Infrastructure veteran Mike Gillen appointed as MBB’s new leader for Queensland
Australian infrastructure consultancy MBB Group has appointed former AECOM exec Mike Gillen as its new regional leader for Queensland, continuing the firm’s recent string of headline recruits.
Based out of Brisbane, Gillen joins the MBB Group after spending more than a decade and a half at AECOM, latterly as its industry director for cities. He will now lead MBB’s operations in the Sunshine State, where the firm has been active for more than seven years.
Originally established in Sydney in 2014 by CEO Matthew Brook, MBB now has a team of around 200 professionals spread across further offices in Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, and Auckland, with the consultancy riding high on a sustained period of rapid growth.
Adding to that mix is Mike Gillen, who brings more than three and a half decades worth of international urban development, infrastructure, sports, and energy sector experience to the firm, gained across the UK, Asia, and Australia. An arts graduate of the University of Sheffield, with a planning & development doctorate to boot, Gillen has been at Aecom since at least 2008.
“This is a key appointment for MBB, with Mike filling out our offer in Queensland and across our regions, adding highly-experienced executive leadership to an already strong team,” said MBB’s Melbourne-based managing director Peter Jones. “With Mike, we are able to offer our clients global perspectives on projects and in finding ground-breaking, effective solutions to legacy programs.”
Mike Gillen
As per his MBB bio, Gillen is described as a pragmatic leader with a strong understanding of client expectations and the potential of contemporary investment models, with extensive experience in supporting government and private sector clients in planning and delivering infrastructure investments that balance risk, create value, and achieve long-term economic stimulus.
Delving deeper, Gillen in his past roles has provided numerous public and private sector clients with strategic advice and leadership across various business cases, including as to feasibility studies, quality control, design and precinct planning, and program and portfolio coordination, bringing insights from both sides of the development and infrastructure fence.
“As a passionate urbanist, I’m constantly reflecting on how cities, precincts, infrastructure, places and people interact.” Gillen said. “I’m excited to join MBB and work with its strong team to deliver ambitious projects for our great clients, and the talks I’ve had with the leadership team reflect a commitment to the legacy potential of nation-building projects, and not just the delivery of them.”
Gillen’s appointment follows that of several recent top-level recruits at MBB, including Ron Hastings and Marija Rakocevic as an executive director and senior people & culture leader. Meanwhile, the firm’s other territories are led by James Woods (New South Wales), Richard Wilkinson (Victoria), Peter Vozzo (SA), and Sam Wolyniec in Western Australia.
