02 August 2022 – International design, engineering and advisory company Aurecon has appointed Justine (JJ) Jarvinen as Managing Principal, Sustainability & Climate Change to head its rapidly growing sustainability advisory team, which doubled in size over the past year and is set to double again within the next 12 months.

The newly created role will see JJ take charge of Aurecon’s sustainability and climate change service group spanning five focus areas of carbon markets, decarbonisation, physical risk and resilience, transition strategy and ESG strategy.

An engineer by trade, JJ possesses almost three decades’ experience with national executive networks. Having worked across sectors including energy, engineering, utilities, not-for-profit, education and finance, JJ developed expertise across multiple domains related to climate change, such as energy transition, sustainable business models and clean technology.

Paul Gleeson, Group Director – Sustainability, and Managing Director, Energy – Australia & New Zealand at Aurecon welcomed JJ and said that her leadership would reinforce Aurecon’s commitment to sustainability and climate change, driven by the needs of clients and the broader community in addition to expectations of our people as engineers, designers and advisors.

“JJ’s appointment is critical to our team in building a full-service model to solve our clients’ most pressing sustainability and climate challenges. The development of our substantial offering over the last 12 months has been a tremendous team effort, and JJ will undoubtedly play a key role in our continued growth.”

“Apart from her deep experience in Australia’s energy transition, JJ is also known for her collaborative working style and strategic thinking,” added Paul.

Excited about her new chapter at Aurecon, JJ shared that Aurecon’s collegiate and collaborative workplace culture and multidisciplinary capabilities were motivators for her to join the team.

“For me, joining Aurecon feels like coming home to engineering after gaining experience in a wide range of fields. Clients today are faced with more complex challenges than ever as they chart their paths to a shared future of sustainability. To be trusted advisors, it’s essential that we as a team have a broad skill set encompassing commercial experience, engineering know-how and industry expertise.”

“Almost all sectors today have sustainability on their agenda. While the energy sector is one of our biggest levers to create significant impact on future climate change, we can’t afford to leave any sectors behind if we seek to create a sustainable future for all.”

Although JJ’s role is focused on Australia, she will collaborate with Aurecon teams across regions and markets to leverage sustainability opportunities for clients.

“We’re in a critical decade for sustainability and climate change, and transformation must occur. It’s an exciting time for us to harness all the expertise we have through integration and take a proactive approach to building new opportunities that will make a real impact,” added Justine.

Over recent years, JJ has worked in senior leadership, advisory and governance roles across multiple high-profile organisations including AGL Energy, Ampol Australia and the University of NSW. She also has deep experience as a non-executive director with organisations in varying sectors.

JJ is an Adjunct Professor at UNSW and a Reference Committee Member for Energy Consumers Australia.

In addition to JJ, Aurecon has appointed two senior leaders in the sustainability and climate change team since May 2022, Dr Belinda Wade and Jodie Bricout as principals. Paul Gleeson will continue to lead the corporate strategy to embed sustainability into Aurecon’s operations and project delivery.