Charles Commander, Sector Leader (Global & Americas)
Jamie Page, Sector Leader (EMEA)
Stafford Bagot, Sector Leader (APAC)

The engineering, construction and infrastructure sectors account for around 11% of the world’s gross domestic product – with projected growth to 13.2% by 2020 - 50% of all resource usage, and up to 40% of energy consumption. These sectors have a profound impact on our daily lives: the buildings we live and work in, the roads and bridges we drive on, and the railways and harbors we travel and trade from, are all products of these vital markets. And the construction industry is also a key indicator and driver of economic activity and wealth creation.

But, the industry’s future prosperity will depend on its capacity to evolve on global project management capabilities, and on technological and environmental fronts. Heidrick & Struggles’ understanding of these challenges, and of the types of leaders that excel in this dynamic environment, positions us to be the first global leadership advisor to help build successful boards and senior leadership teams for global and regional clients of all sizes. Our ability to attract the highest caliber external talent while partnering with and supporting clients develop and grow their existing internal talent, allows Heidrick & Struggles to add true value to our clients’ short, medium and long term goals.

In addition, over the past fifteen to twenty years, the infrastructure world has undergone a fundamental change driven by the desire of governments to transfer investment and operational risk from the public to the private sector. As a consequence, the value chain has become more complex, and the necessary competencies and skill sets of senior management in the sector have similarly become more sophisticated.

While the term infrastructure is widely used to cover a range of asset classes, traditionally it has been used to describe three specific categories of physical assets:

• Transportation - infrastructure such as airports, ports, roads and rail etc.
• Energy - infrastructure such as power stations and gas distribution pipelines
• Social - infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and prisons

Heidrick and Struggles’ assistance in these categories includes expertise in investment-led PPP and PFI, in addition to the creation of boards, to manage and deliver the full project life-cycle through the delivery and management of the asset.

People in our global Engineering, Construction & Infrastructure Practice have extensive experience working with global practice teams within these specialist sectors, taking full advantage of the group’s diverse knowledge and global presence. Our goal is to help clients find the best solutions whether from inside or outside a specific sector.

Beyond recruiting, the Engineering, Construction & Infrastructure Practice delivers value to clients in the areas of benchmarking, best practices and business development. We also help clients navigate emerging trends in the industry like the rise in private equity capital, through leadership consulting services such as board review, board recruitment and coaching.