Global Connections
There are nearly 37,000 KBR employees all across the planet. Though we are separated by miles, we are all connected and working together toward a common purpose — to design and deliver the future while improving our social and environmental impact. In Global Connections, we celebrate KBR’s culture of inclusion and diversity by highlighting employees working in different locations around the world and the communities where they live.
KBR in Australia
KBR was recently ranked the No. 3 design firm in the world on Engineering News-Record’s 2020 Top 500 list. This honor included four new top-10 sector rankings — No. 1 in Manufacturing, No. 2 in Industrial Process/Petroleum, No. 2 in Telecommunications and No. 9 in Water — and a spot in the top 20 for transportation engineering. This tremendous showing was driven in no small part by the success of KBR’s Infrastructure Services Australia. Infrastructure Services Australia offers a wide range of professional consulting services to private and public sector clients — including the Australian government and Department of Defence, several state transport authorities, and many of the nation’s major utility companies, such as Melbourne Water, which provides water for more than five million people. Across the continent, Infrastructure Services Australia delivers projects of any size in both urban and remote environments in the following key areas:
A world-class staff of 750 experts is based at five main offices in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Teams are technically and geographically diversified to match the specific needs of principal markets and have the capabilities to meet client requirements at all phases of project development and implementation. Customers can also take advantage of in-house environmental, sustainability, stakeholder and community consultation, spatial imaging and mapping, digital engineering and virtual reality services, as well as advanced operator/maintenance training to augment engineering and planning services. Regardless of size, complexity or challenges, KBR Infrastructure Services Australia has the capacity to safely deliver solutions on time and within budget.
“In Infrastructure Services Australia, our vision is to become the partner of choice by putting people and customers first. To do this, we are creating an agile organization where our employees are able to have their best day of work every day, no matter where they are. We want to develop and nurture great leaders at all levels, create a digital and data-driven organization, put our customers at the center of all our decisions, and create execution excellence by delivering our projects on time and within budget. It’s an exciting time to be part of Infrastructure Services as we begin to reimagine our organization.”
– WAYNE NOLAN, VICE PRESIDENT, INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES AUSTRALIA
Down Under Overview
Australia is home to more than 25.5 million people. The diverse Indigenous population (Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders), British colonialism and extensive immigration have all shaped it into one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. In fact, one in four Australians was born overseas. While English is the predominant language, collectively Australians speak more than 200 languages, 50 of which are Australian Indigenous languages. The most commonly spoken languages after English are Chinese dialects, Arabic, Vietnamese and Italian.
Rich Biodiversity
Australia is one of the most biodiverse nations on Earth, which might not be surprising given the country’s size. What might be more shocking is just how biodiverse it is. Australia is one of 17 megadiverse nations, meaning it has high numbers of the Earth’s species and endemic species (species only found in a geographic area). In fact, according to the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Australia is home to more species than any other developed country, and most of Australia’s wildlife can’t be found anywhere else.
Native Species Found ONLY in Australia*
* Information from Australian Wildlife Conservancy, 2020.
Plenty to Do and See
When it comes to sights and activities, locals and tourists are spoiled for choice. The entire continent is rich with natural wonders, such as the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland, Australia’s famous Bondi Beach and, of course, Uluru (formerly Ayers Rock) in Australia’s Red Centre in the south of the Northern Territory. Australia’s manmade attractions are alluring in their own right. There’s the famous Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, the Great Ocean Road that runs along the scenic southwest coast of Victoria, the historical settlement and former penal colony of Port Arthur in Tasmania, and the National Art and Portrait Galleries in the nation’s capital city of Canberra. Australians also love their sports and exercise. While favorites include old standbys such as walking, swimming, running, tennis and football (soccer to you Americans), there are also some more unique activities like bush walking and Australian rules football — or “the footy.” The footy is also the nation’s most popular professional sport, with fans cheering on their favorite local clubs across the country. Other popular pro sports include cricket and rugby.
Dedication to Sustainability
Colleagues in Australia are committed to KBR’s social and environmental sustainability vision. Experts from KBR Infrastructure Services Australia are responsible for designing and delivering some of the most important projects in the region and do so with minimal disruption to the community and environment. KBR has been recognized by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia for consistently meeting and exceeding targets. KBR employees in Australia are also involved in numerous social causes, particularly through their ASPIRE chapter — KBR’s employee-driven group dedicated to cultivating women leaders and promoting gender diversity — which was started in 2019. The issues central to many of their efforts are racial and gender equality, which align with KBR’s Inclusion and Diversity Sustainability Pillar. In 2019, Australia gave its endorsement for KBR Australia’s first Reconciliation Action Plan, which seeks to develop respectful relationships with and create meaningful opportunities for Indigenous peoples. As part of that plan, KBR launched a pilot internship program in partnership with Career Trackers, a non-profit that creates pathways and support systems for Indigenous young adults to gain higher education and professional experience. More recently, colleagues participated in the 25th Midsumma Pride March, an annual celebration that brings together artists, performers, communities and audiences to celebrate and support the LGBTQ+ community. And in March 2020, employees celebrated International Women’s Day, individually profiling many talented women from KBR. Additionally, this past February, a number of KBR employees volunteered to support recovery efforts during and following the bushfires that ravaged Australia. Some provided mapping and planning support or served in other crucial support roles, while others were on the frontlines fighting the fires. KBR also donated AU$100,000 for people and communities affected by the fires and for wildlife and habitat destruction.
