Project Controls Director

Purpose of the Role

The Project Controls Director holds overall accountability for designing, deploying, and directing a comprehensive, fit-for-purpose project controls system for a new nuclear new-build project.

The primary objective is to give the Project Director and executive leadership an objective, evidence-based picture of project health across scope, milestones, expenditure, actual progress, risks, and emerging changes. Operating within approved project governance, the role ensures that project data directly informs timely, corrective decisions rather than serving solely as historical documentation.

The Director establishes the governance baseline linking Work Breakdown Structures (WBS), organisational accountabilities, budgets, integrated schedules, and performance analytics. Controls must remain proportionate: rigorous enough to spotlight critical-path risks and schedule erosion early, yet sufficiently streamlined to drive action across site delivery teams without excessive administrative burden.

Core Accountabilities

1. Integrated Planning & Scheduling

• Build and govern an overarching programme WBS that defines all deliverable work packages, establishing the sole baseline for budget allocation, scope assignment, schedule tracking, and formal progress reporting.
• Oversee a structured schedule framework spanning Level 1 (milestones), Level 2 (cross-discipline coordination), Level 3 (detailed project control), Level 4 (field execution and look-ahead plans), and targeted Level 5 detail where site coordination demands it.
• Define standardized planning standards, coding conventions, working calendars, update rhythms, and schedule integrity rules.
• Maintain logical alignment across all life-cycle stages: nuclear licensing, engineering design, global procurement, off-site manufacturing, civil construction, cold/hot commissioning, and operational handover.
• Establish approved baselines for scope, cost, and schedule; prevent informal or unapproved baseline adjustments.
• Ensure all delivery plans are resource-loaded, risk-informed, realistic, and fully endorsed by the managers responsible for execution.
• Drive rolling 90-day look-ahead schedules focusing specifically on high-priority interfaces, site access constraints, and near-critical paths.

2. Multi-Contractor Schedule Harmonisation

• Integrate and align independent schedules delivered by EPC contractors, nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) vendors, key equipment fabricators, and internal teams into a single Master Schedule.
• Systematically audit contractor schedules for logic integrity, achievable productivity assumptions, sequence realism, and contractual compliance.
• Ensure structural alignment among schedule data, commercial commitments, financial budgets, and project risks.