Highly commended in the Future Leader Award category at the 2025 Consult Australia Awards and a Future Leaders Program participant, Jacobs’ Emma Dade is helping to reshape the way we think about leadership — and what it takes to create lasting change.

When Emma Dade introduces herself, she often says, “I’m a non-gineer.”

With a background in environmental science, Emma didn’t follow a traditional engineering pathway. Instead, her passion for sustainability opened the door to a technical leadership role at the intersection of infrastructure, climate impact and innovation.

“When I started contributing to the development of the Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) rating scheme, I realised how powerful infrastructure can be. I saw how all the elements come together – social, environmental, governance – to create assets with generational impact.”

Now Technical Director for Sustainable Development and ESG with Jacobs, Emma leads sustainability integration across projects and strategies in the Asia Pacific region. 

“As a technical leader, I influence through ideas and impact. There are many different types of leadership – that was the biggest realisation I took away from the Future Leaders Program.”

Sustainability is innovation – and innovation is leadership

Sustainability as a leadership discipline is still relatively new, Emma notes. 

“There were no formal education pathways when I started my career, although that is changing. Most leaders came from different fields and learnt by doing. That makes it a discipline full of opportunity, because we’re breaking new ground.

“To deliver change, you need to influence at a high level. You need to bring people on the journey. That takes communication skills, commercial understanding and the ability to see across systems.”

Emma has applied her skills widely, from leading net zero readiness workshops to developing a water sector decarbonisation playbook. She’s led technical climate risk sessions for utilities companies and integrated First Nations cultural engagement into station design.

“We now have the data and evidence that can’t be refuted. We can measure the financial and social value of sustainability. It’s not just a ‘good to do.’ And people are starting to understand that.”

And there’s more hope on the horizon. 

“Designers and engineers are now implementing sustainability principles – without being asked. They’ve learnt from previous projects and are thinking about carbon footprints, recycled materials, resource efficiency.” 

What they’ve seen can’t be unseen.

A changing workforce, a fluid future

Emma is acutely aware that the next generation of consulting professionals bring new expectations to the workforce. 

“Graduates want to make an impact, but they also want flexibility. They come with different baseline expectations – and that’s going to change the way we structure teams, and the way we source technical skills.”

This, she believes, will also change how we define leadership.

“As project demands evolve, I think we’ll need to be more open to flexible models of technical leadership – drawing on broader networks and diverse expertise. That might mean assembling teams in more fluid ways.”

Emma’s career journey challenges traditional definitions and offers inspiration for other future leaders. “I get my energy from the technical parts of my job – solving problems and shaping solutions. That’s where I lead best. Understanding that, through the Future Leaders Program, was really validating.”