Assistant Planner Advanced Apprentice Kent (Sellindge)
NATIONAL GRID PLC
Ashford (TN25 6AF)
Closes on Tuesday 13 January 2026
Posted on 17 November 2025
Contents
Summary
National Grid is at the heart of the energy future, and our people are at the heart of National Grid. We’re 30,000 colleagues strong. In the UK, National Grid don’t generate or sell energy – we join the dots to get energy from A to B.
- Wage
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£24,306 a year
Check minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)
25 days holiday Pensions and share-option scheme Flexible Benefits & Working Close mentorship and regular feedback Volunteering opportunities
- Training course
- Project controls technician (level 3)
- Hours
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Monday - Friday, daytime hours (08:00 - 16:00, 09:00 - 17:00).
37 hours a week
- Start date
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Tuesday 1 September 2026
- Duration
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1 year 6 months
- Positions available
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1
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
At National Grid Ventures (NGV) Interconnectors, our vision is to accelerate a clean, secure, and affordable energy future through world-class interconnection and offshore assets.
We’re offering an exciting opportunity for an Apprentice Assistant Planner to join our Project Controls Team within the Construction Directorate. During your apprenticeship, you’ll support the planning and scheduling of key activities on major projects, including the Future of IFA and our pioneering Offshore Hybrid Asset developments.
In this role, you’ll play a vital part in building and maintaining project schedules that keep everything on track. Your work will help ensure timelines are realistic, achievable, and aligned with successful delivery outcomes.
This is a fantastic opportunity to:
- Develop valuable planning and project control skills.
- Build a strong foundation for a career in construction planning and the energy industry.
- Assist with the development and maintenance of Construction project plans, acting as a point of contact for programme-related queries.
- Support with reviewing and monitoring contractor programmes in line with contractual requirements.
- Understanding of project planning tools and techniques, such as Primavera P6.
- Attend planning and scheduling meetings with stakeholders, providing support and capturing key actions and updates.
- Work collaboratively with internal teams to gather progress updates and help prepare reports for the Project Manager and senior leadership.
- Support the preparation and delivery of project performance data, schedules, and reports in a clear and timely manner.
- Help identify and communicate any issues or risks within the programme to the leadership team, offering planning insights where appropriate.
Where you'll work
Church Lane
Sellindge
Ashford
TN25 6AF
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
NATIONAL GRID PLC
Training course
Project controls technician (level 3)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Develop work breakdown and coding structures to meet the scope laid out in the projects’ technical information and specification, ensuring that the controls will monitor project progress and performance accurately.
- Manage data: source, retrieve, check, edit, format, record and analyse data – using it to create relevant time, cost and resource reports.
- Estimate: develop cost estimates for defined scopes of work, create appropriate benchmarks, analyse quotes from sub- contractors and suppliers, and input to tenders and the early stages of projects.
- Schedule and plan: break down the scope into activities to create a logical linked control schedule to input to the development of outline and integrated plans and baseline schedules; identify critical milestones; gather accurate progress data for controlling the schedule; and monitor progress.
- Cost engineer and control: prepare control budgets, carry out cost control activities, gather and interpret cost data, monitor progress on a regular basis, interpret trends and forecasts; keep in line with contractual requirements, maintain baselines; ensure accurate reporting and control.
- Monitor progress/performance and analyse data: associated with milestones, schedules, progress, manpower, resource and costs; undertake earned value analysis, create progress reports and identify variances from plan and likely consequences if no corrective action is taken.
- Use computer based technology: model potential trends and resource use etc. using the right software package for the right task.
- Problem solve: recommend early corrective actions to reduce variances, identify issues and risks, present and maintain related action plans and contingencies.
- Effectively communicate: with good interpersonal skills and share the right information with the right people in an appropriate format to enable effective project control.
- Input to project closeout: generate key benchmarks and outturns including lessons learnt.
- Observe and apply professional ethics, and maintain a duty of care.
- Apply safety in the context of the role: comply with relevant national and international health, safety and environmental requirements.
- Work in accordance with company management systems, policies and procedures: especially those relating to quality, data security, risk, change and document management.
Training schedule
L3 Project Control Technician
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE in:
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Problem solving skills
- Presentation skills
- Number skills
- Analytical skills
- Logical
- Patience
- Adaptable
- Safety
- Reliable
- Responsible
About this employer
National Grid is at the heart of the energy future, and our people are at the heart of National Grid. We’re 30,000 colleagues strong. In the UK, National Grid don’t generate or sell energy – we join the dots to get energy from A to B. From making a cup of tea in the morning, to keeping the lights on in hospitals, our electricity network puts power in the hands of people. Without it, the world as we know it would grind to a halt. The world of energy is changing beyond recognition as we focus on building a cleaner, greener future. Working at National Grid, you won’t just be touching the lives of almost everyone in the UK – you’ll be shaping the way we use and consume energy for generations to come. Net-zero targets are transforming the way we work and increasing the scope of the positive impact we can make. Right now, we’re looking for apprentices to join us. Our people in Network Services work across a number of teams to keep the lights on for our customers. They might be helping a customer who has lost supply or supporting a developer building a multi-million pound project. They maintain a 24/7 service from faults and maintenance, asset replacement to new connections, working outdoors with underground cables, overhead lines and substations that operate between 230 and 132,000 volts, their work is critical to everything we do.
https://www.nationalgrid.com/uk (opens in new tab)
Disability Confident
A fair proportion of interviews for this apprenticeship will be offered to applicants with a disability or long-term health condition. This includes non-visible disabilities and conditions.
You can choose to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident scheme. You’ll need to meet the essential requirements to be considered for an interview.
After this apprenticeship
To be confirmed.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
NATIONAL GRID PLC
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000000788.
Apply now
Closes on Tuesday 13 January 2026
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