PMO Planner at Sword Group, Aberdeen, £Contract Rate

Sword is a leading provider of business technology solutions within the Energy, Public and Finance Sectors, driving transformational change within our clients. We use proven technology, specialist teams and domain expertise to build solid technical foundations across platforms, data, and business applications. We have a passion for using technology to solve business problems, working in partnership with our clients to help in achieving their goals.

Join us on an exciting and high-profile M&A programme where you 'll play a key role in shaping and establishing the foundations for successful project delivery. We are seeking an experienced Project Planner to support a significant programme of work on an initial 3-month contract, helping to baseline schedules, validate critical paths, assess programme risks, and ensure plans are aligned with available resources.

This is a hands-on planning role suited to someone with strong MS Project expertise and experience managing complex project or programme schedules. Working closely with stakeholders, you will gather and analyse data, provide planning insight, and help create a robust and achievable programme plan that supports business objectives.

• Create, manage, and update detailed project schedules using Microsoft Project (Desktop or Online).
• Define tasks, durations, dependencies, milestones, and critical paths.
• Ensure schedules reflect accurate progress, forecasts, and baselines.
• Integrate multiple project schedules into programme xe2 level or portfolio xe2 level plans.
• Ensure all schedules adhere to PMO standards, frameworks, and reporting cycles.
• Support project managers with planning best practices and schedule structure.
• Contribute to PMO reviews, stage xe2 gate processes, and quality assurance checks.
• Generate schedule reports, dashboards, and timeline views for stakeholders.
• Identify schedule variances, slippage, and potential delivery risks.
• Support preparation of highlight reports, RAID logs, and PMO reporting packs.
• Present scheduling insights to Project Managers, Programme Managers, and senior stakeholders.
• Maintain resource plans within Microsoft Project and/or supporting tools.

• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Project (including dependencies, baselines, resource sheets, tracking Gantt views).
• Understanding of project management methodologies (e.g., PRINCE2, Agile).
• Excellent analytical and problem xe2 solving skills.
• Strong attention to detail and organisational skills.
• Ability to communicate schedule impacts and insights clearly and confidently.
• Experience in project controls or PMO environments preferred.
• Ability to work collaboratively with cross xe2 functional teams and multiple project managers.