Downer further strengthens Utilities team with new executive appointments

Jun 17, 2023

Downer, Australia's leading utilities partner, has announced a number of new appointments to further strengthen its Utilities Executive Leadership team.

Senior Australian infrastructure leaders, Gabriel Cohen and Jonathan Barwick, have recently joined the Utilities Executive Leadership team, adding decades of combined experience to enhance Downer's market-leading capabilities.

Mr Cohen has joined as General Manager, Business Development & Growth, having been a key leader in Downer's Power Systems Business Development and Pre-contracts team for the past four years.

Prior to joining Downer, Mr Cohen held a number of senior management roles with responsibility for delivering projects and managing bids and proposals for companies including Lendlease, Ventia, Powercor/Beon Energy Solutions, Areva T&D and Auckland International Airport.

In addition, Mr Barwick has been appointed to the role of General Manager Commercial, having led strategy, commercial and governance for organisations across the engineering, construction and utilities sectors over the past three decades.

Mr Barwick was most recently Commercial Manager New Business & Compliance at McDonnell Dowell and has also worked in senior roles for organisations such as Tenix, Beca and UGL.

Downer's Head of Utilities, James Kafanelis, said the two new executive appointments would support the increased capability of the recently expanded Utilities Division

"In August, we announced the expansion of the Utilities Division with the integration of the Power Systems Line of Business further strengthening our position as one of Australia's largest and most experienced providers in the renewable energy, power transmission and distribution sectors," Mr Kafanelis said.

"These appointments will be instrumental in ensuring Downer is well positioned to capitalise on the emerging pipeline of future energy projects across Australia, as we collectively take on the challenges of a rapidly growing Utilities sector over the coming years."

This sponsored editorial is brought to you by Downer. For further information, please visit https://www.downergroup.com.