Planning Coordinator

Lanes Group is a leading nationwide utility services provider with c.5000 dedicated employees. Our diverse subsidiaries drive our success across various sectors, contributing to a remarkable turnover of over £700 million. We are committed to excellence and innovation, ensuring we provide industry leading services to our clients and stakeholders. Join us to be part of a dynamic and growing team that values diversity and fosters professional growth.

Department:
Southern Water is one of the UK’s leading water and wastewater companies, delivering essential services to 2.3 million customers across the Southeast of England.

As a trusted delivery partner, Lanes Group plays a vital role in maintaining critical infrastructure networks, delivering essential wastewater and drainage services that protect communities and the environment. Our teams carry out everything from sewer maintenance and network cleansing to CCTV inspections and pollution response, ensuring customers receive a safe, reliable, and resilient service every day

Purpose of the role:

Planning is central to maintaining workflow accuracy and timely job completion, acting as a liaison between contractors, internal teams, and customers. The Planning Coordinator plays a vital role in daily job dispatch, communication, and reporting to support operational excellence across Lanes Group service areas, ensuring the efficient coordination, processing, scheduling, and closure of jobs.

Position: Planning Coordinator (may also be known in the industry as Flow Control Coordinator)

Location: Durrington West Sussex

Job Type: permanent, full time

Hours: Monday to Friday, 40 hours

Salary: £27,000 to £29,000

Key Responsibilities:

Job Management & Scheduling

• Assess the Big Change system daily for new job requests.
• Allocate and dispatch jobs to the appropriate crews based on scope, location, and availability.
• Schedule jobs (P1/2/2a/3), ensuring timely follow-up.
• Liaise with internal contacts and third parties to identify responsible units
• Update contractor assignments in Big Change and notify external teams where applicable.
• Plan jobs for crews daily and book appointments directly with customers via calls or texts.
• Maintain clear and professional communication with customers to confirm appointment scheduling.
• Coordinate with other units when joint efforts are needed to complete job activities within boundary areas.

Job Closure & Reporting

• Monitor the email inboxes for communication, inquiry and reports.
• Close down jobs via Big change.
• Escalate unresolved job backlogs to relevant managers.
• Raise follow-on works in Ellipse where further job actions are required.
• Update job details in Big Change as needed based on new information or feedback.

Inbox & Communication Management

• Manage multiple shared inboxes, ensuring timely responses and clean inboxes daily.
• Handle all customer and contractor enquiries promptly, flagging follow-ups as "awaiting response" where needed.

System & Spreadsheet Maintenance

• Update and maintain the Whereabout spreadsheet, closing jobs marked in green and deleting lines once jobs are completed.
• Ensure all record-keeping across systems (e.g., BIG CHANGE, Waterworx, Whereabout spreadsheet) is current and accurate.
• Update the whereabouts sheet to reflect operative locations and availability.

Team Collaboration & Support

• Liaise with other operatives to ensure job completion and resolve logistical challenges.
• Collaborate with other business units and field teams for support and coordination on joint activities.
• Report regularly to the Operations Manager with updates and progress on scheduling, job status, and support needs.
• Be aware of all Lanes Group policies and your responsibilities towards them.
• Any other reasonable ad-hoc tasks, duties and projects requested by management.

Living the Company Values

By embedding our companies core values and purpose into each role, ensures that every employee, regardless of their role or level, understands how their individual development and contributions align with our purpose of ‘improving today for a better tomorrow’.

Each role and value has an alignment to set proficiency levels and expectations; this role holder is expected to:

• Leading: Acts as a role model, shaping the learning agenda and influencing change.
• Agile: Anticipates learning needs, adjusts quickly to changing operational contexts.
• Nurturing: Supports the development of others through coaching and structured development plans.
• Engaging: Inspires and motivates learners, builds trust and credibility
• Safe & Secure: Ensures all learning is aligned to safety and compliance standards.

Your Contribution to the company:

• Strive to be always positive and constructive
• Adhere to all company policies
• Straight talking about the facts of the situation – open discussions are the best way to find solutions
• Help others through communicating clearly
• Deliver on commitments
• Ensure that any ideas that may enhance the productivity or systems of the company are brought to the attention of Senior Management, or your colleagues
• Deliver our Company Values understanding that by working together in unity we are ‘Stronger Together’

Equality, Diversion & Inclusion

At Lanes Group, we are dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and empowered. We believe that our differences make us stronger and are committed to providing equal opportunities for all employees. We welcome and encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, including those from underrepresented groups. Join us in our commitment to creating a more inclusive and diverse world.