The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has announced that Dr Janet Young will assume the role of director general and secretary in the New Year. 

She brings huge experience and insight from a career with an extensive background in infrastructure delivery. 

Young joins the ICE from the Cabinet Office where she is head of the Government Property Profession. 

In an extensive and varied career she has been global director of estates for the British Council, director of estates for the Ministry of Justice and head of asset management in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. 

A Major Projects Leadership Academy graduate of the Saïd Business School, she is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. 

Her PhD, Towards Zero Energy Buildings, looked at the challenges and solutions for low carbon and energy developments.

ICE president Keith Howells said: “I am absolutely thrilled that Janet has accepted this most important of roles. 

“She brings exactly the skills we need as the Institution, and the wider profession, wrestles with the challenges of net zero, the delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the practical issues that our industry faces on a day-to-day basis. I greatly look forward to working with her.”

Young added: “It is an honour to be asked to work with the trustees and members of the world’s leading engineering institution. 

“The challenges are huge: the potential prize immense. I join at a time when engineers and infrastructure professionals are making a real impact in shaping a better world.”