Planner - Planner Principal

American Electric Power•South Charleston, WV

22h

About The Position

The Planner establishes critical paths, balances plant work, and matches labor expertise to specific jobs to improve operating and maintenance outage and project efficiency. The role assists with long- and short-range planning for maintenance, capital improvements, availability, and staffing, and supports workers and supervisors through work management systems and detailed work plans for project, outage, and maintenance work. The Planner performs planning functions with appropriate guidance to support safe, healthy, efficient, and economical outage and project work, recommends process enhancements, and coordinates resources to optimize plant commercial availability. This posting covers Planner, Planner Senior, and Planner Principal grades, with increasing education, experience, skill, and certification requirements at higher grades. Duties across the levels include developing and coordinating plans, estimates, schedules, work packages, and reports; reviewing work orders; supporting cost and duration projections, budgets, and forecasts; coordinating with company and contract personnel; and incorporating lessons learned and safety practices into future planning. Principal-level responsibilities also include critical-path scheduling, material and contract coordination, risk analysis, planning meetings, work direction to daily planners as assigned, and advising management on manpower deficiencies and recovery plans. The position requires technical reading and writing, communication with craft and management personnel, organization of files and documentation, and teamwork. AEP provides competitive compensation and a comprehensive benefits package intended to support employee well-being.

Requirements

Planner: Associate degree in a technical-related field or two years of maintenance-related experience.
Planner: An additional four years of work-related experience in outage/project planning, outage/project field work, and/or plant operations, or equivalent education/work experience.
Planner: Experience with required computer applications, including various work management systems, Primavera, Business Object Reporting, Pasta, Plant View, Excel, and Word.
Planner Senior: Associate degree in a technical-related field with five years of experience in a maintenance work environment, or seven years of maintenance experience.
Planner Senior: An additional nine years of work-related experience in outage/project planning, outage/project field work, and/or plant operations, or equivalent education/work experience.
Planner Principal: Bachelor of Science degree in a technical-related field or seven years of maintenance-related experience.
Planner Principal: An additional twelve years of work-related experience in outage/project planning, outage/project field work, and/or plant operations, or equivalent education/work experience.
Planner Principal: Ability to read and understand technical documentation and write clear, concise technical reports.
Planner Principal: Ability to communicate verbally and in writing with craft and management personnel.
Planner Principal: Organizational skills to maintain position-related files and documentation, and ability to work in a team environment.

Responsibilities

Assist in developing plans to improve operating and maintenance outage efficiency.
Coordinate input used to establish projected costs and durations, and assist with annual budgets and monthly forecasts.
Plan work activities in accordance with company policies, practices, standards, and rules.
Coordinate plans with relevant personnel to identify needed estimates.
Participate in meetings concerning outage and project schedules, safety, and equipment operations and maintenance.
Review work orders for accuracy.
Prepare and analyze reports using work management systems and Business Objects.
Work with the workforce and supervisors to ensure work is completed according to schedule and plan.
Apply scheduling techniques to plan and schedule activities.
Plan and estimate project, outage, and maintenance work using established standards; assist with producing final plans.
Develop long- and short-range plans for maintenance, capital work, and staffing.
Prepare cost estimates for projects and equipment outages at the Planner Senior level.
Prepare detailed plans for project, outage, and maintenance assignments; produce final outage plans.
Capture lessons learned and best-in-fleet safety practices for future planning, and complete lessons learned after outages or major projects.
At the Planner Principal level, establish schedules outlining critical paths and balancing plant work; promote safe, efficient, reliable plant operation.
Work with maintenance and daily planners to establish work packages and match labor expertise to jobs.
Use applicable Business Objects reports to track outage costs.
Assist with parts orders to ensure materials are on site 30 days before an outage; coordinate long-lead parts and track outstanding materials and equipment with delivery dates and owners.
Assist in establishing Indus contracts and releases for outage vendors.
Hold pre-outage meetings in accordance with OMG-001 Generation Guidelines or the plant outage management team's desired timeline.
Assist maintenance with PDS justifications for outage projects, complete project risk analyses, prepare Capital Excellence presentations, and initiate CI's and maintain LRP.
Provide work direction to daily planners as assigned.
Organize and conduct planning meetings on estimating, planning, and scheduling assigned outages and projects with applicable company and contract personnel.
Develop projected cost inputs, detailed work plans, and schedules for assigned outages, projects, and maintenance work.
Use applicable scheduling software, scheduling techniques, work management systems, Business Objects, and contracting methods proficiently.
Advise management of manpower deficiencies based on work-planning results and provide possible recovery plans.
Confirm that lessons learned and best-in-fleet safety practices are integrated into work-planning activities.
Perform other duties as assigned.