Bespoke & Limited Editions Programme Planner

Our OEM Client based in Fen End, Kenilworth, is searching for a Bespoke & Limited Editions Programme Planner to join their team, Inside IR35. This is a 12-month contract position.

Umbrella Pay Rate: £44.97 per hour.

The Opportunity:

Vehicle Personalisation is an exciting and diverse function which delivers some of the most desirable vehicles in the world. There is an opportunity to join the Vehicle Personalisation Team to be part of something exceptional.

Within the Vehicle Personalisation team, we produce modern, luxurious, innovative, products and services that delivers choice for our customers, added value to our core brands and increased revenue to our business. Although this is delivered through close cooperation with other JLR business units, we go further and deliver faster using our size and expertise. Vital to our delivery is a cohesive team that performs in an agile way in line with the creator’s code.

As part of Vehicle Personalisation, you would be integral to delivery of Bespoke, Limited Editions & Premium Paint which all drive significant revenue within JLR Our Strategy, Engineering and Programme Management teams collaborate with our main vehicle programmes to deliver unique, personalised features and vehicles to our customers.

This Senior Programme Planner role is responsible for delivering your assigned Bespoke & Limited-Edition programmes from initial concept through to Launch. It provides un-parallel experience and development opportunity to work with multiple functions across the full Strategic, development and Launch activities. As the Programme planner you will collaboratively lead a team to deliver projects.

Key Performance:

Responsible for the collaborative creation and successful delivery of Programmes
Planning to ensure programme gateways are delivered within scope and achieve to cost, timing and quality.
Effective Risks management.
Appropriately report issues and collaboratively manage them to timing plans.
Maintain budget control and meet the financial targets established at programme gateways.
Effectively chair and manage meetings with clear actions and minutes.
Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities:

Responsible for on time & robust achievement of gateways and milestones.
Responsible for delivering programmes to cost, timing and quality.
Responsible for robust planning to ensure activities take place at the right time in advance of milestones and gateways maintaining a clear critical path.
Responsible for running and chairing weekly programme management meetings producing clear minutes and actions.
Support the Programme with planning activities such as chairing Timing / Planning attribute teams, leading Planning Workshops, coordinating programme content, prebuild ordering and setting up Credible Planning Governance sessions with key stakeholders.
Responsible for PDL Authorship.
Support monitoring of programme health through metrics, risks and issues and initiate corrective action where required.
Support the Deferral process in presenting timing changes to the Senior Management team.
Support the development and delivery of the VP Planning Strategy in accordance with the Cycle Plan.
Support look-back activities capturing all lessons learnt to ensure the success of future programme delivery.
Responsible for maintaining Risk Register to ensure management of mitigation plans by stakeholders.
Maintain deliverables and timing through Programme Central as required.
Maintain a positive and constructive environment ensuring all stakeholder inputs are considered to support credible decision making.
Support the internal and external teams with planning expertise in forums such as Escalation reviews, Steering meetings and Gateway Approval sessions.
Report progress of the programme at defined intervals to the Programme Director.
Support continuous improvement of Programme Management processes, to enable successes to be repeated and lessons to be learnt.
Efficiently report to management key messages and actions.
Undertake any other work as directed by their line manager in connection with their job as may be requested from time to time.
Key Interactions:

Programme Management – Support the Strategy, Delivery and Launch interactions to maintain on-time programme delivery.
Purchasing – Review the Sourcing status v commodity lead times, establish cost targets and achieve them.
Engineering – understanding commodity timing to support the programme, establish cost targets and achieve them.
Design – aligning the design and surfacing timing, risks and issues with engineering checkpoints and key gateways.
Vehicle Engineering – awareness of the Virtual Series process and Verification Test plan
Launch & STA – Ensuring the Pre-Production launch phase is planned effectively towards a robust PSW plan and accessories are ‘stock in bin’.
MS&S – Support all pre-build and Comms activity – Parts ordering and communicate volume and pricing.
Finance – Liaise with finance to deliver on budget, managing any risks.
Essential Skills, Knowledge and Experience Required:

Degree qualified or equivalent experience.
Highly driven individual with proven project management, communication and leadership skills, able to integrate and act as pivotal player within a cross functional team to resolve cross-functional issues.
Previous evidence of techniques for planning, monitoring and controlling programmes, including risk management.
Conversant with Microsoft Office (particularly Excel and PowerPoint), essential.
Desirable Skills, Knowledge and Experience Required:

Experience working in Programme, Project management, Planning and Strategy type functions.
Presentation skills.
Risks and issues management.
Problem solving.
Experience of working in Agile methodology ideally as a scrum master or product owner.
Personal Profile Requested:

An individual with a customer first mind-set who is easy to do business with and makes people feel special, driven to deliver experiences that are personalised, transparent and dependable.
An individual who is results driven, demonstrates tenacity, drive and perseverance, with the ability to deliver in a complex, highly demanding environment.
An individual with the ability to combine a short term, pragmatic focus with longer term planning.
An individual who is resilient, energetic and enthusiastic, able to deliver results under pressure, whilst responding constructively to challenging new ideas and inputs.
An individual who is able to challenge existing thinking in a positive way whilst building credibility and trust through experience and personal style.
A good communicator who can deliver in a number of forums at different levels.
An effective team player, actively leads, develops and supports team members.        
An individual who enables speed in decision making through establishing alignment, clarity, appropriate resources and sense of urgency whilst bringing others along.
An achiever, motivated by delivering results by establishing realistic plans and proactively driving delivery with a can-do attitude.
Performs well under pressure and demonstrates composure.
Structured but with experience of working in a changing and fast paced environment.
Maintain overall integrity and impartiality towards the delivery of key programme milestones