Sean Chiao appointed Surbana Jurong Group CEO

SINGAPORE - Urban and infrastructure consultancy Surbana Jurong (SJ) Group on Thursday announced the appointment of its new group chief executive.

Mr Sean Chiao, previously CEO for buildings and places, a global business line at infrastructure consulting firm Aecom, will fill the role from April 1.

The position had been vacant since former group CEO Wong Heang Fine retired in September 2022.

SJ Group, which is owned by Singapore’s investment company Temasek, said in a media statement that Mr Chiao has more than 35 years’ experience in design and engineering consulting for the built environment, as well as global business leadership under his belt.

Mr Chiao will also be a member of its board of directors.

Mr Chaly Mah, chairman of SJ Group, said Mr Chiao was identified after a “rigorous global search”.

“We are confident that we have found in Sean the right leader for Surbana Jurong as we advance the implementation of SJ 2.0, the group’s road map to becoming one of the top urban, infrastructure and managed services consulting firms in Asia-Pacific,” he added.

Mr Chiao said: “I’m inspired by the SJ 2.0 strategy to position Surbana Jurong for leadership in an era of sustainability and digital transformation, and as an employer of choice in the built environment, and I’m looking forward to working with the team to fulfil these aspirations.”

One of his priorities, he added, is to ensure the group forges a collective approach to innovative, effective action to tackle the climate emergency.

Raised in Taiwan and educated in the United States, Mr Chiao holds a degree in architecture and a Master of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from the Graduate School of Design of Harvard University.

In his previous stints, he spearheaded projects such as the River of Life masterplan in Kuala Lumpur and the masterplan for Jinji Lake in Suzhou Industrial Park in China.