Ian Don
Executive General Manager
Joined CPM July 2018
Ian is a motivated business leader and results-driven professional with over 25 years’ experience gained from the design, engineering and construction industries. He has held several senior management and project leadership roles across a variety of infrastructure and urban development projects.
Ian started his career as a Landscape Architect with a focus on a range of complex, multidisciplinary, city-shaping infrastructure projects. He has experience and appreciation of the life cycle of a project from feasibility, design and engineering through to construction. He is driven by the impact every project offers in relation to politics, place making, economic development, social responsibility and environmental values.
Ian has been CPM’s General Manager since 2018, and is ultimately responsible for the performance of the CPM team. He is motivated by our investment in, and support of, our talented people to enable us to unlock hidden value for our clients.
What drew you to your career?
With my background as a Landscape Architect, I’m passionate about creating great cities and environments, for a livable and sustainable future. I enjoy working on projects that have a positive impact on our communities – where people live, work, play, learn, create memories and face challenges. The way I contribute to that has changed over time, but my primary driver is placemaking, and the relationship between landscape, people and experience.
What is your favourite part of your role?
My favourite part is our people – seeing individuals and teams develop, achieve great things and deliver great projects.
What does unlocking hidden value mean to you?
To me, unlocking hidden value is the way we align our people’s talents, skills and their growth with our clients’ needs – resulting in great outcomes for everyone involved.
What is your proudest achievement, greatest learning, career highlight?
It’s hard to pin it down to one thing, but I’m proud to have had an opportunity in my career to drive change and deliver positive outcomes for people and the environment across a range of city shaping projects. My learning though is that it is not necessarily just the big things that are rewarding. Sometimes achieving lots of little things – that build to big results – can be more satisfying.
What are your passions, hobbies, interests outside of work?
I love spending time with my kids, playing golf (my kids would think more than them at times) and hiking. My other interests are (fast) cars, photography and cooking.