision-grade forecasts and recovery scenarios, and ensures schedule governance supports financing gates, supplier lead times, site constraints, and operational readiness.

Key responsibilities 

Integrated schedule ownership and governance

  • Own the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) for assigned projects/portfolio, covering engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, grid/interconnection, COD, and handover deliverables into O&M.
  • Establish scheduling standards: WBS/coding, calendars, progress measurement rules, baseline governance, update cycle, and schedule change-control procedures.
  • Maintain schedule integrity (logic, constraints discipline, realistic critical path) and ensure schedules remain forecast-reliable and audit-ready.

EPC execution planning and interface management

  • Develop detailed schedule logic that reflects real interfaces among design deliverables, procurement packages, construction sequencing, testing/commissioning, customer access windows, and site shutdown constraints typical in C&I environments.
  • Integrate supplier and subcontractor schedules (modules, inverters, transformers/switchgear, battery containers/modules, PCS, EMS/SCADA, civil works, electrical balance of plant), including manufacturing, FAT/SAT milestones, shipping/logistics, and on‑site readiness.
  • Run short-interval planning support: look-ahead plans (e.g., 2–6 week horizons) and constraint logs with construction/site teams.

Progress updates, forecasting, and reporting

  • Lead weekly/monthly schedule updates: collect progress status, validate evidence, update actuals/remaining duration, and publish forecast dates.
  • Produce schedule narratives and dashboards: critical path/near-critical analysis, variance root causes, milestone confidence, recovery options, and “decision asks” for leadership.
  • Provide schedule inputs to project cashflow and drawdown planning (as required by the funding/asset-ownership model) and support investor/lender reporting where needed.

Schedule change management and claims support

  • Operate schedule change control: log changes, quantify time impacts (what‑if scenarios/time impact analysis), and preserve baseline integrity.
  • Partner with Contracts/Commercial to support entitlement and substantiation where schedule impacts relate to variations, delay events, or claims.

Commissioning, performance testing, and handover-to-O&M readiness

  • Ensure schedules drive commissioning and performance testing milestones for PV and BESS (including system integration milestones such as EMS/SCADA readiness and acceptance testing).
  • Build and track handover deliverables: as‑builts, O&M manuals, spares, warranty start dates, training, monitoring setup, and operational readiness gates.

Continuous improvement

  • Improve planning templates, schedule libraries, risk registers, and reporting cadence; coach PMs and site teams on schedule discipline and update quality.

Required qualifications and certifications

  • Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Controls, Project Management, or related field.
  • Formal training/certification in planning & scheduling or demonstrable equivalent competence.
  • Advanced proficiency in CPM scheduling and schedule narrative/report writing.

Preferred experience 

  • 5–10+ years in project planning/scheduling on construction/energy projects 
  • Required (non-negotiable): prior C&I renewable experience (solar PV and/or BESS) with demonstrated exposure to:
    • EPC delivery environment (multi-discipline interfaces; subcontractor schedules)
    • Project funding/investment gates and milestone accountability (e.g., COD-driven revenue starts)
    • Asset-owner priorities and O&M handover readiness
  • Experience with schedule change management and time-impact substantiation in a contracting environment.

Technical skills and software

Required

  • Primavera P6 and/or MS Project (P6 strongly preferred where multi-package EPC logic is complex)
  • Advanced Excel (data manipulation, schedule analytics)
  • Strong reporting/dashboards (Power BI or equivalent; toolset unspecified)

Preferred

  • Aconex (or equivalent) for document control / correspondence traceability
  • SAP (or similar ERP) exposure for schedule–cost integration and reporting workflows
  • Schedule risk tools and methods 

Soft skills

  • High accountability and attention to detail; transparent communication of forecast confidence and risk drivers.
  • Strong stakeholder management—influencing PMs, engineers, procurement, and construction without direct authority.
  • Practical problem-solving under constraints typical of live customer sites (access windows, production shutdowns, HSE permits).
  • Executive-ready written communication: concise narratives, clear “asks,” and action-oriented reporting.