Grant Bowery: Infrastructure on an International Scale

He’s helped deliver some of the world's most complex infrastructure programmes, from The Dubai Mall to Sydney Metro. Now, Grant Bowery has joined TSA Riley as General Manager, Infrastructure NSW, bringing global experience, delivery depth, and a clear focus on what infrastructure is really for: connecting people, places, and possibilities.

With more than 25 years’ experience in cost, schedule and risk, Grant has worked across rail, energy, water and major precincts, shaping strategy, leading integrated teams and advising government and private equity across Australia, the UK and the Middle East.

At TSA Riley, he’s here to help drive the next chapter by strengthening internal alignment, building capability and unlocking new value for infrastructure clients across New South Wales.

Cost is not a line item

Grant grew up on a small dairy farm in Cornwall, in England’s southwest. “My parents saw one too many episodes of The Good Life,” he laughs. “They moved from London to the countryside and bought a farm with 8 cows and 40 acres – which in Australia is someone’s backyard.”

His dad also ran a building company, and at one point, Grant gave construction a go. One early job involved hauling concrete for a spiral staircase. “That gave me a great respect for site work but also told me that I’m no good at that – I can’t even hang a shelf!”

He studied in Bristol and qualified as a chartered quantity surveyor, starting his career in cost management. But something didn’t sit right. “We’d have a project meeting, and the last item would be ‘cost’. I remember thinking – we’ve been talking about cost this entire meeting. Every time you talk about schedule, risks, delays – you’re talking about cost.”

That frustration led him to project management, where he could shape decisions earlier and bring commercial thinking into every stage of delivery.

Black t-shirts, big builds

Grant joined Mace in the early 2000s. “They were the cool consultants,” he laughs. “The ones in black Armani t-shirts instead of suits.” There, he worked on some of the UK’s biggest and most complex projects, including London Heathrow Airport, Paddington Basin and the Tate Modern. He spent the next 14 years honing his approach to construction management and helping clients stay in control by managing trade packages directly. “It meant you could make changes quickly, stay flexible and actually see what was happening down the supply chain.”

During his time at Mace, he also worked with a UK investment fund that backed long-term, sustainable regeneration. One of his standout projects was Bermondsey Square in South London – a mixed-use precinct built on a failing site that housed a traditional Sunday antiques market. “It was about stitching a community back together – creating a place where people actually wanted to be. Apartments, cafes, a community theatre… all wrapped around a square that transformed with the day. Markets, art installations, outdoor salon approach – it was brilliant.”

The project changed how he thought about infrastructure. “All the other stuff that goes around a building is actually more important than the building itself. Without the transport, energy, public space – it doesn’t work. That’s what got me into infrastructure, and that’s what still drives me.”

A high-flying job, a hard landing

Next came a senior role in the Middle East with a private equity-backed development group – a glamorous job on paper. Grant was working across the Middle East and international emerging markets, helping masterplan entire city districts. It was fast, high-stakes and full of ambition.

He was doing 70-hour weeks across time zones when the global financial crisis hit. That same year, his wife gave birth to premature triplets in the UK. For months, Grant flew home every weekend to be with them in neonatal intensive care. “I’d finish the week in Dubai, fly to London, go straight to the hospital, and sleep in a chair next to 3 incubators. Then I’d fly back Sunday night and do it all again.”

Those months reshaped everything. “I wanted to be there with my family. And I wanted to build things that mattered for people.”

That decision defined the next phase of his career. It’s what drew Grant to Australia, and ultimately, to TSA Riley.

Return to Oz: the move that made sense

Grant didn’t have a grand plan to move to Australia, but the idea wasn’t new. He had met his wife Kate there years earlier, and with 3 young kids and a shift in priorities, it felt like the right time. “We didn’t do a spreadsheet of pros and cons,” he says. “We just thought, why not? Let’s go somewhere with a bit more space, a bit more balance.”

It didn’t take long before he was back in major programmes – Sydney Metro, Parramatta Light Rail, City Rail Link in Auckland. The work was complex, and the culture was great. “There was a sense that people actually wanted to do things better. Not just faster or cheaper – better. That was important to me.”

Over the next decade, he shaped strategy, interrogated business cases and built delivery systems that could flex and scale. But what stayed with him most wasn’t the structure – it was the people. “When teams are aligned, really aligned, it’s incredible what they can do. And when they’re not, everything suffers. Culture, clarity, outcomes – it’s all connected.”

That belief – that good infrastructure is inseparable from good culture – is what ultimately led him to TSA Riley.

TSA Riley: a business ready to scale

For Grant, joining TSA Riley wasn’t just about the role – it was about the timing. “The Australian business is over 500 people, but we operate like something much larger,” he says. “There’s a real opportunity now to push forward, scale up and unlock more value for clients.”

What impressed him most was the maturity already in place. “This is a well-organised and professional business. You don’t walk in and think ‘small’. You walk in and see what’s already been built.”

There’s also no shortage of opportunity. “There’s still a massive pipeline in NSW – the energy transition, transport improvements, water and utilities infrastructure. It’s all happening,” he says. “The question is how we bring capability together and make the whole system run better.”

His approach is pragmatic: keep things simple, focus on outcomes, and empower people to do their best work. “It’s about clarity. Making smart choices and helping people spend more time doing what they’re good at.”

The real project of a lifetime

Outside of work, Grant’s life revolves around his family, and it has ever since the arrival of the triplets 17 years ago. “We had a strict regimen just to survive,” he says. “Feeds, sterilising bottles, sleep – all done to clockwork. We’d batch-cook and freeze meals, label everything. It was project management, just with nappies.”

And these days? “I just do what the kids do,” he says. “That’s how I find time with them – their music, their shows, what they’re into. Turns out, what they’re into is Led Zeppelin and Bowie. Which works for me. Plus, they keep me up to date with artists like Kendrick Lamar that I just wouldn’t have discovered on my own.”

There’s pride in his voice – but more than that, there’s presence. A man who once flew between continents to be with his family in neonatal intensive care now drives them to school, shares playlists, writes code, and helps shape their future.