Work Scheduler

Hydro Ottawa•Ottawa, ON

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Work Scheduler acts as a strategic scheduling consultant and independent gatekeeper for the execution of distribution projects. The role is responsible for creating daily and weekly schedules, and annual and quarterly workload forecasts for internal and external construction crews and providing recommendations based on data driven analysis to ensure projects are “shovel-ready” prior to crew deployment.

Requirements

Post-secondary education in a related field such as project management, engineering, commerce, business administration or 4 years experience in project administration/coordination, with experience coordinating or directly constructing electrical infrastructure systems in distribution, construction or heavy industry.
Several years of work scheduling experience including work scheduling platforms, monitoring tools, metrics and analytics
Minimum 3 years electrical journeyperson trades or construction journeyperson experience and several years construction scheduling experience may substitute for above noted academic and project administration/coordination experience requirements.
Valid driver’s license – Class G
Successful completion of Driver Competency Assessment
Government of Canada security clearance
English essential, both oral and written

Nice To Haves

Experience in program coordination and implementation of a new software system considered an asset
Experience in a regulated utility environment with knowledge of the Ontario Energy Board handbooks, guidelines and regulations considered an asset
PMI-SP designation considered an asset
Bilingual (English and French) considered an asset

Responsibilities

Create and maintain day to day and weekly schedules for Operations crews and Contractors ensuring logic and construction sequencing are viable.
Develop multi week, multi month and annual workload forecasts by trade, as well as availability and resource recommendations for management to make adjustments as required to short, medium and long term labour resources.
Act as a gatekeeper for crew deployment and independently validate that all prerequisites (civil work, materials, permits) are 100% complete and available before assigning electrical crews.
Work with stakeholders when deployment criteria are not met and ensure a full understanding of requirements are met before recommending execution.
Use availability metrics and other KPIs on crew assignment (both internal and external) for all Hydro Ottawa scopes of work and make recommendations on crew sizing, complements, approaches, physical location, the use of external contracts, changes/updates to KPIs, so as to provide multi faceted approaches to achieving workplans and maximizing productive time on jobs.
Manage material readiness and allocation: Proactively identify long-lead material gaps and negotiate resources allocation between conflicting projects and stakeholders to minimize impact on critical deliverables.
Where required, place internal material orders through Hydro Ottawa Enterprise Resourcing Planning (ERP) software
Actively manage daily schedule disruptions (weather, crew sickness, equipment issues) by identifying pre-requisite tasks or alternative work packages to utilize available labour and resources effectively on short notice.
Actively track civil contractor progress to ensure specific milestones are met prior to scheduling electrical work; challenge contractor status reports based on field observations and data trends.
Ensure projects are scheduled and ready for execution in collaboration with Project Engineers, Project Coordinators, Project Administrators and Construction Supervisors.
Confirm civil contractors performance meets financial, safety, quality and schedule requirements and make recommendations.
Coordinate and lead internal and external scheduling meetings and discussions, acting as the central liaison between various parties to ensure accurate, timely updates pertaining to schedule and project implementation risk.
Confirm contents of work packages and ensure that all formal sign-offs have occurred.
Monitor and update area work schedules based on the progress and status of projects and report to all stakeholders at regular Operations briefing meetings.
Prioritize work in collaboration with Operations Managers, Supervisors, Work Planners, Project Coordinators, Project Administrators, Engineering and Program Managers.
Communicate and coordinate with external stakeholders and outside agencies for project planning and on-going coordination and scheduling of construction projects.
Prior to scheduling the work, confirm that project drawings, Technical Deviation forms and all other required technical documents are accurate, correct, signed and included in work packages upon construction completion and that work package tracking is closed out accordingly.
Actively participate in project closure meetings to provide input on lessons learned and opportunities to improve future projects.
Advise project team(s) on logistics, scheduling, trade and 3rd party sequencing for project construction.
Confirm that only Hydro Ottawa approved contractors and their staff are used when working on Hydro Ottawa assets and jobs sites, and have appropriate permits, work protection, Ministry of Labour notification, etc., in place before work commences.
Review unit processes and procedures to identify opportunities for continuous improvement to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
Monitor and maintain the day to day workflow priorities in order to maximize resource effectiveness and ensure consistent communication to internal and external customers.
Investigate, research and resolve escalated internal and external inquiries or concerns using excellent interpersonal skills and in depth knowledge of scheduling software.
Provide input and deliver program training materials, updates and changes to internal staff and contractors as well as delivery of formal presentations.
Gather audit compliance requirements and document all findings.
Coordinate internal stakeholder meetings to identify needs and expectations for the scheduling system.
Lead the user acceptance testing of any new system functionality as required.
Identify inefficient processes related to scheduling and provide recommendations and strategies for continuous improvement.
Identify impact/constraints on scheduling as a result of changes such as system configuration changes, emerging issues faced by staffing, budget, OEB changes/requests as well as the emergence of higher priority projects.
Analyze system reports and provide recommendations to maximize resource effectiveness and control expenditures.
Monitor the risks to successful program/process changes and their impact on daily, monthly, and annual workload projections/plans.
If significant risks emerge, develop action plans to mitigate them using available resources and work packages.
Analyze schedules and develop reports on schedule metrics using queries, independent calculation, and data manipulation of complex scheduling software.
Perform other related duties as required.