Scheduler

Job Overview

Job Category

Business and Operations Support

Sectors

Education

Environment

Outdoors only

Average Salary

$44,000 to $84,000

About This Career

At any given moment, people and materials are flowing into and out of oil and gas operations. Helping them move in a way that keeps the oil and gas flowing is a complex dance that requires careful choreography. The choreographers calling those steps are the Schedulers.

Oil and gas operations can be complex and require significant planning and organizing to ensure work is done safely and in a logical sequence, considering time and budgets. The Scheduler is a senior role responsible for developing, maintaining and delivering an integrated schedule that fosters safe, reliable and efficient execution of work. Often Schedulers specialize in specific areas. These may include:

Project Scheduler: responsible for developing strategic approaches and planning, scheduling work and the flow of materials as well as maintaining and adapting the schedule, up to the point of completion and close-out of a project. In oil and gas, projects can be extremely large, bridging over many years and costing multi-millions of dollars.
Production Scheduler: responsible for workflow and materials required to produce a product, which typically includes developing overarching plans and schedules that align various departments within a company.
Turnaround Scheduler: responsible for developing, optimizing and progressing integrated schedules for turnarounds, which are planned shutdowns to allow for maintenance in large facilities such as upgraders and refineries.
Maintenance Scheduler: responsible for the planning and scheduling of all routine maintenance activities in a mine, facility or another industrial undertaking.

Typically working within a team, a key element of a Scheduler’s job is the ability to apply technical knowledge in a number of different areas (including engineering design and technology) to a broader project.

In this occupation activities may include:

Reviewing documents such as production schedules, work orders, or staffing tables to determine personnel or materials requirements or material priorities.
Leading the creation and implementation of the integrated schedule structure for a project or department to maximize efficiency from a labour, time and cost perspective.
Revising production schedules when required due to design changes, labour or material shortages, backlogs, or other interruptions. This requires collaborating with management, marketing, sales, production or engineering.
Adhering to enterprise scheduling standards for development and implementation of schedules, ensures standards are current and met.
Compiling information such as production rates and progress, materials inventories, materials used, or customer information so that status reports can be completed.

Education

Completion of secondary school is usually required.
Often a technical diploma or university degree may be preferred by employers, depending on the size and scope of the Scheduler’s responsibility.
Several years of experience in the area the Scheduler is working in is usually required.

Certifications

Certification is not required, as there is currently no legislation regulating this occupation.

Additional Requirements

Specific health and safety certifications may be required, determined by location of work and company requirements
This is typically a senior position, with employers requiring significant experience and knowledge of the oil and gas industry.
Proficiency with scheduling software such as Primavera is often required

Schedulers have to be masters of multiple systems, from the engineering systems that make it possible for products to be produced to the information systems that track documents through the scheduling process. They also need to thoroughly understand how to maximize efficiencies while maintaining the quality of the products being produced and the safety of the employees producing them. Because, like any good choreographer, Schedulers need to make sure no one steps on anyone else’s toes.