Stantec names Anas Kassem as Head of Middle East team

Engineering consulting firm Stantec has installed Anas Kassem at the helm of its Middle East division.

Anas Kassem joins the Canada-listed firm from rival WSP, where he spent over three decades across a range of roles of increasing seniority. Most recently, he was WSP’s Managing Director for its Transport & Infrastructure practice, and before that he was an Executive at Parsons Brinckerhoff (which was acquired by WSP in 2014) and General Manager of its Kuwait business unit.

During his 20-year period in the Middle East (he previously studied and worked in the US), Kassem has lived and worked in several countries in the region, including the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. During this time, he has led and contributed to the delivery of over 200 projects with a value of more than $25 billion.

Some of the notable projects on his track record include being part of the delivery of the Riyadh Metro Programme, Qatar’s Ashghal Expressway and Local Roads and Drainage Programme, and working on the project management organisations (PMO) for the Makkah Public Transport and the Qatar Rail programmes. 

At Stantec, Kassem oversees all of Stantec’s operations in the region, spanning on strategy, client management, project delivery, and internal operations. On projects, he specialises in program governance, procurement, design, tendering construction management and maintenance, and stakeholder management. 

Projects Stantec is working on or has delivered in the Middle East include Dubai’s Deep Tunnel Storm Water System, the Al Mafraq Dialysis Center in Abu Dhabi, the new sewage treatment plant on Bahrain’s reclaimed islands of Madinat Salman, and the King Faisal Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Commenting on his appointment, Cath Schefer, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Stantec global operations, said: “Anas’ knowledge of the region along with his passion for building high performing teams will ensure that we bring the best of Stantec’s global and local expertise to our clients and communities in the Middle East region.”