GHD appoints Jill Hannaford to new executive role to accelerate global innovation and collaboration

Global professional services company GHD has appointed Jill Hannaford as its new Executive General Manager, Technical Services. Reporting to Ian Fraser, GHD’s CEO APAC region, Jill’s newly created role will focus on accelerating technical innovation in response to growing global client needs, especially in water, energy and urbanisation.

“Jill’s leadership skills and life experiences are exactly what we need to maintain our relentless focus on growth and technical authority that align so well with what our clients and communities need for sustainable livelihoods,” said Ian.

With a career at GHD spanning 30 years, Jill has held a variety of senior roles. Most recently, she was the Global Future Communities Lead and General Manager, Technical Services for APAC.

“When I first joined GHD, it was a predominantly engineering business and I was one of a small cohort of women, said Jill. “Today, we offer more than 48 service lines to our clients across the entire lifecycle of projects, delivered by much more diverse teams focused on sustainability." 

Jill was a pioneer in the field of community and stakeholder engagement for infrastructure, and a founder of International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Australasia which now has over 12,000 members.

She is also a proud advocate for diversity and is committed to the inclusion of First Nations peoples’ knowledge and cultural values into infrastructure design and provision. Her longstanding Indigenous advocacy has included serving on the Advisory Board of CareerTrackers, which links Indigenous university students with private sector employers. 

Jill continued, “What excites me about this role is the opportunity to continue to combine the forces of collaboration, technical excellence and the further integration of our Advisory and Digital businesses to bring lasting community benefit for future generations. That's what it’s all about in the end.” 

In addition to her work at GHD, Jill is on the University of Sydney’s advisory committees for the Halloran Research Trust and the Warren Centre Humanitarian Engineering Hub. She is also a non-executive director of Bridge Housing, which provides affordable and social housing in Sydney, and RedR Australia, a disaster relief organisation that deploys technical professionals during crises and conflicts. 

About GHD

GHD is a leading professional services company operating in the global markets of water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. Committed to a vision to make water, energy, and communities sustainable for generations to come, GHD delivers advisory, digital, engineering, architecture, environmental and construction solutions to public and private sector clients. Established in 1928 and privately owned by its people, GHD’s network of 12,000+ professionals is connected across 160 offices located on five continents.