Job Description
Join Us! CDM Smith – where amazing career journeys unfold.
Imagine a place committed to offering an unmatched employee experience. Where you work on projects that are meaningful to you. Where you play an active part in shaping your career journey. Where your co-workers are invested in you and your success. Where you are encouraged and supported to do your very best and given the tools and resources to do so. Where it’s a priority that the company takes good care of you and your family.
Our employees are the heart of our company. As an employer of choice, our goal is to provide a challenging, progressive and inclusive work environment which fosters personal leadership, career growth and development for every employee. We value passionate individuals who challenge the norm, deliver world-class solutions and bring diverse perspectives. Join our team, and together we will make a difference and change the world.
Job Description
CDM Smith is seeking an experienced Team Leader for an opportunity in Indonesia funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
The Team Leader will provide strategic, technical, and operational leadership for the CDM Smith team supporting the delivery of the Australia–Indonesia Climate, Infrastructure and Financing Partnership (KINETIK). This AUD650 million, 10-year program supports Indonesia’s transition to inclusive green growth through sustainable infrastructure, climate-resilient development, and innovative finance. The Team Leader will ensure program coherence, adaptive management, and high-impact delivery across water, sanitation, waste management, clean energy, and sustainable transport sectors, with cross-cutting themes of gender equality, disability, social inclusion (GEDSI), and digitalization. Team Leader will be responsible for program design, implementation, management, risk oversight, reporting, and stakeholder engagement, ensuring alignment with DFAT policies and program objectives.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & Program Management
- Lead the planning, implementation, and adaptive management of the KINETIK project portfolio, including leading the establishment of guidelines, standards, and monitoring systems ensuring economical, efficient, effective, and ethical delivery of outcomes aligned with DFAT’s strategic objectives, Indonesian government priorities and program logic. This will include but is not limited to overall leadership and management of projects across the project lifecycle, project advisory services for infrastructure projects during implementation and delivery, as well as policy and analytical initiatives, training events and technical and advisory products.
- Oversee the development and execution of Sector Engagement Strategies, Thematic Strategies (GEDSI, digitalization, climate resilience), and annual work plans.
- Foster a culture of collaboration, learning, and innovation across all delivery partners, including government agencies, NGOs, financial institutions, and multilateral banks.
- Oversee all key personnel, resources, and management services for program activities, including monitoring, evaluation, liaison, consultation, subcontracting, and administration.
- Ensure integration and coherence across the program portfolio, including common approaches to activity identification, selection, approval, and reporting.
Technical and Advisory Services
- Oversee and coordinate high-level technical advisory services in core sectors (renewable energy, water, sanitation, waste management, transport, GEDSI, digitalization) in infrastructure planning, climate adaptation/mitigation, and innovative financing.
- Ensure integration of GEDSI and digitalization across all activities, including universal design principles and inclusive consultation processes.
- Oversee project screening, feasibility studies, and preparation of bankable projects, ensuring alignment with climate and sustainability objectives.
- Support or oversee policy analysis, research, and over-the-horizon monitoring of economic and political landscapes.
- Facilitate capacity building, professional development, and institutional strengthening.
Stakeholder Engagement, Partnership Building and Governance
- Build and maintain effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including Indonesian government counterparts, DFAT, delivery partners, private sector actors, civil society organizations, subcontractors, CDM Smith home office team and other partners.
- Serve as Secretariat policy and advisory support for relevant committees, including the Program Steering Committee and Technical Working Groups, facilitating policy dialogue, reporting, and governance processes.
- Support effective governance arrangements, policy dialogue, and engagement with GOI and other stakeholders.
Monitoring, Evaluation, Reflection & Learning (MERL)
- Oversee MERL team’s design and implementation of program-wide MERL framework, ensuring robust data collection, reporting, and learning cycles.
- Working in close coordination with MERL team, ensure regular reflection, reporting, and evaluation of program activities, outputs, and outcomes.
Risk, Safeguards, and Compliance
- Lead risk management, including maintaining the program risk register, overseeing environmental and social safeguards, and ensuring compliance with DFAT and CDM Smith policies (PSEAH, child protection, fraud, anti-corruption, gender equality, disability, environmental and social safeguards, and workplace health and safety.).
- Appoint and manage specialist advisers (Safeguards, GEDSI, Climate, PSEAH) as required.
- Manage program risks, keeping DFAT and CDM Smith regularly informed and promptly advising on emerging risks and mitigation measures.
Financial & Contract Management
- Oversee financial management, budgeting, and reporting for program activities, grants, and contracts.
- Ensure transparent, fair, and value-for-money procurement and subcontracting processes, with a strong emphasis on local content and capacity building.
- Monthly report on the project contract and financial information to the CDM Smith home office team.
Personnel & Team Management
- Working with the CDM Smith home office team recruit, manage, and monitor personnel and subcontractors, ensuring fair, transparent, competency-based processes.
- Foster an inclusive and diverse team culture, drawing on local and regional capabilities.
- Conduct regular performance appraisals and ensure personnel comply with ethical standards and DFAT and CDM Smith policies.
Communications & Public Diplomacy
- Develop and implement a Communications and Public Diplomacy Strategy to profile the program and showcase DFAT and Australia’s support.
- Ensure DFAT and Australia’s role is appropriately reflected in all communications, activities, and reports.
*International and Indonesian candidates are encouraged to apply
Minimum Qualifications
- Advanced degree in engineering, climate/environmental science, public policy, finance, or related field.
- Advanced and extensive experience (10+ years) in program leadership and management experience in complex, donor-funded, multi-stakeholder development programs valued at $20M+, preferably in infrastructure, climate change, and/or finance in Southeast Asia.
- Demonstrated expertise in program management, adaptive leadership, and advancing and maintaining partnerships in politically complex environments.
- Proven track record in technical advisory for infrastructure, climate adaptation/mitigation, and innovative financing (including blended finance, PPPs).
- Demonstrated expertise in infrastructure, climate resilience, innovative financing, and/or international development.
- Strong understanding of GEDSI principles and experience mainstreaming inclusion in large programs.
- Experience managing risk, compliance, and safeguards in donor-funded programs.
- Excellent stakeholder engagement, governance, negotiation, partnership brokering and communication skills, including experience working with government, private sector, and civil society.
- Proven ability to manage diverse teams, foster inclusive practices, and deliver results in multicultural environments.
- Excellent communication, reporting, and analytical skills.
- Fluency in English required
Core Competencies Required
- Strategic thinking and adaptive management
- Risk assessment and mitigation
- Inclusive leadership and team development
- Policy analysis and technical advisory
- Stakeholder engagement and diplomacy
- Monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MERL)
- Commitment to gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI)
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree in a relevant field is highly desirable
- Previous involvement in projects funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) at a leadership position is a plus
- Proficiency in spoken and written Bahasa Indonesia a plus
About the Organization
Join Us! CDM Smith – where amazing career journeys unfold.
Imagine a place committed to offering an unmatched employee experience. Where you work on projects that are meaningful to you. Where you play an active part in shaping your career journey. Where your co-workers are invested in you and your success. Where you are encouraged and supported to do your very best and given the tools and resources to do so. Where it’s a priority that the company takes good care of you and your family.
Our employees are the heart of our company. As an employer of choice, our goal is to provide a challenging, progressive and inclusive work environment which fosters personal leadership, career growth and development for every employee. We value passionate individuals who challenge the norm, deliver world-class solutions and bring diverse perspectives. Join our team, and together we will make a difference and change the world.
