Ashok Sukumaran

Ashok Sukumaran joined Stantec in 2000 and leads Stantec’s Australian business.  He is responsible for driving the financial, operational and people performance of the business and oversees a workforce of approximately 2500 people across 25 offices in Australia.  This includes engineers, scientists, project managers, planners and technicians, all of whom are involved in the delivery of solutions in the Transportation, Buildings, Water, Energy & Resources, Environmental & Geosciences and Community Development sectors.  Since his appointment to the role in 2021, he has combined his passion for people with strong business acumen and governance, directing and implementing the vision and strategy for sustainable business growth across all sectors.

Prior to his current role, Ashok served as Stantec’s Water Business leader in Australia, where he grew the business three-fold in revenues and elevated the brand of the business nationally. He helped drive business success by not only getting the right people into the right jobs, but also by ensuring operational decisions were linked to long-term business strategy.

Ashok is a Civil Engineer by training, completed the Senior Executive Program at Melbourne Business School and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  He has worked on large infrastructure projects, both in Australia and in the Middle East, and serves as an executive on Alliance Leadership Teams and Joint Venture Boards.  He is a Director of Stantec Australia Pty Ltd.

Personally, I live in a gender diverse world. Unfortunately, in my profession and field of occupation, I do not work in a gender diverse industry.  As a leader, I’m uniquely positioned to help effect industry change, beginning with education. Whether it be increasing the number of young females to be attracted to study in STEM subjects or increasing the awareness of unconscious bias within the Stantec business, I ardently champion programs and initiatives that equitably support women. When we harness the reflective power of gender diversity, we get better decision making, ideas and elevate communities.