Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for a Nuclear Planner

🎯 Role Definition

This role requires a highly analytical and detail-oriented Nuclear Planner to join our dynamic team. In this pivotal role, you will be the architect of our plant's operational success, responsible for the comprehensive planning and scheduling of all maintenance, modification, and surveillance activities. You will be instrumental in developing integrated, resource-loaded schedules for both online work weeks and complex refueling outages. Your work will directly impact plant safety, reliability, and performance by ensuring that all activities are meticulously planned, coordinated, and executed in full compliance with stringent nuclear regulatory standards. If you thrive in a high-stakes, collaborative environment and possess a deep understanding of nuclear systems and project management, we invite you to apply.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Junior Planner / Associate Planner
Field Engineer or Systems Engineer
Experienced Maintenance Technician (Mechanical, Electrical, I&C)
Nuclear Operations Technician

Advancement To:

Senior / Lead Nuclear Planner
Outage Manager or Work Week Manager
Project Manager (Nuclear Projects)
Supervisor, Work Management

Lateral Moves:

Project Controls Specialist
Cost Analyst / Estimator
Quality Assurance Engineer

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop, maintain, and analyze detailed, resource-loaded project schedules for online work weeks, forced outages, and refueling outages using Primavera P6 software.
Perform critical path and near-critical path analysis to identify and communicate schedule risks and opportunities to project management and site leadership.
Create and manage comprehensive work packages, ensuring they include all necessary information such as procedures, drawings, material lists, safety permits, and post-maintenance testing requirements.
Interface directly with engineering, maintenance, operations, and radiation protection departments to coordinate work activities and ensure all logistical and technical prerequisites are met.
Conduct "what-if" scenario planning to evaluate the schedule impact of emergent work, scope changes, or resource constraints, providing actionable recommendations.
Lead and facilitate multi-disciplinary planning meetings to align on scope, sequence, and resource allocation for upcoming work windows.
Ensure all planned and scheduled activities strictly adhere to the plant’s Technical Specifications, regulatory requirements (NRC), and industry best practices (INPO).
Perform detailed resource loading and leveling to optimize the use of craft labor, equipment, and specialty contractors, preventing over-allocation and ensuring efficient execution.
Develop and manage logic-driven, integrated schedules that accurately model the interdependencies between maintenance, operations, and engineering tasks.
Monitor and control schedule progress during execution, providing regular status updates, variance reports, and performance metrics to stakeholders.
Identify and sequence all Foreign Material Exclusion (FME), fire protection, and radiological-related activities within the work plan and schedule.
Prepare and issue detailed daily and weekly work schedules for execution by maintenance and operations crews.
Review completed work packages for accuracy, completeness, and feedback to drive continuous improvement in the work management process.
Develop and maintain scheduling templates and standard work order task lists for recurring maintenance and surveillance activities to improve planning efficiency.
Manage the backlog of planned work, ensuring it is properly prioritized, coded, and ready for scheduling in alignment with plant asset management strategies.
Participate in pre-outage and post-outage critique meetings, providing data-driven insights to improve future outage performance.
Validate material and parts availability for all planned work and create reservations or purchase requisitions as needed.
Perform schedule health checks and assessments to ensure the quality and integrity of the project schedule baseline.
Coordinate with vendors and subcontractors to integrate their schedules and resource needs into the master outage or project schedule.
Walk down plant systems and equipment with craft and engineering personnel to validate work scope and identify potential execution challenges.

Secondary Functions

Mentor and provide on-the-job training to junior planners and schedulers on work management processes and scheduling best practices.
Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to support plant performance improvement initiatives.
Contribute to the organization's work management process improvement efforts and data strategy roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements for reporting and analytics tools.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering or IT project teams when implementing new software.
Lead or participate in industry benchmarking efforts and user groups to stay abreast of best practices in nuclear planning and scheduling.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Expert-level proficiency in project scheduling software, particularly Primavera P6.
In-depth knowledge of nuclear power plant systems (e.g., PWR, BWR), operations, and maintenance processes.
Proficient in using enterprise asset and work management software such as SAP Plant Maintenance (PM) or IBM Maximo.
Strong understanding of nuclear regulatory requirements, including NRC regulations, Technical Specifications, and INPO standards.
Mastery of Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling, analysis, and reporting.
Advanced skills in resource loading, leveling, and management within a complex schedule.
Experience with risk analysis and schedule modeling techniques, including Monte Carlo simulations.
Ability to read and interpret technical documents, including engineering drawings, P&IDs, and vendor manuals.
Proficiency in developing and tracking project metrics using Earned Value Management (EVM) principles.
Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Office Suite (especially Excel for data analysis and reporting).

Soft Skills

Exceptional written and verbal communication skills for effective coordination with diverse, multi-disciplinary teams.
Meticulous attention to detail and a commitment to accuracy in a zero-error tolerance environment.
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a knack for identifying and resolving complex scheduling conflicts.
Proven ability to perform effectively under high pressure and meet tight deadlines in a fast-paced outage environment.
Excellent interpersonal and team collaboration skills with the ability to influence without direct authority.
A proactive and questioning attitude to challenge assumptions and drive for optimal solutions.
Strong organizational and time management skills to manage multiple planning efforts simultaneously.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

High School Diploma or GED coupled with extensive, directly relevant experience in nuclear planning/scheduling.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's Degree in a technical discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Nuclear)
Project Management
Construction Management
A related technical or business field

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

A minimum of 5-10 years of experience in planning, scheduling, or work management within the nuclear power industry or a similarly regulated high-hazard environment (e.g., U.S. Naval Nuclear Program, petrochemical, aerospace).

Preferred:

Prior experience specifically as a Refueling Outage Planner or Lead Online Planner.
Professional certification such as Project Management Professional (PMP) or Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) is highly desirable.
SRO (Senior Reactor Operator) license or certification, or prior plant operations experience, is a significant plus.